Daire adored her. “Put yourself in danger again, cousin, and as an enforcer, I’ll lock you down.” His main job as an enforcer was to protect the members of the Nine, and if anything happened to the spirited witch, the world would lose too much beauty.
She rolled her eyes. “Please tell me another little blond human didn’t just take you out.”
He paused.
Adam glanced around at the smashed window and broken glass strewn across the floor, his frown dark. “Again? Who is this Cee Cee?”
The feeling finally returned to Daire’s legs. “She’s actually Felicity Kyllwood.”
Simone gasped, her eyes widening.
Adam stiffened, his mouth pressing together.
“Exactly.” Daire grabbed his phone. “They couldn’t have gone far. Simone, get to your flat and hack into every camera within a mile. Relay the information to us through the earbuds.” He jogged to his room to yank on a dark T-shirt and motorcycle boots.
Adam followed him. “The smart move is to notify Zane Kyllwood and let the demon nation handle the woman.”
“I’m handling the woman,” Daire bit out, reaching for his key from the dresser as he passed by.
“Shit.” Adam, always the strategist, shook his head and followed. He stepped over rubble and broken glass, his phone in his hand, already punching in orders. “I had no sense she was a demon. None at all.”
Daire prowled out of the penthouse and reached the stairs, running down. “She doesn’t have the ability to attack minds, and she can’t teleport. So she doesn’t really give off demon vibes.”
Adam coughed from behind him. “She can’t mind attack?”
“No.”
“Interesting.”
“Not really.” Daire didn’t give a shit if she could attack minds, but it made her vulnerable if she was going after an enemy. At least he wouldn’t have to waste energy shielding against an attack when he caught up to her.
Adam leaped onto his Harley next to Daire. “She seems so innocent.”
“Ha.” The woman had drugged him . . . twice. Yet there was a sense of wonder to her, and even though she’d been sheltered, she’d dealt with pain and loss. Not that her history mattered. As an enforcer, he had the present to deal with, and that pertained to planekite and mines. As a man, he had his woman to deal with—whether she liked it or not.
Adam ignited his bike.
Daire glanced down at his aching hand and slowly turned it over, already knowing what he’d see.
Adam caught the gaze, saw Daire’s palm, and quickly turned the key. The pipes silenced. “You’re kidding.”
“No.” An intricate Celtic knot, the emblem of his people, stood in raised relief on his palm. The marking that a witch transferred to a mate. “It just appeared.”
Adam shook his head. “Wow. She’s a demon, bro.”
“Aye.”
Adam scratched his chin. “Demons brand their mates with the letters of their surnames. If you brand her, will she brand you?”
Daire lifted a shoulder. He’d never met a witch mated to a demon. “If it’s a brand, I’d have to allow it to remain on my skin, I think. Besides, you and I both have had the marking appear before on our flesh.”
“True. Remember that crazy wolf shifter I almost mated? The marking appeared, and I willed it away. Thank God. So don’t worry, you can will that marking away and don’t have to mate the demonness who keeps making you look like an ass.”
Daire cut him a sharp look.
Adam gave a body shudder and reached for his phone to quickly dial. “Simone? What did you find out?” He listened and then nodded. “Keep looking.” The phone disappeared in his pocket. “Felicity and her gang went north, and Simone is sending tracking information to our cell phones.”
Daire twisted the key and his bike roared to life. A marking might appear just because a possible mate had gotten close; it didn’t mean he and Felicity were fated. He didn’t believe in fate, and if he did, fate would have a nice, docile, sweet woman ready for him. One who didn’t get in the way of his job and was a soft place to land when needed.
Fate definitely wouldn’t stick him with a wounded demon who’d rather drug him than work with him. No way. He jerked his head toward the exit and swung his bike around, heading out at full speed.
Felicity Kyllwood, demon or not, wasn’t getting out of his reach this time. He reached into his pocket and grabbed an earbud to shove in his ear. Heading north, he swerved around cars, past restaurants, and around drunken pedestrians. Simone gave directions in his ear, her keyboard clacking across the line.
“They’re on bikes and just turned east onto Bentley Road,” she said.
Daire cut Adam a look. “Bears’ territory?” he mouthed.
Adam exhaled heavily and twisted his throttle.
Oh, the bear shifters had better not be in on this. The bears lived in plain sight as the Grizzly Motorcycle Club and usually kept to themselves. Anger tightened Daire’s hold on the handles, and he pushed his bike harder. A rumble from up ahead disturbed the airwaves. He focused, realigning oxygen molecules, applying quantum physics in a way humans would never understand. Five riders, about a mile ahead.
His blood thrummed with the thrill of the chase. He’d forgotten. Actually forgotten the excitement of a challenge. It had been so long since he’d had one.
Felicity was one hell of a challenge.
He leaned over the bike and let the wind roll across his shoulders. Lights. Up ahead, he saw lights. So he kicked it into gear, fire all but burning through his skin.
Her scent. That hyacinth sweet scent wafted back, and his nostrils flared. Mine.
Forgetting his job, forgetting formality, even forgetting diplomacy, he chased her. She sat behind a large shifter, her arms around his back, her glorious hair streaming in the wind.
The sight of her with her arms around another male had fury careening through him until green sparks shot from his fingers.
She turned her head and caught sight of him. Her eyes widened and her lips pursed. Then, slowly, her mouth curved in a smile, and challenge filled her eyes.
Oh, baby. It was on . . . and it was the smile that drew him toward her. Aye. That damn smile.
Felicity held on tighter to Lucas Clarke, bear shifter, her heart leaping to life. Daire Dunne, on a Harley, chasing her down looked like every nice girl’s dream of a bad boy fantasy.
Yet the enforcer was all man, and he was pissed.
Green fire crackled across his hands, and even the air around him seemed charged.
Wind whipped across her face, yet she couldn’t look away. Determination stamped hard on his rugged face, anger tightening his lips into a line. Moonlight slanted down, glinting in his furious green eyes. Yet something else lived there.
The thrill.
The thrill of a chase, the excitement of a challenge.
Her breath panted out. When was the last time she’d felt so alive? Never.
Dark anticipation crossed Daire’s face as he drew near.
She shivered and pressed closer to Lucas, who was one of the top lieutenants in the shifter organization and currently under contract to work for her. “Go faster,” she yelled.
The shifter handed back a green gun. “Shoot.”
The weapon chilled her hand. Drugging the enforcer was one thing, actually shooting him another. Yet she swung around, tightening her thighs on the seat, to point the barrel at him in warning.
His foot lashed out, and he kicked the weapon from her hand. Holy hell. How had he moved so quickly?
The bear shifter swerved to the left, and Daire followed. Adam Dunne pulled up on the right, bracketing them. A second later, a shifter drove up beside Adam and punched him in the jaw.
The bike beneath Felicity swerved, and she cried out, holding tighter to the leather. Daire reached for her, his hand enclosing her nape. She yelped and kicked out, throwing up an arm to sever his hold just as the shifter driving her kicked Daire’s bike.
Daire
swerved away, both hands slamming on his handlebars to control his bike.
Felicity bunched against the shifter. “Go, go, go,” she yelled. Daire had tried to grab her, and his hold hadn’t been gentle. Not even close. For the first time, she doubted her safety, no matter her allies. “Hurry up, Lucas.”
The shifter ducked his head and opened the throttle. Felicity jerked back and then dug her fingers into his leather cut, holding on, trying to see as the wind made her eyes tear. Pine trees spun by them, their scent competing with the misty air.
Daire reached them again, and this time, he struck out and nailed Lucas in the face. The shifter’s head jerked to the side, and he let off the throttle. Then Daire reached out and grabbed Felicity’s hair, twisting his wrist until he reached her nape. She punched him, yanking her head, pain scoring her scalp. Fury roared through her and she kicked out, nailing him in the thigh.
His hold tightened.
Lucas regained control and sped up, his muscles bunching.
“Wait,” Felicity cried out as her head was yanked back. Daire wasn’t letting go.
Lucas opened the throttle, while Daire slowed down. Time ended. Felicity flew off the bike, and only Daire’s impossibly quick reflexes kept her from spinning right into the night. He shifted his shoulders, tugged, released her hair, and she landed on the seat behind him. She hit hard enough her thighs bounced, bruises instantly forming.
Pure instinct had her hands clutching his T-shirt.
Son of a bitch. “You could’ve decapitated me,” she yelled into his ear.
His chuckle only fanned her fury hotter, and she punched him in the kidney. He didn’t even flinch. She swallowed, coughed back fear, and tried to concentrate. She didn’t have any leverage or power seated behind him on the bike, and if she forced them to crash, she’d get hurt, too. The ability to attack minds had never been more necessary, but she didn’t have any way to do it. Her inadequacies settled like hard lumps of coal in her stomach.
Lucas swerved his bike in front of them, turning to face them and driving straight at them.
Daire’s entire body tensed. Anticipation popped in the air around them.
Felicity shook her head. What were they going to do?
Lucas held out a hand, and Felicity instinctively put hers out. If she could grab him, she could jump to his bike. Daire neatly countered by hitting the brakes. The bike skidded and tipped up on the front wheel. She screamed, landing on his back and then slapping back down. Lucas barreled past them.
Daire chuckled and twisted the throttle again.
Felicity smashed into his back and held on, her mind reeling. The man was crazy and having too much fun. Over to the side, Adam and two bear shifters fought full on while steering their bikes. They were all insane.
She stopped struggling and just held on. At some point, the enforcer would have to stop the bike, and then she’d fight. Right now, she needed to get her breathing under control so she could think.
Buildings appeared on the sides of the road, and suddenly, Daire swerved and stopped the bike before hitting a massive garage.
Felicity swallowed and looked around. Daire and Adam sat on their rumbling bikes, a garage behind them, a wall of shifters on bikes in front of them. Oh, this was so not good.
Massive lights clicked on, illuminating the concrete courtyard. Garages took up three sides, while the shifters blocked the only road.
Daire’s body stiffened, and his legs bunched.
A smaller door to the main garage opened, and a man prowled out. He looked like a bear. Broad and graceful at well over six feet tall, he had shaggy brown hair and honey-chocolate eyes. A primal sense of danger cascaded off him, and he moved with the ease of a wild predator. Sleep cleared from his eyes as he took in the scene, obviously having yanked on a pair of jeans so old the white creases had creases. His lightly haired chest was bare but roped with fierce muscles. “What the holy fuck?” he rumbled.
Even over the bike engines, his words were clear.
Daire glanced at him. Apparently making a decision, he cut his engine. Adam did the same.
The guy jerked his head, and the wall of shifters on bikes followed suit.
Quiet roared in on the echoes of the pipes. An owl hooted in protest through the trees.
“I thought we were allies, Bear,” Daire snapped.
Felicity peered at the leader of the bear shifters, who at the moment, no longer appeared sleepy. Instead, a slightly pissed-off curiosity glimmered in his honeyed eyes.
“We are,” he said, his gaze moving to Lucas, who sat alert on his bike. “Luke?”
Lucas jerked his head toward Felicity. “Side job.”
Bear glanced at Felicity, Daire, Lucas, and back to her. “Somebody talk,” he ordered.
Felicity started to swing her leg from the bike. Smooth as silk, Daire half turned, grabbed her waist, pivoted, and plunked her down in front of him, her back to his front. One arm banded around her rib cage with enough pressure to compress her lungs.
Bear cocked his head to the side. “The human is yours?”
Felicity winced. “Demon,” she rumbled.
Now Bear’s eyebrows lifted. “Interesting.”
She shrugged, hampered by the strength of Daire’s hold. His body, warm and solid, shielded her from the wind. Almost against her will, her body relaxed right into his strength. “Human or not, I’m not a puppy, thus I am not his. Kindly order him to release me.”
Daire stiffened.
Bear threw back his head and laughed, the low rumble echoing around the garage doors. “The Coven Nine enforcers don’t take orders from me, sweetheart, and you’re far too beautiful to be a puppy. I meant no offense.” Quicker than a thought, he sobered, his gaze hardening as he glanced at the shifters. “In contrast, they do answer to me. So I’m wondering why I have a pissed-off ally here surrounded by my own men.”
Felicity shivered. Okay. Bears could be scary. “I, ah, hired them to do a job.”
“Which was?” Bear asked silkily.
“To bomb my apartment and shoot me full of tranquilizers,” Daire barked. “You’ll receive the full bill for damages within a week.”
Bear kept his gaze on his men. “Lucas?”
Lucas shrugged. “We often take side jobs.”
“Not against allies,” Bear shot back. He scratched his head. “Lucas, I’ll deal with you later. Daire, Adam, ah, demon lady? Why don’t you all come inside?” Without waiting for a response from anybody, he turned and loped back toward the still open doorway.
“Felicity.” She raised her voice. “Instead of demon lady, call me Felicity.” Maybe Bear would be an ally after all. She could currently use one.
He stopped moving, and his bare shoulders went back. Almost in slow motion, he turned around. “Felicity?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
His gaze darkened and focused over her shoulder at the tense enforcer. “As in, Felicity Kyllwood?”
Mutely, she nodded her head.
“Well, fuck me.” Bear turned back around and strode for the door.
Chapter 13
Daire leaned back in the cushioned chair in Bear’s rec room, eyeing the bar set against the corner. In contrast to the play room at Fire, this one was clean, shiny, and comfortable. Bear might be a deadly shifter, but the guy liked his comforts. Several plush lounge chairs faced a huge screened television. Pool tables, dart boards, and various video games took up the other room, while the scent of orange cleanser filled the air. He sipped his whiskey. “The damage to my penthouse is going to cost you a mint,” he said, savoring the liquid.
Bear grunted from a nearby chair.
Felicity sat to Daire’s left, flanked by Adam. She swirled the brew and downed a good portion of the drink. Color sprang into her cheeks. “I paid Lucas enough to fix your place, Daire. Now, if you don’t mind, I do have work to do.”
Amusement, the kind that would get him shot, pinged up through Daire. “Actually, Cee Cee, I do mind.”
&nbs
p; Bear shifted his weight, stretching out his bare feet. “Why do I feel like I’m going to be the one screwed here?”
Daire lifted a shoulder.
Bear sighed. “You can’t keep a member of the demon ruling family a prisoner, Daire. I sure as hell won’t help you.”
“I’m not asking for help,” he rumbled.
“I am.” Felicity turned a sparkling smile on the shifter.
He perked up.
Daire growled.
Felicity leaned forward. “I hired Lucas and your men because I needed help, as I still do.”
Bear frowned. “To be honest, I don’t like any woman being held captive, demon ruling family member or not. What do you want, pretty lady?”
Daire cut him a hard look. Was the shifter flirting?
Felicity’s dimples winked, making her both cute and undeniably sexy. “I just need a ride to the airport. Nothing big.”
Bear scratched the whiskers at his chin. “Does your, ah, family know where you are?”
Her eyebrows lifted, suddenly regal. “My son doesn’t need to know my whereabouts, Bear.”
“Well, shit,” Bear said.
“That about sums it up,” Adam said cheerfully.
Daire fought the urge to hurl the heavy crystal glass at his brother’s head. “Where is the plane heading this time?” he asked.
She turned her focus on him, and he felt the punch from those stunning eyes right in his solar plexus. “A spa in Alaska.”
Cute, and a terrible liar. “I wonder if I spanked you right now, whether anybody would try to stop me?” he mused.
Fire snapped from her eyes.
Bear cleared his throat. “This ain’t no sex dungeon, kids. Keep it PG rated.”
Daire rolled his eyes. “Where are you planning to go, and don’t lie to me again.”
She kept her lips tightly together.
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