Assassin's Kiss (11 page)

“Two enemies want you.” Hallon shook his head. “You know I have every right to tear their hearts out for that kind of feeling toward my daughter.”

“Technically yes, but that’s not who you are. And I won’t stand for that kind of barbarism.”

“Because that’s not who you are.” He smiled. “I’m proud of you. So proud.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She dropped her head back against the chair, needing to gain a glimmer of insight into her dad’s plan. “What do we do with Scorpio though? After how he stepped up today, it hardly seems right to torture him.”

“I agree. But he’s never denied his crime. I can’t let it go unpunished.”

Not for the first time, Tessa didn’t relish what her dad had to go through. The tough decisions, the ones that no matter what he chose, some of his people would be upset. So many lives upturned after Pennar died, all of it pointing to the power vacuum left by what Scorpio did. “Will you talk to the Elders?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Hopefully all those years will add up to some wisdom.”

She stood. “I’m sure they will. And even though I’m only thirty, I’m here too.”

He pulled her in for a hug. “That means a lot. I love you.”

“Love you too, Dad.” Tessa absorbed her father’s quiet strength for a minute, part of her wishing to stay here with him forever, dreading her future with Damien. It hung overhead like the sword of Damocles.

But for her people, she would do it without hesitation.

Anyone who objected would be a footnote in her life story, a name in that tiny print that almost no one read. And if one of those people was Scorpio…too bad.

But his name pulsed like a breath of life in her soul, along with the steadfastness and raw power that surrounded him. And she knew that the tangled, unsettling emotions he awoke in her were just the beginning of a deeply complicated web.

“You need a refill.” Zeebi giggled as she poured more wine into Tessa’s glass. Stars shone in the thick velvet blanket of night where they sat behind Zeebi’s cabin.

“No more,” Tessa protested halfheartedly, watching the liquid rise to the top of her glass. “Oh, fine.”

“Girl, after today, we need to finish a bottle each.” Zeebi pointed between her and Tessa.

“No, we need sleep. My god, I feel like I ran for miles.” Emotionally and physically, she was exhausted. Going back to their homeland, putting themselves in danger, losing two guards, finding their magic all but useless, was awful.

But everything about Scorpio still unnerved her to the nth degree.

“We need girl time.” Zeebi took a big drink of her wine. “Pretty soon we won’t be able to do this.”

Tessa sighed. “I know.” She laid her head back against the high back of the chair and looked for the twin moons. They weren’t visible from this vantage point, so she settled on the brightest star. So much was about to change. “I don’t want to think about it.”

“Then, new subject!” Zeebi’s grin turned sly. “Scorpio.”

Something inside Tessa stretched and sparked as if given permission to be let out. But she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it. “You want to talk about the coven’s prisoner?”

“Hell yeah.” Zeebi swirled her glass a little too hard, making a thin splash of wine sail over the rim and onto her hand. “Ooops, damn. But anyway. From the minute you put the restraints on him, oh my gods. He was fixated on you.”

“Not really.” Tessa sighed. “He’s a predator and allowed himself to be bound. Of course he was paying attention to me.”

“He didn’t have to stare at your boobs like he was dying to touch you.”

“Zee!” Tessa scrunched her eyes shut. Heat snaked up her arms at the memory of where he’d been looking while she spoke the restraint spell as fast as she could. His eyes had been hungry, but not lecherous. More like he wanted to devour every detail of something he found exquisite…and she had no clue how to deal with that. She hoped no one else had noticed. Leave it to Zeebi to pick up on it.

“Let’s talk about him and
you
,” Zeebi dragged out the last word in a wine-induced sing song voice.

Tessa swallowed. “There is no him and me.”
There can’t be. It’s not an option.

“Pfft. He told you he wants you.”

“No he didn’t!” Tessa felt her eyes go huge.

“He looked at you and said
mine
.” Zeebi arched a brow. “He. Wants. You.”

“Well, he’ll be waiting forever then.” Tessa frowned and picked a stray cat hair off her pants. “Why are we even having this conversation?”

“Because he looked at you like you’re some kind of goddess. He was all, ‘I’m not leaving, and I’ll do whatever you ask.’” Zeebi giggled her way through an attempt at imitating his deep voice.

“He meant the coven! Not me. I didn’t ask for anything.”

“You don’t need to.” Zeebi pinned her with a smirk. “He’s hard whenever you walk by.”

Tessa’s jaw dropped. “He is not.”

“Girl, there’s no hiding that big-ass demon dick.”

“Ew!” Tessa scrunched her nose. “And why are you looking, anyway?”

Zeebi grinned. “Come on. You can’t miss it. The male is hung. And he’s set his sights on you.” Zeebi laid a finger on Tessa’s arm. “Just sayin’.”

“He’s being held for murder!”

“Yeah, but he worked for Dalamos. The whole realm knows that dude had like, a mercenary army. He forced them to do his dirty work.”

Tessa sighed. “That doesn’t change what he did. And what happened to us as a result.”
And what I’m about to do to try to help the coven out of this mess
.

“He was in pure warrior mode today,” Zeebi continued as if she hadn’t heard Tessa’s protests.

“Zeebi, stop.” Tessa drained her glass and set it down. “There’s no point in talking about this. Nothing can change the past. Or the future.”

“The past, okay. Nope, no changing that.” Zeebi refilled her own glass. “But the future is one…big…mystery.”

Tessa reached over to give her friend a hug. “I’m going to bed. I can’t think about this anymore.”

“Fine.” Zeebi stifled a yawn. “See you in the morning.”

Tessa circled around the side of the cabin and started down the dirt path that would take her to her own cabin. But before she got there, she changed direction. Prompted by a subtle feeling she couldn’t explain, she headed to the center of the gathering area.

To Scorpio’s cage.

C
HAPTER
9

M
OST OF THE COVEN SLEPT
, yet Scorpio sat awake and watchful. The cage dampened his senses, but didn’t obliterate them, and he wasn’t about to rule out a counterattack by Vespera. Not that he could alert Hallon quickly enough from here, but still, his fighter’s brain wouldn’t let him relax.

Soft footsteps on the path drew his attention and his heart pounded double time. He leaped silently to his feet.

Tessa.

What was she doing up? She’d had a hell of a day, looking ready to drop when they’d returned to Bronwy—

Long legs and sexy unbound hair short-circuited his thoughts as she approached. Riveted, he tracked her hips, her thighs, her toned arms. He was sure she was on her way to somewhere, anywhere…but she stopped in front of him.

He leaned forward, clutching the bars. “Is everything okay?”

She didn’t answer, just stared at him with eyes that rivaled the bluest waters he’d ever seen. Honeysuckle swirled around her, enveloping him in the fragrance he’d come to crave. He inhaled, and caught another scent. He quirked a brow. “Wine?”

“Girl talk with Zeebi,” she murmured, and lowered herself to the grass. She leaned against the cage, her shoulder and head resting on the cool metal.

Gods, he welcomed her company. But something still didn’t seem right. He sat down, facing her through the bars. “Is everything okay?” he repeated.

She gazed at him like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. “Why did you do it?” she whispered.

His heart pinched at the mix of vulnerability and honest questioning that was plain on her face. And shit, she was buzzed and being a little vague. “Do what?” he asked, at the risk of sounding like an idiot.

“Why did you kill?” Her eyes locked on his.

He swallowed, dying to reach for her fingertips. But he’d wait, not knowing if she was ready for even that tiny touch. “I was forced to work for a demon named Dalamos. I was his conscripted mercenary.”

“Why couldn’t you leave? Or kill him?” The oaky scent of red wine mixed with the husky tone of her voice, ripping him open with the need for her to truly know him. “Didn’t he get killed by a rival group? He wasn’t invincible.”

“No, he wasn’t.” Scorpio’s eyes drifted over the soft waves of her hair as the gentle night breeze lifted a strand and blew it between the bars. He fought the urge to grasp its feather lightness. “That was a skillful, precise attack by a group of Vipers. A combination of cockiness from Dalamos and luck for them.” He shook his head. “Thank fuck it happened, but I never thought I’d see the day.”

“But if someone was able to get to him, why not you?”

Unsure of exactly where she was going with this, and conscious of her wine buzz, but not wanting her to leave, he weighed his words. “Dalamos had constant security. Even though I was on the inside, still, he was never alone with me. Or anyone. Also…” He stopped, taking a moment to erect a shield against the emotion that made his blood boil. “Dalamos captured my younger brother and sister. They’re twins. At the time they were fifteen. He used them as leverage.”

Blue eyes blinked in question.

“His guards were allowed to do any depraved thing they wanted to either of them, unless I completed each job. Killed every mark.” Scorpio’s hands balled into fists as memories washed back into his mind. “I’ll never forget the fear on my sister Kira’s face whenever I left on a job.”

“Oh my gods,” Tessa said softly.

“Kira believed in me. Trusted me to protect her. So did Raff. And goddamn it, I couldn’t let them down, couldn’t let any harm come to them. They were innocent. Every damn day, I searched for a way to kill that bastard, but couldn’t endanger my family.”

A tentative mewl broke the tension of his words, as Jinx sauntered across the grass to curl into her mistress’s lap.

Scorpio blew out a breath. “Constant surveillance by guards whose weapons were dipped in poison. Constant threat of harming my siblings. That’s why I never assassinated him myself. His sorry ass life wasn’t worth even one punch landed on Kira and Raff. I knew, one day, we’d find a way out.”

“I had no idea.” Her words were breathy, barely audible. She absently stroked her cat’s fur.

“Not many do.”

“You don’t like to talk about it?”

He leaned closer. Inches separated them. “No one asks.”

Her blue eyes widened a fraction. “Because they’re afraid of you?”

“Maybe.” He held her gaze. “Are you?”

Wide eyed, defiant, serious. “No.”

“If these weren’t here,” he grazed a finger down one cool metal bar, “would you say the same?”

She flicked a glance to the cage and bit her lip, little teeth sinking into the soft plushness of her lip. Gods. The tiny gesture stirred his cock, but he tamped it down, waiting for her response. Whatever was going on with her tonight, would she be more honest with him? Or less?

“Yes.” Not a waver in her voice. “I’d say the same.”

Hell. Something bloomed in his soul. He hadn’t expected her complete conviction that she wasn’t afraid. He didn’t understand it, but he didn’t need to, because it was absolutely fucking true. She had nothing to fear from him. “Good. You’ll always be safe with me, Tessa.”

Her shoulders sagged and a flare of anger crept across her face. “With you,” she echoed, shaking her head. “There is no ‘with you’. There’s no ‘
with
’ anyone.”

Jinx flicked her tail against Tessa’s nose.

Tessa wrinkled her nose and snorted. “You don’t count. You’ll probably stay here anyway.”

“Stay here?” Hatred coiled in Scorpio’s gut as he remembered. Damien. “When do you have to go?”

“Three weeks.” She stared into the trees, her voice void of emotion.

Undiluted rage fired through his blood. “How can you do this if you don’t love him?”

“How can you kill people you don’t even know?” she countered. “You do it for the ones you care about, whom it will help. You take your own emotions out of the equation. Gods.” She huffed out an exasperated breath. “I need to go.” She got to her feet.

“Tessa, wait.” He leaped up. “What are you talking about? Who are you helping?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve already said too much.” She took a step away.

“Wait. I can help you find a way out of this.”
I will, if it kills me. You’re fucking mine.

She shook her head. “Not possible. Don’t you see? It’s all because of you.” She gestured to the makeshift homes, the open area, the trees beyond. “My situation, the coven’s situation, is because of you.” Her voice wasn’t accusatory, but simply factual and full of hollow regret. She turned and jogged into the night.

He stared after her, her words cutting deep.
Because of you.

He clenched the bars and stifled a roar of frustration. He would make this right. Somehow, some way. But threading through the anger was a gleaming line of satisfaction.