Assassin's Kiss (20 page)

“Well, that makes things easier,” Hallon muttered.

Scorpio’s attention shot to Tessa, catching the brief but beautiful flicker of a smile gracing her face. She wanted him to stay. But she quickly schooled her features back to neutrality. Holy hell, she
wanted
him.

With effort, he suppressed the desire that fired like a rocket, threatening to destabilize the cool professional demeanor he strove to maintain in front of the chief. “I would like to accompany your people on one of the perimeter patrols. I may be able to pick up on something that they can’t.”

“That’s a good idea,” Tessa said, voice even and calm as if tension wasn’t thickening the air between them. “Dad?”

“Agreed.” Hallon grimaced. “You’ll be outside coven land. Basically…free. You could take off at any given moment.”

“I’m not leaving.” Scorpio said.

“No restraints,” Tessa said at the same time, indignant.

Scorpio met her endless blue eyes. Gods, he fell harder for her each minute.

She jutted her chin. “I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again. No more.”

Hallon turned to Kharv. “Are you comfortable with this?”

Kharv nodded. “After the way Scorpio defended us with the crystals, and after the wolf attack, yes.” He faced Scorpio, one fighter to another. “I trust you.”

Scorpio met the man’s eyes and nodded. “Thank you. All of you.” He swept his eyes to Tessa and Hallon, then looked to the door. “I’m ready to do a thorough search.”

C
HAPTER
18

T
HROUGH THE WINDOW,
T
ESSA WATCHED
Scorpio walk to the center of the main area. His muscles flexed under yet another tight T-shirt, and the sunlight played in those surprising gold streaks in his dark hair. Tangible anger and tension had rolled off his body when he read the note.

How in the hell had it gotten there?

“You okay?” Hallon asked.

“Yeah. Just mad.” She folded her arms, wondering how bold Vespera would get. “And worried. All they did was leave a note this time. But what will they try next?”

Her dad came to stand beside her. Outside, Scorpio and Kharv met up with a group of guards, then disappeared among the trees. “He won’t be killed,” Hallon murmured.

Tessa’s focus snapped to her dad, guessing exactly what he meant. With the way Scorpio had helped and defended her and the others, the possibility of his punishment being corporal had seemed more and more unreasonable. At least, to her. But hearing the option, even if it was denied, was a chilling reminder that some still felt death was what he deserved. “Good.” Her voice came out more breathy than she meant. “It’s extreme and unwarranted.”

“I’m inclined to agree. But remember, we don’t know him that well.”

I know that he cares deeply for his family. I know he’s honorable and trustworthy. I know he will never hurt me.
But she kept those thoughts to herself, aware she was treading a fine line. She wasn’t exactly ready to share last night’s events with her dad.

“Are you growing fond of him?” His tone was open curiosity edging over to surprise.

Uh-oh. Tessa froze. Maybe her thoughts were more transparent than she thought. “No,” she said quickly. Maybe too quickly. “It’s just that I can see…”
the man behind the actions.
She swallowed, lost as to how to phrase this. “There’s a bigger picture. Vespera…the ways he’s helped us…that’s all.”

“All right. I’ll maintain that your support of him comes from the circumstances.” Hallon’s focus shifted from the outside proceedings to her, believing and trusting. “And nothing more.”

“That’s right.” Tessa took a step toward the door as guilt raised its ugly head again. She didn’t like misleading her dad, but she wasn’t anywhere close to disclosing her mixed feelings for the muscled warrior who’d kissed her senseless. She eyed the note where it lay on Hallon’s desk. “I’m actually dying to get out and check the wards.”

“Go. Take whomever you need, go in groups, whatever you think. And Tess.”

Hand on the doorknob, she turned to him. “Yes?”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.” Tessa stepped out into the morning sun and strode to the work area of the witches whose specialty was warding spells. A streak of gray caught her eye, hurtling toward her across the square. She stopped to stroke her wayward cat. “Missing your new best friend, huh?”

Jinx meowed loudly and arched her back.

Tessa scooped her up for a cuddle. “He’s checking to see which bad guys got in here yesterday. What about you? Did you notice anything suspicious?”

A rumbling purr came from the animal’s chest and she contentedly closed her eyes.

Tessa shook her head and kept walking. As she neared the group of cabins that was her destination, Zeebi rounded the same cluster of buildings.

“Hey, girl!” she chirped, twisting her blond hair up into a messy knot. “Ready to work on blades today?”

“No.” she scowled. “New plan.”

“What happened?” Zeebi’s eyes were huge.

“Somehow, a note from Damien was sitting outside my door this morning.” Tessa scratched Jinx under her tiny chin and tried to be calm.

“From Damien?” Zeebi gasped. “How…oh my gods. What did it say?”

Tessa scoffed. “Oh the usual asinine stuff. Can’t wait for the wedding, blah blah blah.”

“Oh my gods, are you okay? It was right outside your
door
? Holy shit.”

“Yes, I’m fine!” The words came out more forcefully than Tessa intended. “Sorry, Dad asked me that like a million times.”

“S’okay.” Zeebi pulled her close for a hug, squashing Jinx in the process. With a flail of legs, the cat jumped down and trotted off.

“The bigger problem is, how did they breach our wards to get it here? Nothing seemed amiss last night.”

Zeebi glanced around. “That’s disturbing. If they got in once…”

“Exactly.” Tessa grimaced. “I’m joining one of the ward checks. We’re going to inspect all areas. Plus the guards are doing a perimeter patrol.”

Zeebi tilted her head. “Wards aren’t your specialty.”

“I know, but I can’t sit around doing nothing, or placing spells on knives. Not while this just happened.”

“All right. I know I’d be useless here.” Zeebi gestured to a group of witches emerging from their cabin. “And we have a big order. I’m going to get started on it.”

“Okay. See you later.” Tessa waved and joined the other witches.

With Kharv, Orser, and two other guards, Scorpio trekked through the abundant greenery surrounding Bronwy. Surprisingly, they had all been of a mind like Kharv in taking Scorpio along. All his senses were on alert, but he didn’t expect to find anyone. They needed to locate a trail of some sort. Scents would help, but with Scorpio as the only one who could verify that, it was the most tenuous option.

They started along the western border—the one closest to Vespera. They covered ground in methodical sections, moving out farther from home. And all too soon, a familiar scent reached Scorpio’s nose. Peppermint.

He followed the scent, searching the grass and shrubs for other clues or tangible signs that would point to the traitor. And there, snagged on a rough section of tree bark, three strands of blond hair danced in the slight breeze.

“Over here.” Scorpio waved the others over.

“Hair.” Orser frowned. “That’s good. But it could belong to anyone. Us or them. Any of our coven members could have been out here for a walk.”

“Still, it’s worth saving.” Kharv gently removed the strands, placed them in a fold of cloth and tucked it in his pocket.

“Ground is trampled, here.” Orser looked at the ground beneath his boots. “A scuffle? Someone waiting for a chance to sneak in?”

Hell, no. Neither one of those. Scorpio ground his molars at the signs that screamed to him, and him alone. Sex. A male and female had fucked right here last night. The leaves below reeked of release. He didn’t care who Zeebi fucked, or why she left coven grounds to do it…unless…was she fucking someone in Vespera? Damien?

The scent of a male witch hung in the air, primarily cedar as Scorpio would expect, but also…he inhaled. Shit. Sulfur and smoke. It may or may not be Damien, but it was the same male who’d handed the note to Zeebi. A growl escaped Scorpio’s lips.

“What is it, demon?” Kharv asked. “You look ready to throw fire.”

Scorpio quickly relaxed the tension in his jaw. How much should he reveal? If he told the men, they’d probably laugh it off. There was no law against having outdoor sex. Also, if word traveled back to Zeebi about this, she may realize how obvious she was being and try to hide better. And he needed her to be oblivious to him. “Just ticked at how close a Vespera member got.” He gestured to the tree, then made a show of inspecting the ground. “Footprints.” A set of large boot prints marked the soft ground, and in front of them, facing the same way, lay the print of one pointy toe and spike heel.

The guards dropped to take a closer look. Scorpio backed up a few feet, focusing on the male’s prints, but the scent of sex taunted him. It slammed him with memories of how his passionate mate had responded to his kiss last night. The way her body arched toward him, the telltale fragrance of her own arousal.

Yet the same night he had enjoyed her mouth and skin, someone had finagled a way to leave this outside her damn door. If he had to guess, he’d pinpoint the delivery occurring after he left, because he’d detected no recent scents at that time.

“Let’s track the larger prints,” Scorpio said. At least he’d know where the male had either come from or disappeared to. He studied the surrounding ground and picked up the trail.

It came to an abrupt end about thirty feet later.

“What the hell?” Orser grumbled. “Can’t just disappear. The prints weren’t that old and we haven’t had rain.”

“The individual could have traveled through a portal. Unfortunately that’s one scent I can only identify in the present.” Scorpio’s sniffer was good, but traces of portal magic faded fast. Only the most sensitive noses could detect that scent hours after the portal had closed.

“Damn it.” Kharv said.

“These could be a lead, but they could also be any random prints. And hair.” Orser pointed out.

Scorpio clenched a fist, knowing otherwise. “I suggest we keep this classified, until we learn more about the prints. If these do have something to do with the note, we don’t want to tip our hand. The individual who’s involved may strive to be more cautious in the future.”

“You make a valid point.” Orser rested his hands on his hips. “We’ll run it by Hallon, but I’m sure he’ll agree. Everyone.” He glanced around the group. “Let’s keep moving, see what else we can find.”

They resumed their methodical scouring of the western woods. Hours later, they’d found nothing else of interest. Scorpio glared at every shrub, willing a clue to appear. Fury churned his gut over Zeebi’s betrayal, made a hundred times worse by Tessa’s imminent sacrifice.

C
HAPTER
19

T
HE SUN SAT LOW IN
the afternoon sky when Tessa slogged back into the center of the coven. With the others, she’d inspected the wards that lay like invisible barriers all around Bronwy. If someone had passed through, the protective barriers would’ve shown signs of being forcibly weakened. And they had found none of that.

They’d also checked Tessa’s cabin, focusing on her own wards, and found nothing amiss. Tessa had been grateful the ward witches didn’t have much of a clue about breaking and entering. However Scorpio had picked the lock on her front door, he’d done it so skillfully as to make it unobvious.

Restlessness made her jumpy as she watched the oldest ward witch enter Hallon’s home to fill him in on what they’d discovered. Or rather, the lack thereof. Tessa didn’t need to go inside and once again sit there full of uncertainty and frustration. She pulled one of her favorite small throwing knives from her thigh holster. Turning it over, she traced the carving in the dull metal hilt of a letter
T
encircled by vines.

A gift from the elves, after receipt of an especially large cache of iron. They paid for the delivery, of course, but they liked Tessa. One of the weapons makers created it for her. Elven forged and now, enhanced with her own power, it was one of her favorites.

“Looks like a good little blade.” Scorpio’s deep voice cut into her musings and she met his twinkling golden eyes. Eyes that bore no stress from the day, and only held…friendliness? Affection?
For her.

“It is. The elves made it for me.” She held it out for him to inspect.

He picked it up. “Nice. Anything they create is good.” He returned it to her outstretched palm. “Find anything today?”

She shook her head. “You?”

He blew out a breath. “Some blond hairs stuck on a tree. Not much to go on.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” She tucked the knife away and rubbed her eyes. “My head is about to explode from all the ward checking. I wanted to help, but it doesn’t come as easily to me as to some of the others.”