by Brea Viragh
Astix stood with her forehead against the doorframe, face obscured by long locks of auburn air. Leo knew what she would look like, of course. The elfin face, fierce eyes. At the moment she looked like a woman in need of a good laugh. Or a hug.
He’d studied her pictures from the file. There was a difference here, in the flesh. She was smaller than he’d imagined. Tougher, too, if the bomber jacket, scuffed motorcycle boots, and nose ring were any indication. From what he could see of her body, it was decent. Better than decent. Delectable.
In person, she looked more confident and strong, yet also vulnerable and less intimidating. An odd mixture that stirred his emotions in strange ways.
The car door closed behind him with a snick of sound. At least the rain had backed off. Leo anticipated a friendly conversation and maybe a chat about the weather. Safe topics. He opened his mouth to call out, then snapped it shut. He didn’t want to disturb her. There was a tautness to her shoulders, stiffness in her body.
She turned, white teeth bared as if she endured pain beyond endurance, and then she sagged to the porch floor, her back against the door. It was a face made for cameos, sprayed artistically with a fine network of freckles, accompanied by lush lips Leo wished he were biting instead of her. They looked red and pouty and begging for a kiss. He wasn’t close enough to see her eyes, but he knew their color. Those amazing eyes he’d almost fallen off the chair after seeing in a picture. Caribbean-blue, green, and yellow. Sun, sea, earth.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such an urgent stroke of lust. And that was just from a picture. This was real life. Real life was better, decidedly better. Then Astix stood, and Leo hurried after her before she had a chance to leave.
Her instincts shouldn’t have surprised him when she reflexively reached back to grab his wrist before it landed on her shoulder. Whirling around, she twisted to face him and stopped his hand just short of skin-to-skin contact.
“Who are you?” Her voice was a growl.
Leo hid a smile and kept silent, reversing their roles and breaking her hold. Harder than necessary, unfortunately. His palm pushed against her arm and Astix went flying before landing on her ass, skidding slightly along the driveway. She glanced down at the moisture seeping into the fabric of her pants. Stared at him. Back at the pants. Then him.
She sputtered an indignant response. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
This time he couldn’t help the grin. It split open his cheeks. She had a good voice. Smooth, low, rough around the edges. It conjured images of dark spaces, sultry piano and soul-shaking saxophone. Perfectly suited for her line of work.
Leo shook his head to clear it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to retaliate. You have quite a grip on you.” He held out a hand to help her rise.
Astix ignored the outstretched appendage and rose on shaky legs. “I can do it myself, thanks, Golden Boy.”
“Golden Boy?” Leo fingered a lock of his hair, the strands catching the fine mist of rain.
“Yeah, Golden Boy.” She jerked her chin away when he continued to stare at her. “What? Do you get off on scaring people half to death? Sneaking up on them without as much as a hello?”
He held his palms in front of him. She wasn’t what he’d expected and that had Leo reevaluating his approach. After reading her file, he might have taken her for cautious. Cool, with a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Then he’d seen the flush on her cheeks and the glint of panic in her eyes. “Like I said, I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to fight. I just want to talk. To you.”
What she was, he decided as he watched her, was scared.
Her posture shifted from defensive to attack-mode in less time than it took to inhale. “Who are you?” she asked again, her voice rising an octave. “Answer me.”
“Okay, well, maybe I didn’t come for you. You just happened to be here. Still, I’d like to talk.”
She focused on his face, his eyes like two amber-laced citrines. This was a man built for intimidation. “I’m sure you realize you’re trespassing on private property.” She drew her jacket closer and pulled the ends in for protection against the chill.
The man smiled wider and her brain stuttered at the movement. “Not if I’m an invited guest. I have an appointment.” A small lie.
Astix took in the imposing set of his shoulders, the muscles bulging beneath his shirt. Probably hiding a set of abs she could scrub laundry on. Delicious, yes, but more than capable of forcing her to do whatever he wanted.
The man gave the impression of perfect all-American male mixed with UFC prizefighter. In addition to blond hair and whiskey-colored eyes, his straight nose flattened slightly toward the tip, and his straight white smile screamed good upbringing. Broad shoulders seemed wide enough to give him trouble walking through normal doors, with his muscles fitting perfectly on his tall frame.
Wowzah.
Pressed gray trousers, a snappy red bow tie, and a light brown trench coat tailor-made to ward off the weather completed the ensemble. Astix was almost disappointed that the man didn’t have an umbrella hanging over the crook of his elbow for an impromptu dance number channeling the late great Gene Kelly.
Her hackles rose at her reaction. Her unwarranted, unnecessary reaction.
Despite his good-looking appearance, although he was in no way her type, Astix took a step back. She mentally calculated the distance to her bike and wondered if speed would be her ally if the man decided he was through with being friendly. No way in hell would she win in a fight.
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Her knees bent and she shifted her weight to the balls of her toes, prepared to run if he did not like her question. Or she his answer. “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”
He bent at the waist in a show of old-world chivalry. “Leonidas Voltaire, at your service.”
Astix didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, which wouldn’t amount to much. Judging by his size, she doubted she could move him if she tried.
“Charmed, I’m sure,” she said, a hard edge seeping into her voice.
“I work for the Claddium.” Leo knew he’d made a mistake the moment he said the word. Shouldn’t have blurted it out. Damn it. Her face blanched and she bolted before he could say another word. “Well, shit.”
Astix barely made it five feet before Leo was on her. He tackled her to the ground, trapping her beneath him. Her breath whooshed out as his weight pressed down, and dark spots danced in her vision while her lungs fought to draw in air. Still she pounded her fists, the meager gesture having little impact.
Leo maneuvered to place the majority of his weight on his forearms. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have sprung that on you.”
Tucked against his massive upper body, she was small. Warm, strong. Trembling. When he glanced at her face, it was white as a sheet and her eyes had gone glassy with shock.
“Oh boy. Look, I’m sorry.”
Then she used her elbow to dig into the soft meat of his torso. He grunted something unintelligible, clenching his muscles as she wiggled, flopping her limbs to extricate herself from his all too male grasp.
“Get off me! Let me go, Golden Boy. You son-of-a-bitch.” She spoke in a low roar as she planted her elbow in his side again.
Pain swelled and for a moment, Leo forgot how to breathe as a sound like the “Hallelujah Chorus” rang in his ears. “Hold on—” he croaked out.
“Leave me alone!” Astix put every ounce of strength she possessed into getting away, her life depending on it. She used her legs to maneuver onto her stomach. Clawing in the gravel, she drew herself forward.
Leo, recuperating with astounding speed, reached one long arm out and clasped her ankle before she crawled away. “Oh no. You come back here.”
Astix screeched when he drew her to him, flipping her over and leapfrogging until his body covered hers again.
His breath tickled the hairs around her ear and he spoke softly. “Please believe I’m not here to hur
t you. Or your family.”
“Let go of me right now,” she growled. “You have some kind of nerve.”
He’d thought her scared? Sure, about as scared as a starving wolf in a pen of sheep. “If you would calm down, you’d see. You have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Excuse me for being a bit cynical while you are on top of me.”
At once Leo registered the pressure, the feminine lines of her body etched perfectly against him. A flush rose to his face. One that had nothing to do with the cold afternoon air.
“You tried to run,” he stated matter-of-factly, a grin still evident in his voice.
If she noticed his arousal, she didn’t let on. “Will you please get off me?” Astix demanded.
The longer he stayed on top of her, the more aware of the intimate situation he became. Letting his dimple show through, Leo took his time standing. He held out his hand again to help her, and this time she grasped it, her cheeks coloring. Instead of letting go, he tightened his grip, halting her progress.
“You won’t try to run again?”
She was staring at him now. Rather blankly, he thought. As if someone had told her to wear her poker face. Sober, serious eyes to suit the somewhat serious line her lips made. “I make no such promises.”
A soft laugh rumbled out of him. “I expected nothing less.”
Reality hit her like a ton of bricks. Leonidas Voltaire. Leo for short. She’d heard of him. Last name the same as the head of the Earth Elementals for the Great Lakes region. Four elected officials representing each of the four elements ruled the Claddium. Orestes Voltaire had taken his position through influence and fear, just as his family had done for generations. All powers relating back to those four elements were subject to the whims of their envoy. For over two decades now, his voice had influenced the governing body. As a gem caller, Astix was technically under Orestes and his control.
Well, fuck.
“You won’t turn me in to your father?” she shot back, terror lying in wait beneath the surface. The skin on the wrist he held turned white. “Please, I’ve done nothing wrong. I know I wasn’t supposed to see them, but I—”
Leo quirked an eyebrow. “Is that what you think?” Abruptly he let her go.
Astix stumbled back and rubbed her bones. “Wouldn’t you? You’re here to take me to the Vault.”
His eyes widened and he stopped. “I said I work for the Claddium. I didn’t say I was here to take you in. The banishment was before my time. I just want to talk.” He gestured toward a town car parked several feet away, one she clearly hadn’t noticed before.
She gaped at him. “Talk? Yeah, right. You don’t seem like the kind of man who just wants to talk.” Her fingers went chest-high in air quotes.
When he glared at her, his amber eyes shimmering in the stormy afternoon light, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Today I am.”
Quiet stretched paper-thin following his statement. Astix kept her arms crossed, straightening to her full and unimposing height and fighting to keep her hackles from rising. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Sorry. I don’t plan on spending the rest of my days in the Vault, no matter what you say.”
“We can do this the easy way, or the opposite. It’s your choice, Astix.”
“The way I see it, I really don’t have a choice. Leo.”
The sound of her voice saying his name skittered pleasantly down his spine. Another dazzling smile lit his features. “Now you get it. After you.” He opened the door to the car and gestured for her to enter the murky recesses.
“You really aren’t going to take me to your father?”
“Not if you cooperate with me.”
His eyes connected with hers as if he were trying to convey a message to her. Waiting for her to see him. Her mood was somber and untrusting. Yet being there with her drew all sensation from his body. There was no more gravel beneath his feet. No more hair clinging to the back of his damp neck.
Astix glanced away and the connection snapped. “I don’t want to go with you.”
“The weather is about to take a turn for the worse. You’re going to have a hell of a time getting your bike to cooperate if the skies open up again. The roads could freeze. At least let me give you a ride home.”
“So you can see where I live and scout the place for later? No thanks.”
“Sweetheart, I already know where you live. You might not be public enemy number one, but you’re on the radar. Give me a little credit.”
“On the radar? You’d already found me?” Shit. Double shit! “How?”
Leo shrugged. “I have my ways. Try not to think about it.”
Astix suspected it was that rash display of magic at her concert. Gosh, save a couple hundred lives, and they let the bulldogs off the leash to snap at your heels. Lesson learned. “You must think I’m stupid. There’s no way in hell I’ll let you drive me home. Not when you’re working for the people I’ve spent my life trying to avoid.”
“I know something is happening to your family. We’ve been investigating you, and them, for a while. We’ve spoken to Zenon.”
Astix sucked in a breath. “You know where my brother is?”
“I haven’t had a direct conversation with him, no, but I can tell you he’s safe. I came here today to chat with your parents. Maybe we can help each other instead.”
“You stay away from them. I mean it.”
“If you won’t talk to me, then what choice do I have? I can go inside and have a nice cup of tea with them, maybe figure out if they know anything about the eclipse and what’s happening to your brother, or I can drive you home, we can talk, see what the other knows, and maybe help each other out. Sounds like a much better night to me. I could spend hours sitting across from you.” Leo kept his hands on the door, an open invitation.
Astix stared at the cavernous interior like it was a prison cell. To her it was. Taught her whole life to fear his kind, she would have to be stupid to trust him. What could he possibly say to make her change her mind?
“I promise, no one will hurt you. I can help,” he added in a near whisper, “if you’ll let me. Please give me a chance to prove I’m not the monster in this situation.”
There was no graceful way to exit the situation. “Fine,” she began, “but I’m not going to like it.”
“Understood.” He continued to hold the door open until she cooperated.
Astix slid across the leather seat and watched Leo join her. He closed the door behind them before gesturing for his driver to continue.
“There now. Not so hard.” The easy way he sat, the relaxed posture, was designed to put her at ease.
None of it helped. She wondered if the stabbing tension lodged between her shoulder blades came from her own social clumsiness or instincts telling her she’d just made a terrible mistake.
Her anxiety ramped up a notch until it felt like a rock pressed down on her chest. Blood rushed through her body and the beat of her heart echoed in the inner canals of her ears. Leo calmly crossed his leg over his knee.
Astix ignored him.
“I didn’t come here to fight with you. Honestly.”
“Like I’m supposed to trust you.” Her response was machine-gun rapid in the relative silence of the town car. What she wouldn’t give to be in the fresh air again. Somewhere Leo’s eyes couldn’t pin her to the seat with their concern.
“You have every reason not to trust me, in fact,” he muttered. “I just wish it could be different.”
“Why? You don’t know me.”
“Maybe not. But I know what you are, Astix. I know what you aren’t,” Leo said. “We all live with secrets. Some are just better hidden than others. It’s not up to me to judge you.”
She scoffed. “Then you would be the first.”
He answered after a long pause. “Your gift is something beautiful.”
“Don’t, Mr. Voltaire.”
“Leo, please. Why not? It’s beautiful because
it’s a part of you.”
Her mouth went dry. They drove steadily, with the sound of the windshield wipers beating away the mist of rain. Tinted windows kept them hidden from the outside world. The car smelled of him, she decided. A distinctive woody undertone mixed sensually with leather and drenched skin. It was delightful.
She hated the scent.
His hair was the gilded shade of an old gold coin, falling as it chose around a strong face. A compelling face. His mouth had a hedonistic curve that told her he’d be outstanding in bed. If she got him there. Which she didn’t want, not at all. Not even a little bit.
He had broad shoulders. Nice arms, from what she’d felt earlier.
Astix kept to her side of the car with her hands laced together on her lap. Suddenly the jacket was not enough to stave off the cold. She shivered, well aware of golden eyes glinting at her through the gloom. “What?” she asked nastily.
Leo shook his head. “Nothing. I’m looking at the only person alive to inherit magic she isn’t entitled to.”
“I damn well am entitled!”
“I don’t know…”
“Yeah? Well, I do.”
Although Astix logically knew better, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. There was something about the man that put her on guard, which had her mouth firing off snappy comebacks.
“How do you figure?” he probed.
“I know what I am, and I know what I can do. Since you work for the Claddium, I assume you know what I can do as well.”
“Knowing is one thing, seeing is another.”
Despite her instincts urging caution, Astix rose to the bait he offered. She held out her palm, sending out a mental call. The response came instantly. A piece of obsidian flew through the air, shattering the glass of the car window as if a bullet had just passed through it, and landing neatly on her hand. A warm glow emanated from deep within it. The obsidian quavered slightly, like a dog ready to do its master’s bidding.
“I’m entitled,” Astix continued. Her hair whipped around her face as wet wind blew in through the hole in the window. Knowing she’d made a mistake the second the gem found her open palm. Fuck, what had she done? She’d bought herself a one-way ticket to a meeting with the elder Voltaire for sure, who would either lock her away or use her as a human experiment. He’d try to find out what had gone wrong with her. What mutation in her genetic makeup gave her access to the use of the wrong magic.