Assassin's Kiss (24 page)

A growl rose in his chest. “Not alone, you won’t.”

Her shoulders slumped as she stared up into his golden eyes. Stubborn determination rolled off him like smoke and she knew he wouldn’t budge. Not tonight, anyway.

Exhaustion and adrenaline mixed in her veins, making her muscles too tired. With a push to his chest, he cradled her and brought her horizontal with him. His heart beat steadily under her ear. His heart, which he was ready to pledge to her.

Lenore was never wrong about mated pairs.

The knowledge made Tessa joyous and devastated at the same time. She’d never thought about finding her true mate. Not all witches did. Now, this most unlikely of warriors lay in her bed. And she was almost ready to leave Bronwy to marry a power hungry villain.

She wouldn’t endanger her coven.

And more, she wouldn’t endanger Scorpio. He’d lived through hell. He had family who loved him.

She wouldn’t be the one to rob them of their brother. She’d said goodbye to her chance at happiness when she made her arrangement with Damien.

She just never thought it would also mean saying goodbye to the one man who was meant to be hers.

Scorpio held Tessa as she slowly relaxed into a fitful sleep. Her distress tore at him. The thought of wanting to keep loved ones safe was painfully familiar to him, and her resolve made him proud of her. But there was no way in hell he would let her near that man.

No fucking way.

She was his.

And by extension, the Watchers were her newly adopted family, whether she wanted them or not.

He breathed her in, studied her sleeping angelic face, nuzzled her soft hair. She was perfect. He wanted nothing more than to stay all night, but that was impossible. She might have started to accept the idea of being his mate—helped by her knowledge of the one-eyed Lenore—but that didn’t mean the rest of the coven would accept him. Plus, he was still supposed to be locked up.

He allowed himself another selfish minute to cradle her, then carefully slid out of her bed. She rolled to her side, sighing. He’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

“I won’t let you get hurt. I’ll protect you always.” His body rebelled against leaving her, but he locked it down. “I love you, Tess.”

She slept through his declaration, oblivious to the emotion churning inside him.

He stole one last glance at her, then stalked to the front door where he dressed and paused. He listened for any footsteps or voices and heard none. Quickly, silently, he slipped out.

The night air was still, as if waiting for something. Wariness slithered up his spine. He frowned, ducking between Tessa’s cabin and the next, and crept toward Zeebi’s home. A possum took one look at him and scurried out of his way, and the leathery flap of bat wings echoed off the trees above. And as he drew closer to Zeebi’s, her sharp intonation carried clearly from inside to his ears.

“They think the wards were breached somehow. Spent all day searching, checking…yeah.” Her voice was frustrated, with a note of worry. “No, they let him out to do perimeter patrols.”

A pause.

“I don’t know! Hallon trusted him enough to let him call his leader today.”

The answering angry male voice was loud enough to reach Scorpio, concealed in the shrubs beside her window. Gods, he hadn’t expected to hear all this. Fuck. He was right. This confirmed it. She was a spy. But why?

“Yes, I tried to listen! Duh, Damien! But he must have figured out I was there. I got away before he saw me.” Another pause. “You know how good those guys’ hearing is. I couldn’t help it.”

“Yes, he still thinks she’s his mate or some shit. Even told his leader that. But I don’t think she’s going for the idea. She keeps talking about how she’s leaving soon. Mm-hmm.” Zeebi snorted. “Ha. You know she won’t let you do that.” Her voice dropped to a seductive purr. “She won’t let you do the things I will. You know you’ll still need me to satisfy you.”

Holy shit. Zeebi was fucking Damien? And wanted to keep doing it after Tessa married him? Scorpio clenched his fists. This situation got worse every damn day.

“Why don’t you come and see me and I’ll remind you? Tomorrow night. By the river bend. What?” She huffed out a breath. “Fine, in three nights. Okay. I can’t wait.”

With a beep, the call ended. The slight thud of a body sitting down, then a rustling like sheets. Zeebi let out a loud sigh. Gradually, her breathing slowed to a pace that indicated sleep.

On silent feet Scorpio crept to his cabin and climbed in the window. He paused, checking for Kharv’s breathing. A cough sounded. Not Kharv. Orser. Maybe they had switched in the middle of the night. Didn’t matter, tonight all was quiet.

He sat on the bed and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. This night had gone from the bliss of having Tessa in his arms, finally trusting him…to the awful confirmation that her best friend was in league with the enemy.

But why, exactly? And why did Zeebi need to keep tabs on him? Scorpio shook his head. She had seemed like she was in his corner. Pushing Tessa toward talking to him, early on. Something didn’t add up. What did she want from him? From Damien?

From Damien she probably wanted to enhance her own skill with the added, dubious benefits of dark magic. But having grown up here, wouldn’t she know better? Or had the lines tempted her past her point of resistance, as they had with others?

He kicked off his boots and rolled to his back. He would have to catch Zeebi with Damien and have the Bronwy guards with him to witness it. That was the only way the coven would accept her treachery.

And even then, would Tessa believe it? Her own best friend? His head pounded at the thought of how to tell her.

Shit.
Should
he tell her? Would she go straight to Zeebi? If she did, the opportunity to catch Zeebi would be lost, and she would surely be more careful in the future. And Tessa might not believe him. Their fledgling trust might fail. That, and the trust of the whole coven.

He’d worked hard to make even these baby steps, and he’d be damned if he’d lose ground. “Fuck,” he muttered aloud. In his first days there, he’d decided to look at this situation as a mission, like any other Watcher assignment. Sometimes on assignments, all members of the team knew all the details. And sometimes details were revealed on a need-to-know basis, if that was determined to be the best chance for optimal results.

His heart sank at the realization that for this plan to succeed, Tessa would have to be kept in the dark about her friend. She trusted him now, and he was about to keep a really big, shitty secret from her.

And gods, that went against everything in his soul.

C
HAPTER
22

B
ANGING ON THE DOOR ROUSED
Tessa from a deep, dreamless sleep. She shoved off the sheets and sat up, chillier than usual—crap. She was still naked. “Just a minute!” she yelled as she raced around the room, pulling on old pajama pants and a gray tank top.

Dammit, she’d finally slept well, after waking several times during the night. Scorpio had been there the first few times. Not the last few. And that was okay. It’s what she expected. He couldn’t stay and get caught with her.

She darted to the front door and flung it open, out of breath.

Zeebi blinked up at her with wide eyes. “You look like you slept hard. Or not at all.” She quirked a blond brow.

“Um, yeah. Not well.” Tessa stepped back and gestured for her friend to come in.

Zeebi breezed past her. “Well, I have something that will make you feel better.” She set a covered tray on Tessa’s counter, then made a show of removing the lid. “Inga made her rare and delicious French toast. The guys were about to eat all of it. I grabbed these slices just in time.”

“Oh wow, that looks amazing!” Tessa ran a hand through her tangled hair. “And smells amazing, too. You’re the best.”

“I know.” Zeebi winked and rummaged in Tessa’s cabinets for an extra plate and forks. “So why couldn’t you sleep? Just stuff on your mind?”

Stuff.
That was a loaded word. Tessa sighed. “Yeah. I worry about leaving.” She sat on one of the two bar stools near her counter and winced as her core hit the hard wood. Crap, she was sore.

Memories of being right here with Scorpio flooded her mind. The door, the couch, him holding her…It had been wonderful.
He
was wonderful.

And he had been cursed by Lenore.

“Are you okay?” Zeebi eyed her.

“Yeah, um, just kind of stiff.” She rubbed her eyes. “Tossing and turning, I guess. I was finally sleeping well when you showed up.”

Zeebi blew her a kiss and forked three slices of toast on Tessa’s plate. “And you love me.”

“I do.” Tessa rolled her eyes and took a bite. “Oh, yum. These are so good, Inga could open a restaurant. All she would need to serve is this.”

“Agreed.” Zeebi sat on the other stool and dug in.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Zeebi glanced around Tessa’s kitchen, which was really just a corner with a counter, fridge, and stove. Zeebi’s own cabin was chock full of color and art. Tessa wasn’t much for decorating; this place was temporary, not somewhere to settle in long-term. She and the coven would move back to their rightful land. One day.

“We’ve had a lot of talks here.” Zeebi pushed a piece of toast through the lake of syrup on her plate.

“Stop.” Tessa shook her head. “Don’t start talking about me leaving. I couldn’t get it out of my head last night and now I just don’t need to hear it.”

“Okay, sorry.” Zeebi munched her very soggy forkful of food and continued to study the room. Suddenly she let out a snort. “Were you doing laundry yesterday?”

“Hmm? No, I was checking on the wards all day. You know that.”

“Well, one way or another, looks like you dropped something.” Zeebi smirked.

Tessa followed her friend’s gaze to a corner near the door where her thong, or rather part of it, lay. “Oh my gods.” She got up and snatched it off the floor, only to see the other half peeking out from under a chair. “Crap.” It would be funny, if she had discovered it alone. But she wasn’t ready to share this with anyone.

“Not just your panties on the floor, in your neat as a pin home, but
torn
panties on the floor of your neat as a pin home?” Zeebi’s eyes danced with interest. “Are you having
sex a
nd I don’t know about it?”

“No!” Tessa made a face and threw the pieces of her thong in the trash. “No. Who would I even—ugh, never mind. No.”

“Scorpio wants you,” Zeebi said softly, insistently.

“He’s locked up. Not possible. Try again.” Tessa scooped up the last bite of her breakfast. “On second thought, don’t. There’s nothing to guess.”

A wistful expression crossed Zeebi’s face. “I wish a male would look at me like that. Like the way he looks at you, like you’re a walking, talking goddess. Like he’d do
anything
for you.”

Tessa rubbed a hand over her eyes, covering them because she didn’t know if she could keep a neutral expression anymore where Scorpio was concerned. Because gods knew, he
would
do anything for her. And she was going to walk away from him. “Just stop. Please.”

“Okay, Miss Grumpy.” Zeebi muttered as she pushed up from her stool and scraped crumbs off her plate into the trash.

Tessa sighed and walked over to her friend. “Zee, I’m sorry. It’s just…a lot has happened. The attacks at the rowan and from the wolves, the note yesterday, the fact that I don’t have much time left…”

Zeebi set down the plate and folded Tessa into a hug. “I’m sorry too. I know I’m obnoxious and can’t keep my mouth shut. What will I do without you? There’ll be no one to tell me to shut up.”

Tessa snickered. “Oh, I disagree. I bet one of the men around here will crack under your constant talking.”

Zeebi giggled. “Maybe. All right, are we good?”

“Yeah. I’ll miss you like crazy though.” She sighed and forced a smile.

“I’ll miss you too. They better let you have a phone.”

“It’ll probably be bugged.”

“Then we’ll make up a code like we did when we were little. Remember?” Zeebi pulled back with a grin.

Tessa laughed. “Yeah. But we might need something more involved than our old gibberish language.”

“We can do it. I have full confidence in us.” Zeebi scooped up the items she’d brought with her. “And now, we have a lesson with the tween girls.”

“That’s right. The ones who have shown a true affinity to metal.” Tessa glanced down at her comfortable but well-worn pajama pants. “I better change. And brush my hair.”

“You do that. I’ll go set up.” With a wave, Zeebi ducked out the door.

Tessa watched the thin wooden panel close, remembering how Scorpio had simply picked the lock. He could probably break the thing down with just one good punch.

Scorpio. Her belly did a double flip. This feeling was so new and unexpected, she couldn’t put a label on it. All she knew was she wished she could wake up beside him every day. And that what she wanted most was diametrically opposed to what she could ever have.