Defended By Darkness: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 2

by Bolryder, Terry

  “Wait,” I say. “I need you.”

  He lets out a sigh then, jerking his hand through his hair roughly before picking me up and sitting down in one of the chairs, holding me in his lap. “I should have come in sooner. Tell me everything that happened.”

  So I do, from the moment Bill came in until Tanner interrupted, just when I needed him.

  I can feel Tanner’s body go tight with fury, hear his heart pounding in his chest, but he just listens until I’m done, holding back his feelings.

  “And that’s it,” I say. “I’m doomed.”

  Tanner shakes his head. “No. Bill has to be caught and punished.”

  “For what? Propositioning me?” I shake my head. “God, I knew he was a creep, but I never thought he would do that.” I sigh. “Maybe he was just on something, and he’ll never bring it up again. We can just pretend this never happened. Just until my benefits proposal—”

  “Wait.” Tanner is glaring at me now. “You can’t possibly think you’re still going to work here. Your boss, who is untouchable, just threatened you.”

  “This is my home,” I say. “I’ve been here ten years; I’m not just going to run the second something bad happens. I need time to work this out.”

  “Your home is in the fae world,” Tanner says. “You’re a princess.”

  I pull back from him, shocked. “I only just found out fae existed. I’m not ready to just jump into your world. Did you think I would be?”

  “No.” He shoves a hand through his hair, mussing it further. “I mean, I did think you would want to go there, rule your own kingdom…”

  “Well, you were wrong. This is my home. I have as much right to be here as you do to be there.” I glare at him. “Is that a problem?”

  “No, no, of course not,” he says, holding me tight again. “You’re my soul bond. That won’t change, no matter where we are.” But I can feel stress. Tension.

  “I can’t just run and let Bill win,” I say. “He’s just going crazy because of his divorce. I’ve never had a complaint about him.”

  “Never?” Tanner asks, looking confused. “Would anyone feel safe to tell you?”

  “Yes.” I nod eagerly. “In fact, we’ve had complaints about higher-ranked people before. Like the last CEO. The employees trust me, and they don’t come into contact with Bill a lot. But I’m positive they would tell me if he did something like this.”

  “I still want to kill him,” Tanner says ferociously. “How can you expect me to work here, down the hall from him, when I know what he tried to do?” He looks down at me. “What he still wants to do.”

  “I told him no,” I say. “He shouldn’t try anything again.”

  Tanner looks at me dubiously, and I have to admit I’m worried in my heart as well.

  “What am I supposed to do, quit?” I ask. “I’ve spent my whole life here. I’m not just going to let him win.”

  Tanner cocks his head. “Let me handle him, then. Perhaps I don’t kill him. I just maim him. Or—”

  “No,” I say. “You can’t just solve everything with violence.”

  He looks to the side as though he doesn’t agree with me.

  I sigh. “Besides, I love you. I need you near me, and I’m not ready to leave this world. If you hurt him, you won’t be able to stay as CEO. You’d either get fired, go to jail, or have to go back to your world, and where would that leave me? I’m not ready, Tanner.”

  “But you love me?” His eyebrows are up in surprise. “Truly?”

  I nod. “Of course I do. I couldn’t do… what we did last night… if I wasn’t in love.”

  He looks so satisfied he could explode. “Then why can’t we—”

  “I told you I’m not ready,” I say, smoothing his shirt down just to have something to do with my hands. “I’ve never been in a relationship, except with my job. I need time to adjust, and I still may never want to go to your world.”

  He cocks his head. “Why not?”

  “Because this is my home. Why don’t you get that?”

  He lets out a sigh. “We will figure it out, soul bond. But in the meantime, what do you want me to do?” He looks in the direction of the door. “Even now, my only desire is to find and deal with him. A man with that much chaos in his heart, who would threaten someone who has been so loyal, misusing his power like that… In my world, he would be banished to the chaos realm or killed.”

  “This isn’t that world,” I say. “Here, men like this get away with things all the time. And there isn’t anything we can do about it. If I sue him, it’s his word against mine, and I know how that will go. I just have to keep my head down, I guess, and hope he loses interest.”

  “He won’t,” Tanner says gently. “He’s evil, down to the core, to even think of doing that to you.”

  “I’m just glad you came when you did,” I say softly, giving him a grateful smile. “When I heard your voice, I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen.”

  “Damn right I wouldn’t,” Tanner says, moving back to cup my face in his hands as he looks down at me. “I’ll always be here for you, soul bond.”

  Then he kisses me long and sensually, reminding me of everything we shared last night.

  Everything he is. Everything he says I am.

  By the time he pulls back, I’m both breathless but more relaxed than I was a moment ago.

  Like contact with him soothed me.

  “Look,” he says, cupping my cheek. “I get that this place means a lot to you. That you don’t want to leave. So I’m going to just stay and keep an eye on things. Not let Bill hurt you. But you need to be careful. Keep your door open, be ready to text me, and—”

  “Aren’t I strong, as a fae princess?” I ask, teasing him.

  “Yes,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean your prince won’t want to protect you.” He closes his eyes, thinking for a moment, and when he opens them, his expression is pained. “But, Eva, I really, really want to go deal with that guy before he can hurt you or anyone else.”

  I shake my head. “He didn’t hurt me. He just offered to pass my benefits package.”

  “And threatened to fire you,” Tanner retorts.

  “But he wouldn’t,” I say. “His pride was hurt, but he’ll let it go. In the end, he doesn’t want a fuss over this. I promise. He probably thought it would be an easy conquest, and now he’ll move on.”

  “Hm,” Tanner says, but he doesn’t look certain.

  “Look, this is a critical time for the company,” I say. “And a critical time for you and me. Let’s just wait it out. We could talk to Ray, see if he would sign off on my proposal. At least that way, with your signature, if I were to leave—”

  “You would do that?” Tanner asks.

  “When I’m sure about this,” I say. “Look, I’m glad your parents were happy, but I saw a miserable existence between mine. I need time to know that you’ll respect me. That you won’t be heavy-handed, and you’ll trust me in what I want.”

  He grates his teeth together, tensing his jaw. “It’s not you I don’t trust…”

  “But it is if you don’t listen to me when I say I don’t want you to attack him or cause trouble. Listen, Tanner, I know this world better. I’ve lived here all my life. If we’re careful, if we take time, we can figure out how to deal with this so the least amount of people get hurt.” I grin up at him hopefully. “Maybe Bill will forget or get hit by a car or—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tanner says, standing and pulling me up with him, crushing me in a safe, warm hug. “I get the idea. I’m not supposed to handle him.”

  “Thank you,” I say, holding him tight. “I really appreciate you respecting my choice and not just going on an overprotective rampage.”

  He glares at me, but there’s no real anger there. “You have no idea how hard it is to resist doing exactly that.”

  “I know,” I say, reaching up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, making him blush. “But you have self-control, and I love that about you. I promise eve
rything will be fine.”

  I feel like I’m telling myself that as much as I’m telling him.

  But this was my home. The one place without chaos. I can’t accept that everything can be ruined just by one man’s proposition.

  No matter how powerful that man is.

  Tanner sighs, letting all the tension out of his shoulders, and I feel my heart relax as well. “All right. Let’s go get lunch, then, and try not to think about this. It’s sunny outside and should be a nice day to walk around together.”

  I grin up at him. “Sounds good, soul bond.”

  He looks down at me, adorably shocked. “I love hearing you say that.”

  “I love saying it,” I say, grabbing his hand to lead him out of the office.

  I’m sure after a good lunch, everything will be fine.

  20

  Tanner

  I loved going to lunch with Eva, loved seeing her eyes sparkle in the sun and watching the breeze lift her beautiful, soft hair.

  But it doesn’t change the warrior inside me who needs to kill the man who insulted my soul bond.

  Even as we parted, I could still see the stress in her eyes, though she was trying to hold it back.

  I know she needs to believe things will work out because she loves this company.

  But I don’t see a good way through this. Though, I haven’t given up on trying to figure out how to get rid of Bill without Eva or the company suffering for it.

  “My secretary said you wanted to see me?” Morgan Richards, CFO, opens the door to my office, and I gesture for him to sit down.

  I know he’s one of Bill’s friends, but I’m hoping he won’t be when he hears what I have to say.

  “I witnessed some inappropriate behavior from Bill Steinman today toward one of our employees,” I say flatly, waiting for his reaction.

  Morgan raises an eyebrow but doesn’t look nearly as surprised as he should be. “What do you mean?”

  “He was trying to solicit sexual favors in exchange for special treatment.”

  Morgan just lifts a shoulder. “Well, if someone wants to take such a deal, what are you going to do? It’s the corporate world, after all.”

  And it’s been disgusting to me since I got here. The way everyone tries to climb over each other, taking everything they can and not caring what happens to anyone else.

  If my kingdom was run like this, we would have fallen long ago. We would have deserved to.

  I feel hatred toward Morgan and his bored expression in regard to Bill’s blatant abuse of power, but I try not to let it show on my face. “You can’t seriously suggest that we look the other way on sexual harassment.”

  Morgan eyes me quietly. “Is it true you’re going out with Eva? Why is it wrong if Bill makes a move, but not when you do? You’re the CEO.”

  I glare at him. “Interim CEO. And the difference is that Eva wants me, and we’re dating according to the rules in the company handbook. Bill knows Eva doesn’t want him, or he wouldn’t have had to offer to pass her proposal in order to get her to sleep with him.”

  Morgan frowns, then lets out a breath. “He’s not usually aggressive in the workplace. I think his divorce is just affecting him negatively. Plus, I think seeing you with Eva piqued his interest because—”

  “I don’t care what piqued his interest,” I grate out. “He doesn’t have a right to act like a monster and threaten people who have the right to a safe work environment.”

  Morgan frowns. “You’ve been sitting in on Eva’s meetings too much. Look, yes, the rules are against it, but Bill is a powerful man and—”

  My nails literally dig into my palms, and I swear I’m bleeding in my efforts to not strangle this man for defending the creep who tried to attack my soul bond.

  I just want to protect Eva and all the people she wants to protect.

  “We just need to stop him,” I say. “How do we report this?”

  Morgan looks at me like I’m an idiot. “We don’t. Bill’s father is majority shareholder.”

  “And?”

  Morgan throws his hands up. “And, well… unless Eva wants to report him… But even then—”

  My jaw tightens. “Even then what? He goes to jail?”

  “No,” Morgan says. “Not exactly. I mean, they would have to prove some bad intent or that he actually harmed her, and then it would be her word against his. And of course, you know he would have the best lawyers in the world, and they would tear her apart. Also, her reputation would be damaged, and no one would want to hire her because they’d be worried she’d accuse them of sexual harassment and—”

  “Enough!” I say, standing. I’ve never hated the human world as much as I do now. In my world, I could duel Bill. Banish him. In this one, I have to sit here and listen to people defend him all because his father is rich.

  I want to tear this building apart, carry Eva far away where she could be safer.

  But just like I could never run away from my kingdom, she doesn’t want to just run away from this place.

  Even though it treats her awful sometimes.

  “Look, just let it sort itself out,” Morgan says, putting his hands up. “We’ll be letting Eva go soon anyways in the upcoming merger.”

  My heart, which was previously pounding, feels like it just hit a wall in my chest. “What?

  Morgan scratches his head. “Well, we’re merging with another one of Bill’s father’s companies, and we’re planning to let their VP of HR run things. Eva doesn’t really get the company culture anymore or the direction we want to go in. We need to cut benefits, not increase them. Think more about our shareholders.”

  I sit back in my chair, utterly defeated by the greed and stupidity of humans. And torn about what to do since my soul bond is going to get her heart broken either way.

  There has to be something I can do about this.

  “Why wasn’t I aware of this?”

  “You’re only the interim CEO, and besides, you trail her everywhere. We thought we would tell you when things are final. Besides, Bill came to me at lunch and said he’d made the final decision to let Eva go in the merger.”

  Of course he did. Because she said no to him.

  And apparently, no one is allowed to say no to him.

  I’m even more furious knowing that he’s now going to punish her for not giving him what he wanted.

  I feel impotent, not being able to take him out for Eva’s sake.

  “But even so, it’s for the best,” Morgan says, babbling on stupidly. “The company is changing, and she won’t be a good fit here.” He eyes me warily. “And if you’re going to get all upset about her, maybe you aren’t a good fit either.”

  “You need to go,” I say, standing up and opening the door for him to leave. I don’t care what this idiot thinks of me, but I don’t need him making threats while I have other things to deal with.

  Like how to tell Eva that the company she loves so much is going to throw her away like garbage.

  Morgan walks to the door but pauses there to glare at me sullenly. I finally see the rot behind all the joviality of these men who sit at the top and do nothing but take all the rewards.

  They think they’re invincible. And when Eva is gone, they’re just going to hurt more people.

  And in this world, they can’t be stopped.

  “I’m warning you, Tanner. Don’t mess with Bill Steinman. Just leave it alone. Go to your next position. Take the girl if you want to, but—”

  “She’s not a girl,” I say, my hands going into fists despite my utmost restraint. “She’s an incredible VP and a leader of this company, and I’ll thank you to remember that while she’s still here.”

  Morgan just shrugs at me and walks out, not even seeming that bothered by the conversation.

  I slump back in my chair, running my hands through my hair and wondering what I’m going to do about all of this.

  In my world, I’m a commander. But in this world, I’m more and more lost.

  My ph
one buzzes, and I don’t know whether to be relieved or panicked when I look down and see Ian is calling.

  I let out a sigh as I pick up the call. “Hi, Ian.”

  “Tanner, how’s it going?”

  “Fine,” I say tersely.

  There’s a long pause. “Are you really?”

  Of course he would feel our bond, even at a distance, and know that I’m in a bad place. “Ian, things are just rotten in the human world. I’ve been so happy with my soul bond that I was blind to it, but… you were right. It’s terrible.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  So I do, starting from what happened when I found Bill in Eva’s office and ending with the conversation right before this call.

  Ian is quiet for a long moment, thinking carefully. He’s not one to speak rashly, not when it could affect a friend.

  We’ve had many long conversations since we came to this world. I never thought we would have one like this.

  “I’m guessing she isn’t as willing to just go back to your world as you hoped she’d be,” he says softly.

  “No.” I sigh. “She doesn’t want to leave the company either. She doesn’t feel he’s that much of a threat.”

  “Or she can’t face that he is,” Ian says, making more sense than I want him to. “Look, just be patient and be with her. Make sure he can’t get to her again. One day, she’ll see the light. She just needs more time.”

  “But even after she leaves with me, he would still be here, threatening people…” I pull on my hair gently, trying to relieve stress.

  There is chaos in my world, but at least I’m always allowed to fight it off the people I care about.

  “I know,” Ian says. “And we can’t do anything about that now, from what you’ve said. Eva said we couldn’t kill him?”

  “She said I couldn’t,” I say.

  “What about me?” He sounds hopeful.

  “No,” I say. “She doesn’t want this handled that way. She says this is her world, and I have to listen to her on how to deal with it.”

  “Would you want her telling you how to run the kingdom of darkness?”