Assassin's Kiss

by Sharon Kay

  He sat on the bed and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. This night had gone from the bliss of having Tessa in his arms, finally trusting him…to the awful confirmation that her best friend was in league with the enemy.

  But why, exactly? And why did Zeebi need to keep tabs on him? Scorpio shook his head. She had seemed like she was in his corner. Pushing Tessa toward talking to him, early on. Something didn’t add up. What did she want from him? From Damien?

  From Damien she probably wanted to enhance her own skill with the added, dubious benefits of dark magic. But having grown up here, wouldn’t she know better? Or had the lines tempted her past her point of resistance, as they had with others?

  He kicked off his boots and rolled to his back. He would have to catch Zeebi with Damien and have the Bronwy guards with him to witness it. That was the only way the coven would accept her treachery.

  And even then, would Tessa believe it? Her own best friend? His head pounded at the thought of how to tell her.

  Shit. Should he tell her? Would she go straight to Zeebi? If she did, the opportunity to catch Zeebi would be lost, and she would surely be more careful in the future. And Tessa might not believe him. Their fledgling trust might fail. That, and the trust of the whole coven.

  He’d worked hard to make even these baby steps, and he’d be damned if he’d lose ground. “Fuck,” he muttered aloud. In his first days there, he’d decided to look at this situation as a mission, like any other Watcher assignment. Sometimes on assignments, all members of the team knew all the details. And sometimes details were revealed on a need-to-know basis, if that was determined to be the best chance for optimal results.

  His heart sank at the realization that for this plan to succeed, Tessa would have to be kept in the dark about her friend. She trusted him now, and he was about to keep a really big, shitty secret from her.

  And gods, that went against everything in his soul.

  C

  HAPTER 22

  BANGING ON THE DOOR ROUSED Tessa from a deep, dreamless sleep. She shoved off the sheets and sat up, chillier than usual—crap. She was still naked. “Just a minute!” she yelled as she raced around the room, pulling on old pajama pants and a gray tank top.

  Dammit, she’d finally slept well, after waking several times during the night. Scorpio had been there the first few times. Not the last few. And that was okay. It’s what she expected. He couldn’t stay and get caught with her.

  She darted to the front door and flung it open, out of breath.

  Zeebi blinked up at her with wide eyes. “You look like you slept hard. Or not at all.” She quirked a blond brow.

  “Um, yeah. Not well.” Tessa stepped back and gestured for her friend to come in.

  Zeebi breezed past her. “Well, I have something that will make you feel better.” She set a covered tray on Tessa’s counter, then made a show of removing the lid. “Inga made her rare and delicious French toast. The guys were about to eat all of it. I grabbed these slices just in time.”

  “Oh wow, that looks amazing!” Tessa ran a hand through her tangled hair. “And smells amazing, too. You’re the best.”

  “I know.” Zeebi winked and rummaged in Tessa’s cabinets for an extra plate and forks. “So why couldn’t you sleep? Just stuff on your mind?”

  Stuff. That was a loaded word. Tessa sighed. “Yeah. I worry about leaving.” She sat on one of the two bar stools near her counter and winced as her core hit the hard wood. Crap, she was sore.

  Memories of being right here with Scorpio flooded her mind. The door, the couch, him holding her…It had been wonderful. He was wonderful.

  And he had been cursed by Lenore.

  “Are you okay?” Zeebi eyed her.

  “Yeah, um, just kind of stiff.” She rubbed her eyes. “Tossing and turning, I guess. I was finally sleeping well when you showed up.”

  Zeebi blew her a kiss and forked three slices of toast on Tessa’s plate. “And you love me.”

  “I do.” Tessa rolled her eyes and took a bite. “Oh, yum. These are so good, Inga could open a restaurant. All she would need to serve is this.”

  “Agreed.” Zeebi sat on the other stool and dug in.

  They ate in silence for a few minutes. Zeebi glanced around Tessa’s kitchen, which was really just a corner with a counter, fridge, and stove. Zeebi’s own cabin was chock full of color and art. Tessa wasn’t much for decorating; this place was temporary, not somewhere to settle in long-term. She and the coven would move back to their rightful land. One day.

  “We’ve had a lot of talks here.” Zeebi pushed a piece of toast through the lake of syrup on her plate.

  “Stop.” Tessa shook her head. “Don’t start talking about me leaving. I couldn’t get it out of my head last night and now I just don’t need to hear it.”

  “Okay, sorry.” Zeebi munched her very soggy forkful of food and continued to study the room. Suddenly she let out a snort. “Were you doing laundry yesterday?”

  “Hmm? No, I was checking on the wards all day. You know that.”

  “Well, one way or another, looks like you dropped something.” Zeebi smirked.

  Tessa followed her friend’s gaze to a corner near the door where her thong, or rather part of it, lay. “Oh my gods.” She got up and snatched it off the floor, only to see the other half peeking out from under a chair. “Crap.” It would be funny, if she had discovered it alone. But she wasn’t ready to share this with anyone.

  “Not just your panties on the floor, in your neat as a pin home, but torn panties on the floor of your neat as a pin home?” Zeebi’s eyes danced with interest. “Are you having sex and I don’t know about it?”

  “No!” Tessa made a face and threw the pieces of her thong in the trash. “No. Who would I even—ugh, never mind. No.”

  “Scorpio wants you,” Zeebi said softly, insistently.

  “He’s locked up. Not possible. Try again.” Tessa scooped up the last bite of her breakfast. “On second thought, don’t. There’s nothing to guess.”

  A wistful expression crossed Zeebi’s face. “I wish a male would look at me like that. Like the way he looks at you, like you’re a walking, talking goddess. Like he’d do anything for you.”

  Tessa rubbed a hand over her eyes, covering them because she didn’t know if she could keep a neutral expression anymore where Scorpio was concerned. Because gods knew, he would do anything for her. And she was going to walk away from him. “Just stop. Please.”

  “Okay, Miss Grumpy.” Zeebi muttered as she pushed up from her stool and scraped crumbs off her plate into the trash.

  Tessa sighed and walked over to her friend. “Zee, I’m sorry. It’s just…a lot has happened. The attacks at the rowan and from the wolves, the note yesterday, the fact that I don’t have much time left…”

  Zeebi set down the plate and folded Tessa into a hug. “I’m sorry too. I know I’m obnoxious and can’t keep my mouth shut. What will I do without you? There’ll be no one to tell me to shut up.”

  Tessa snickered. “Oh, I disagree. I bet one of the men around here will crack under your constant talking.”

  Zeebi giggled. “Maybe. All right, are we good?”

  “Yeah. I’ll miss you like crazy though.” She sighed and forced a smile.

  “I’ll miss you too. They better let you have a phone.”

  “It’ll probably be bugged.”

  “Then we’ll make up a code like we did when we were little. Remember?” Zeebi pulled back with a grin.

  Tessa laughed. “Yeah. But we might need something more involved than our old gibberish language.”

  “We can do it. I have full confidence in us.” Zeebi scooped up the items she’d brought with her. “And now, we have a lesson with the tween girls.”

  “That’s right. The ones who have shown a true affinity to metal.” Tessa glanced down at her comfortable but well-worn pajama pants. “I better change. And brush my hair.”

  “You do that. I’ll go set up.” With a wave, Zeebi ducked ou
t the door.

  Tessa watched the thin wooden panel close, remembering how Scorpio had simply picked the lock. He could probably break the thing down with just one good punch.

  Scorpio. Her belly did a double flip. This feeling was so new and unexpected, she couldn’t put a label on it. All she knew was she wished she could wake up beside him every day. And that what she wanted most was diametrically opposed to what she could ever have.

  By sheer determination, Tessa made it through the lesson with the girls. She usually welcomed the chance to teach, observe, and help them hone their skill. But today’s lesson would be among the last she would give here, and dark thoughts weighed on her. Would one of these young witches excel, coming close to Tessa’s level? And then would their guards—Bronwy and Vespera—be involved in a conflict, using against each other weapons Tessa and one of her former students had created?

  Gods, this sucked.

  Then there was the surprising distraction of Scorpio, throwing her completely off kilter. He and the guards were patrolling, inspecting, and just around all morning. Every time she caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, her throat went dry. If he smiled at her, her mind went blank. She coughed and cleared her throat so many times Zeebi started giving her the evil eye.

  “You better tell me what the hell is going on with you,” she hissed.

  “It’s nothing,” Tessa rasped. “Just, you know, getting choked up about leaving soon.” It was partly true.

  Zeebi shook her head like she didn’t believe it for a second.

  Finally, the aroma of lunch cooking in the large communal area grew too tempting, and the girls were clearly ready for a break. Tessa dismissed them, and she was left with an assortment of small twisted metal objects, her favorite knife, and Zeebi’s suspicious gaze.

  “Your mind is somewhere else today. Spill it, girl.”

  “Nothing to say.” Tessa shrugged. “I mean, wouldn’t you agree that a ton of crap has gone down that would make anyone distracted?”

  “Yes, but you have one very large, very muscular distraction that doesn’t apply to anyone else.”

  Tessa sighed. “What is there to say? I’m going to marry Damien in a couple weeks. Whatever anyone thinks about who belongs with who doesn’t matter.”

  Zeebi scooped up three gnarled spoons, a dark scowl on her face, and her voice dropped to harsh sarcasm. “I guess you’re right. People are going to end up with whoever, and that’s the way life goes. It doesn’t actually matter who marries who, or who mates who.” She flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder.

  “What?” Tessa paused, hand halfway to her own elven forged blade. She stared at Zeebi, confusion swirling through her. “What are you talking about? Is something wrong?”

  “No.” Zeebi smiled, but somehow it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Never mind. It’s all good.” She brushed imaginary dirt off her arm. “You know, I need to check some of the guards’ blades. Go over the spells I put on them, to make them strike more accurately. I’ll see you later.” She scooped up her bag and beelined for the other side of the large square.

  What just happened? Tessa stared after her, perplexed. Zeebi’s tone had been pissed off and wounded at the same time, and Tessa had no idea why. After all, Zeebi had been pushing her for details of Scorpio—

  “Everything okay?” His deep rumble erased all other thoughts in two-point-five seconds.

  “Yeah.” Tessa dragged her eyes away from her upset friend. “We just finished.” She studied the delicious way his forearms bulged as he folded his arms across his massive chest, but a question nagged at her. “Um, did you hear any of that?”

  He looked sexily sheepish. “I didn’t mean to, but yeah. I heard Damien’s name and then I couldn’t not listen.”

  “That’s okay. I just don’t know why she seems to be ticked off.” Tessa rubbed her forehead, and peeked up at Scorpio from beneath her hand. “She saw my thong on the floor when she came over this morning,” she whispered. “Both halves.”

  “Yeah?” He tucked his chin to avoid a huge grin he didn’t have prayer of hiding. “Whoops.”

  “Exactly. Whoops. I practically had to pinky swear that I wasn’t sleeping with anyone,” she muttered.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “No you’re not. And honestly, neither am I.” She pressed her lips into a line to hold in her own smile. Gods, the male made her giddy. And giddy was not something she felt, ever.

  Golden eyes seared her with awareness. “You’re right. I’m sure as hell not.”

  Callia shuffled up to them, humming, long silver-white hair lifting gently in the breeze. “Your lesson went a little too well, dear. The girls are reshaping all the cutlery.”

  “Um, oh darn. Sorry, I’ll make them change it all back.”

  “I know you will. But it’s nice to see them so, ahem, creative. You may want to take a look first.” She winked at Scorpio and kept walking. “You should get some lunch before its gone, warrior. You still need to eat now and then.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He watched Callia totter toward the main eating area, then turned back to Tessa. “You should show me how well you throw that.” He nodded at the knife she still held.

  She glanced around. “The targets are at the other end of our land.”

  “Don’t need one. Use me.”

  “No!” Her jaw dropped. “Never.”

  “Why not? I’ll catch it.”

  “It will cut you. Deeply.” She held the tip toward his face. “See?”

  “I’ll heal.”

  “I’m not throwing this at you.” She made a show of sheathing the blade. “Anyway, remember how the Vespera guards stopped our knives and fire in midair? Not sure I can do anything with this anyway.”

  He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I don’t doubt you can do damage. But you’ll need the element of surprise. How fast can you throw?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never timed it.”

  A dark look crossed his face. “I don’t know how Damien is going to treat you. I hope to all the gods that he never lays a harming hand on you, or he might not get to keep his limbs once I get near him.”

  Tessa’s eyes widened as lethal intent combined with steadfast conviction rolled off his body. I will never hurt you. “I…”

  “I want you to be able to protect yourself, if there’s ever a time I can’t get to you soon enough. And you may have to incapacitate him physically, since you say not to underestimate his magic.”

  “True.” She glanced down at the leather sheath. “But if I’m just sitting here and I need to suddenly throw this, I think I’ll be pretty obvious.”

  “Maybe not. Your sheath is positioned properly for your hand…try it now. Throw it into that tree.” He pointed to a thick pine standing twenty feet away. “The bark’s soft enough, the knife will stick.”

  “Okay.” She felt a little silly, but appreciated his help. “Guess I’m the student now.” As quickly as she could, she withdrew her weapon. The steel warmed in her hand, responding to her touch, and she hurled it at the pine.

  It sunk into the bark, hilt quivering with kinetic energy.

  “Not bad. A direct hit.” Scorpio walked to the tree and retrieved the knife. “If you adjust your technique, you can release it a few seconds faster.”

  She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “All right. I’m open to suggestions, because I can’t see how I can be faster.”

  He stepped closer and handed her the knife. He guided her hand down near her thigh, where her sheath was. “Say your hand is here. You’re not expecting to need to defend yourself. And then…” He moved behind her, so close the heat of his skin warmed her. He rested strong fingers on her elbow. “You need to make a move. You have two seconds to think about it.”

  Her breath hitched at his nearness. She ached to back up, close the half step of space between them. “Um,” she said. “Okay. What do I do?” She fought through the sensual overload with effort, aware that they were still in the p
ublic square.

  “Pull your arm back like you’re going to throw, but don’t. Not yet.” His voice blazed across her skin.

  She complied. The backward motion brought her arm to his hand, where he encircled her forearm with his fingers. “Position this arm higher, and keep your elbow in close. Think of it like a spring releasing a projectile.”

  Higher. A spring. Gods, his raw masculinity fried her brain. She lowered her arm and began again, following his instructions, and stopped.

  “Good,” he murmured. “Do it again, and this time let it fly.”

  She released a breath, repositioned herself, and thought about all the shit Damien had put Bronwy through. Anger stirred as she pictured his too-perfect smile and cold eyes. In a blur of her best speed, she flung the knife.

  Again it landed deep in the soft pine bark.

  Scorpio gave a low whistle of approval. “How’d that feel?”

  “Good. Was it really faster?”

  He nodded. “Yep. Each second will buy you time. If he’s saying a spell, that’s fewer words he can complete.”

  She jogged to the tree and pulled out the weapon. “I want to try that again.”

  He winked and rocked back on his heels. “Go for it.”

  Tessa threw three more times, each time getting faster.

  “Very impressive. And you’ve drawn an audience.”

  Tessa turned to see her students and several of the guards had moved closer. The girls gave Scorpio a wide berth and clustered on the other side of the work table. The guards stood, arms folded and grinning.

  “Hey guys.” Her cheeks heated. She wasn’t used to doing anything other than metal work in front of the group. “Well, I’m done. “

  “Looking good, Tessa,” Kharv said. “I’ll never diss you for throwing like a girl.”

  “Better not.” She smirked. Sheathing her knife, she glanced between Scorpio and Kharv. “What’s on the agenda for the afternoon?”