A Fae in Fort Worth (13 page)

“Lost to you,” I said, the words triggering the memory of a meeting which seemed like it had happened a lifetime ago.

‘
You will need it to regain what was lost
.’

As Foster’s words played over and over in my mind, I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the pale blue crystal the old man had given me and held it out to Donella. “Can this help you to recover your powers?”

Donella stared at the crystal in open surprise. “How did you…? How…?”

“Will it help?” I urged, almost at the point of hysteria. Mitch’s hand was becoming cooler in mine and if there was any chance, however slim…

“It’s a memory stone,” Donella breathed. “My grandfather has one just like it. I used to play with it as a child.” She looked from the stone to me and back again. “It will help, yes. I’m certain that it will help me.”

I handed her the stone. “Then use it and help Mitch. Bring him back to me.
Please
.” I didn’t care that I was begging. I didn’t care if Donella wanted anything in return. All I cared about was Mitch. It couldn’t end like this. He didn’t deserve this.

Donella took the stone from my outstretched hand and grasped it tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and I waited with bated breath, squeezing Mitch’s hand tighter in mine. Donella sucked in a sharp breath and then I could feel it, her magic swirling in the air around us.

“I remember,” she said, opening her eyes again. “I remember what to do.”

Avery knelt down on the other side of Mitch and grasped the arrow which was still embedded in his back. I felt the uncomfortable tickle of magic and a moment later, the arrow was gone. I kept hold of Mitch’s hand as Avery rolled him so that he was lying on his back. Donella placed one hand on Mitch’s stomach and one on his head and as she concentrated on him, I could feel the thrum of her magic working. It felt different to Avery’s. It was warm, soothing, and it gave me hope.

It took a few minutes, but then I was sure I could feel Mitch’s fingers twitching in mine. All at once, his eyes widened and he pulled in a deep lungful of air. He blinked twice and then his gaze came instantly to mine and a stunning smile lit up his face. I choked out a sob.

Mitch lifted a hand and cupped my chin, his fingers sifting into the hair on the back of my neck. “My beautiful Ashley,” he breathed. “I dreamt of you.”

My tears began to fall in earnest again and I pulled Mitch into a sitting position then threw my arms around him, hugging him tightly to my chest. I caught Donella’s gaze over Mitch’s shoulder and mouthed, “Thank you.” It didn’t feel like enough.

Mitch chuckled into my neck. “Not that I’m complaining, but this is some wakeup call for someone who just got knocked unconscious.” Knocked… He didn’t even know what had happened to him. I felt the laughter bubble up in my chest right before it burst from my lips.

When Mitch pulled back he was smiling too, but his brows were lifted questioningly. Then his expression cleared and he looked around. “We in Florida?”

“Yeah, we’re at the sanctuary,” I replied and his gaze shifted to Avery.

“The grimoire?”

Avery held out his hand, palm up. There was a bright flash then an old leather book appeared there. He pulled Donella into his side then held the book out to Mitch. “Take it. I have no use for it anymore. I can’t thank you enough for what you have given me.”

Mitch handed me the grimoire and I sighed, getting to my feet. “Malaki!” I shouted.

The angel appeared a second later. He was wearing a multi-coloured Hawaiian shirt over his uniform black leather pants and he had a cocktail glass in one hand. There was lipstick on his cheek.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I hissed. “We’ve been risking our damn lives here. I nearly got killed by vampires, Mitch
did
get killed by the Fae and you’re on a frigging
vacation
?” My voice got louder with each syllable.

Malaki looked at the glass in his hand and shrugged. “What, this? I’m working a lead.”

“I’ll work my damn boot up your a—”

“Now, now,” Malaki chided. “There’s no need for threats of violence. Is that the book?” He reached out and snatched the grimoire out of my hand. “Perfect. Must dash, there’s this hot little brunette…ah, never mind. See you!”

When Malaki disappeared with a flash, I turned my outraged expression on Mitch. “I hate that damn angel!”

Mitch frowned back at me. “Did you just say I was killed?”

* * * *

I heard the water shut off in the shower right before Mitch called out, “Babe, was that the phone?”

I strode into the bathroom just as Mitch was wrapping a towel around his waist and took a moment to rake my gaze over the body I had become even more intimately acquainted with in the past two weeks.

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled, my eyes following the stunning dragon tattoo down his sculpted abs.

Mitch cleared his throat and I lifted my head until my eyes reached his face. He was grinning.

“You know,” he said casually, “we’re going to have to do something about this obsession you have with my body. It’s getting embarrassing.”

“I’m hardly
obsessed
,” I returned with a grin of my own. “I can’t help it if you’re hot and fit and—” I didn’t have time to list any more of Mitch’s attributes because he yanked me against his chest and kissed me until I was breathless. When he pulled back, he chuckled.

“Babe, the phone call?”

“Oh, right. Phone call. It was Raven. She said there are rumours of a nest in Wichita. She’s heading up there now with Connor, asked if we’d be able to back her up.”

Mitch nodded. “Sounds like a plan. If we get on the road soon we can be there by nightfall.”

“Great, I’ll start packing.”

I still couldn’t believe that I could now call Mitch my partner. I hadn’t even needed to ask him. When the Council had said they’d be happy for him to start hunting again as long as he was willing to play by the rules, Mitch had asked me. Of course, he’d raised a brow at the ‘play by the rules’ comment, but I was sure I’d be able to keep him in line. The question was, could he keep me in line?

Mitch joined me in the bedroom of our rented motel room in Fort Worth and rooted through his saddle bag for clean clothes. “So, the Council isn’t bothered about Raven’s relationship with Connor?” he asked distractedly.

“I wouldn’t say that exactly, but what can they do? Raven’s a good hunter and they don’t want to lose her so they have to just deal with it. There’s a lot going on right now. Between all the vampires and the search for the grimoires, the Council is overworked and understaffed. That’s probably why they were so keen to have you back on side—well, that and the fact that you’re so awesome.”

Mitch’s shoulders began to shake with laughter. “You’re great for my ego, you know that?”

I snorted. “Like you need any help in that department. Your ego is big enough for the both of us.”

Mitch opened his mouth to protest then shook his head. “Guess I can’t argue with that.”

I smiled to myself as I began to pack away the few items of clothing I had strewn around the room. The past couple of weeks with Mitch had been some of the best of my life and the more time we spent together, the better it got.

I’d been disappointed that I hadn’t been able to catch up with my sister while we were in Florida, but I hoped we’d get to see each other when her job was done. I’d been worried when she hadn’t answered her cell and I’d called the Council to speak to her handler to find out where she was. He’d said she wasn’t likely to get any cell reception where she was currently at. That didn’t make any sense. She was supposed to be in Miami. It was only after I’d pressed him that he’d mumbled something about mermaids and an underwater realm. I wished I hadn’t asked.

Avery had been kind enough to teleport us back to Fort Worth, but he’d made sure to keep us away from the sanctuary. I wasn’t worried about any retaliation from the queen. Orlaith was chained to the Fae realm and Avery believed his mother had more important things to worry about than the search for a couple of hunters out in the mortal world. I wasn’t so sure, but we would just have to deal with any situations as and when they arose.

“Ash,” Mitch said, placing his hands on my shoulders. He leant down and pressed his lips to mine. “You look miles away. Everything okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, everything’s great. Actually, everything is perfect.”

I stood up on my toes and kissed him back. Mitch responded so fervently to the kiss that we were a little late getting on the road to Wichita.

Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:

Hot for Him

Amy Armstrong

Excerpt

Chapter One

With a low, drawn-out groan, Elena reached out and whacked the button on her alarm clock before burrowing deeper under the toasty duvet with a satisfied grunt. The blasted thing continued to buzz.

“Leave me alone,” she moaned hoarsely. “It isn’t time to get up yet.”

The buzzing increased until it was so loud the noise was like a physical thing inside her head, as if her brain was thrashing around in there, trying to beat its way out of her skull with a claw hammer. With a silent curse, she threw off the covers and sat up.

Whoa. Bad decision. When the room began to spin and a hot flush erupted, her entire body got so hot she thought it was trying to solve the world’s energy problem. She made a grab for the bedside table and gripped it tightly, trying to breathe through the sudden nausea while she waited for the woozy feeling to pass.

The good news was that the incessant buzzing had quit. But why was she so parched? She must have taken up astral projection in her sleep because eight hours of crawling through the Sahara without so much as a sip of water was the only possible explanation for her indescribable thirst. Well, that or the six tequila shots she’d knocked back in The Salsa Bar the night before. Oh, and that bottle of red wine she’d polished off in All Bar One might have contributed.

When images of dancing with a five-foot-nothing Ricky Martin wannabe ran through her mind, Elena put her head in hands and leant back against the headboard. She couldn’t remember much about the night, but she did recall slapping the guy when he’d tried to cop a feel. Made sense. Elena hated men who got all up in her face—or arse as the case might be. What the hell gave them the right to treat women like sex objects? Consenting to a dance did not give him the right to grope her like she was his for the taking—nothing more than a possession. Elena belonged to no one but herself.

The damn buzzing started up again.

“No, no, no, no!” She reached for the alarm clock and squinted at it in the dim light of the room, but the evil thing was silent. Ah, it wasn’t the alarm, it was her mobile phone. Who the hell would be calling her in the middle of the night? Okay, it was nearly six, but what the hell?

She grabbed the phone and fumbled mindlessly with it before finding the right button to answer the call. It had better be an emergency or the sodding sleep destroyer was going to get a piece of her mind.

“Hello,” she all but growled out.

“What sort of greeting is that for your favourite uncle?”

Elena frowned, fighting through the fog in her groggy, sleep-deprived mind. “Uncle Hen?”

Her query was answered with a low, rumbling chuckle. “You’re twenty-six now, Elena. Henry would be sufficient.”

“Wha—?” Elena’s mouth was so dry, she couldn’t finish the question. She grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand, downed the lot then tried again. “What can I do for you Uncle, uh,
Henry
. Is everything okay?”

“Quite. I thought it would be good to catch up. I’m in your neck of the woods.”

“London?”

“No, Europe. I’m going to be staying at the villa in Cannes for at least a week. I was hoping you’d join me.”

“Oh, that’s, uh, very nice of you to offer, but I have work and…”

“You’re the boss.”

“Well, yes, but I couldn’t…”

“Yes, you could. You work too damn hard for someone so young. I admire your dedication, but it wouldn’t kill you to take a break. You have staff. Delegate.”

Elena started to shake her head, but thought better of it when the claw hammer started its bashing routine again. She couldn’t possibly take a holiday, could she? Elena’s interior design company was fast becoming one of the best known in London. And she’d worked incredibly hard for the past four years to ensure its continued success. The last holiday she took was…wow, she couldn’t remember, but it had to have been at least three years ago—maybe more.

Elena had a great team of designers working for her, but she still preferred the hands-on approach. She was known for being a strict boss, but her no-nonsense approach got results. All right, so she was a control freak, but proud of it. She would never have achieved the same level of success if she’d been more relaxed or too capricious. Running a profitable business required a firm hand. But maybe her uncle was right. What would be the harm in taking a week off to unwind? She certainly deserved it, maybe even needed it.

Twelve-hour working days were commonplace, but it didn’t stop there, did it? Elena not only burnt the candle at both ends, she lit a couple more for good measure. It seemed she wasn’t satisfied lately unless she had a permanent hangover, but her frenetic lifestyle was becoming a little too much to take. Her heavy workload was one thing, but the excessive partying had to stop or something was going to give. A change in pace might be just what she needed to get her life back on track.

“Elena, what do you say?” her uncle prompted.

“Let me see if I can arrange a flight and…”

“Be at London City at ten Monday morning,” Henry interrupted. “I took the liberty of chartering you a flight. You can thank me when you get here.”