Deception (48 page)

She fought his grip and twisted around. “How can you say that? This is . . . It's . . . ”

He took her face and leaned close, forcing her to focus on him. “Are you worried you're pregnant?”

“Yes, Quin! Of course I'm worried. I'm terrified.”

“You're not pregnant. Please calm down.”

She started to argue, then paused and furrowed her eyebrows. “You sound sure.”

“I am sure.”

“How?” she demanded, maintaining a death grip on his thighs.

He smoothed her wrinkled forehead then touched her heart. “Because I'm protected against pregnancy right now. I took care of it while I was gone Sunday.”

She didn’t relax or respond, so he reached back up and touched her quaking lips. “I swear, Layla, there's absolutely no way you're pregnant.”

Her fingernails retracted as she tilted her head. “What do you mean, you took care of it?”

“It's a spell. It takes up to an hour to perform, and it guards against pregnancy for as little as three hours or as long as two weeks, depending on how you cast it.” He tucked a spiral behind her ear and kissed her tense jaw. “I'll show you sometime.”

She closed her eyes, melting in his arms as her aura returned to its gorgeous palette. “I can't believe I didn't even think about it. That was really irresponsible of me.”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “Stop chastising yourself.”

“I can't. Not after what I've seen. Besides, that's the number one rule when having sex, and I didn't even consider it.”

“The rules are out the window, Layla. We're not average people, and this is not an average relationship involving average sex.”

“But we didn't know that before.” She paused and suspiciously narrowed her eyes. “You protected yourself, huh?”

“Yes.”

A smile played on her lips as she fiddled with his collarbone. “So you anticipated tonight?”

He grinned and shifted her around, cradling her across his lap. “Yes.”

“Since when?”

“I've been anticipating this night for a long time, but I think you're asking when I decided to make it a reality.”

“Yes,” she laughed, “that's what I'm asking.”

“Let's see,” he mumbled. “We've both been ready for this night since around Thursday, right? Five days.”

She nodded, and he lifted a spiral to his lips as he went on. “I would have made it happen sooner, but things kept getting in the way. You had a rough week, my love, and I wasn't going to do this while you were in pain, nor was it going to happen in Caitrin and Morrigan's shower.”

She laughed as she cuddled into him, listening to his heartbeat and story.

“Thursday was a dreadful day, and your broken bones left you fragile, so loving you like this was out of the question for Thursday and Friday. It would have happened Saturday, but things went terribly wrong, and Saturday ended up being worse than Thursday.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and took her cheek. “Once I had you back, you were broken, and I had to fix you before thinking about anything else. But when your grandparents got here to heal you, I was able to look beyond the pain. Considering everything you’ve been through and all the obstacles you face, I was terrified we wouldn't get this night if I didn't act soon. Every time we turn around, our time together is being threatened, so I decided to stay in Karena's best room for a couple of days and take the opportunity before anyone could steal it from us.”

She straightened away from his heart and raised an eyebrow. “So when you agreed to our deal this morning, you already knew what would happen tonight?”

“I knew what I wanted to happen,” he confessed. “I never would have made that deal otherwise.”

Her mouth fell open then closed. “I guess that would have been fine since I couldn't stick to it anyway. My self-control drains away when you touch me.”

“I didn't play fair.”

“I'm glad you didn’t.” She took his hand and wiggled his seductive fingers. “So this means we were made for each other, huh?”

“That and so much more.”

“Do you think this is why you had dreams about me?”

“Maybe, but I’ve never heard of another bonded couple dreaming about each other before meeting.”

“It's not fair. I should have been dreaming about you.”

He smiled and played with her pucker. “But I knew about you. You didn't know I existed, but I've always known you were out there, somewhere, being perfect and beautiful.”

She continued to pout, so he gave her a kiss. “How about now? Do you dream about me?”

She dropped the act and smiled. “Every time I sleep.”

“I like that answer,” he approved. “Speaking of sleep, you need some.”

Her smile fell as her eyes narrowed. “The dreams are sweet, Quin, but they're nothing compared to the real thing. I don't want to go to sleep. I want to stay awake forever.”

“It's four o'clock in the morning, love, and we have a stressful day ahead of us.”

“Oh.” She dropped her gaze and fidgeted with her hair. “Do you think it will be that bad?”

He leaned her back so he could find her eyes. “I love that we've bonded, Layla. It's the most amazing feeling in the world, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but there are a lot of things we have to think about now, things that wouldn't have been an issue if we hadn't bonded. We have to tell our family, and we’re facing some difficult decisions.”

“Are you worried?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he confessed. “I'm very worried.”

“It shouldn't have to be that way.”

“No, it definitely shouldn't.”

Tears gathered in her eyes, and his jaw flexed as he stroked her cheek. “Please don't cry, Layla. Not tonight.”

“I don't want to leave, Quin. I don't want you to have to leave.”

“Me neither, but we'll do what we must to keep what we’ve found in each other.”

“Surely there's another way.”

“I hope you're right, and we'll do everything we can to figure it out. I promise.”

She laid her cheek on his bicep, staying silent for several seconds. Then she found his eyes and touched his cheek. “I don't want to be sad right now, Quin.”

“Me neither, angel.” He kissed her fingertip. Then he smiled and raised his eyebrows. “You know, there is one thing we could do to cheer ourselves up.”

She perked up and grinned. “You mean you're not going to force me to go to sleep?”

“I still think you need sleep, but I'm willing to let you stay up for a little while longer.”

Her aura brightened as she smoothly flipped around and straddled his stomach. “That sounds like a huge sacrifice on your part. I'll have to make it worth it.”

Taking his jaw in her palms, she touched her forehead to his. Then she melted into a kiss while sliding down his torso. His itchy hands grasped her thighs, and as her lips trailed over his chin, he pressed her down around him.

Magical sparks flipped from their flesh and sizzled through their bonded lights, and the electrifying energy popped the surrounding bubbles, showering them in gold glitter and emerald petals.

Epilogue

Blood swarmed Guthrie’s senses. Its tangy scent seeped up his nostrils and across his taste buds, and its sticky splatter coagulated on his exposed skin. The walls and ceiling of the large tent bore darkening drops, and shiny crimson puddles gathered on the floor.

Guthrie had witnessed a lot of morbid scenes during his stint in the Dark Elite, but he’d never seen one quite like this. Two men who’d deemed themselves soothsayers lay dead. One had met his end the night before, and his decaying body was propped in the corner to motivate the other, who should have kept his big mouth shut. After hours of listening to the first soothsayer scream for mercy, the second decided to boast to his comrades that he could do better, and Agro overheard him. The soldier had turned white as the moon when Agro challenged his claim, telling him he’d get a chance to prove himself the following night.

A day of restless sleep surely followed, and the idiot nearly pissed himself when the sun set and Agro beckoned him. He did piss himself when he walked into the tent to find a corpse staring at him with empty eye sockets. The eyeballs that belonged in the bloody holes were across the tent, along with the corpse’s severed limbs.

Yes, Agro was good at motivating people, but the threat of dismemberment did him no good. Mr.
I-can-do-better
knew how to divine the future about as well as he knew how to keep his mouth shut. After four hours of meditation and four hours of screaming at the Heavens, he’d garnered nothing more than additional torture. Now Guthrie stood over two limbless bodies, covered in blood while awaiting Agro’s next command.

“How many adult soldiers do we have?” Agro asked, wearily loading a pipe with lime-green herb.

Guthrie waited for his boss to take a hit before answering. “Around seventy healthy, more than a dozen wounded.”

“Still?”

“We don’t have a healer.”

Agro rolled his eyes and took another pull off his pipe. “Seventy then. It’s not enough.”

“Enough to do what, sir?”

“Are you dense? Enough to get my witch.”

“We don’t know where she is.”

“You don’t say,” Agro growled. “I need a real soothsayer. Not a piss-ant claiming to be one. And more soldiers.” He paused and paced, then halted and raised his eyebrows. “And a diversion.”

“What would you have me do?” Guthrie asked.

Agro dug into a bag and retrieved the map of his troops. “Take this and a unit of our finest. Locate the closest soldiers and send them here before moving to the next camp. Most of the troops will contain children. For those that do, I want you to seek out the weakest soldiers and set them with the task of transporting the kids to the Lake Tahoe region. The adults are to make public appearances and plant false information with the locals. I want the Conn/Kavanagh coven to think I bought their lies and have moved south, so spin a tale and pass it on. As for a soothsayer, there’s a wizard in Nevada – not far outside that hexless shit-hole they call Sin City.”

“Las Vegas.”

“Right.” Agro vanished his pipe and summoned a piece of paper. “This wizard – Vortigern – he runs an institution that specializes in mental magic and will broker a deal on soothsayers. He should have some in stock and he owes me, so take these coordinates and something valuable out of that chest over there and tell him I want the best he has. Two of them.”

Guthrie nodded as he took the paper and glanced at the treasure chest. “I’ll forget to mention what happened to the last two.”

“That would be wise,” Agro agreed, glancing at the body near his feet. “I’m tired of chasing this one, Guthrie. What we’re doing isn’t working, and I want this done, so I’m giving you two nights to collect the soothsayers and as many soldiers as you can, then another to fly back. I expect you here before the sun rises on the third night.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get Vortigern’s treasure then send someone in here to clean this mess. Report back to me once you’re ready to depart.”

“Yes, sir,” Guthrie repeated.

After digging through the plundered treasure for Vortigern’s payment, Guthrie exited the tent and found a lowly soldier to clean the boss’ mess. The boy reluctantly went to work, and Guthrie headed for his tent to pack a bag.

Halfway there, Lynette spoke from behind him. “You never showed.”

Guthrie halted, listening to her smooth voice while staring at a sky growing hazy with dawn.

Her voice drew closer as she continued. “After you stood me up the first night, I hoped I’d see you last night.”

“I don’t have time for this,” he dismissed, resuming his steps.

She caught up and walked beside him. “You’re covered in blood.”

“Am I?” he asked, unable to curb his sarcasm.

“Here,” she said, “let me get that for you.”

She reached for his cheek, but he grabbed her wrist and jerked her to a halt. “I can clean myself.”

Her violet eyes narrowed as her nostrils flared, but she didn’t try to retaliate like usual. She just pulled her wrist from his rough grasp and glanced over her shoulder. “Have you thought about what I said?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

“I have to go,” he mumbled, pissed and annoyed she saw him so clearly.

He walked away, but she followed. “Go where?”

“To get more soldiers.”

“Are you taking a unit?”

“Yes.”

“You should take me.”

“Why? So you can go on about nonsense that’ll get us killed?”

She sighed, but kept up her pace. “No, so you can sleep next to a warm body while you’re gone.”

“No, Lyn.”

“It might be our last chance.”

He stopped and met her stare. “I said no. Your time would be better served here, with another wizard.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Agro’s voice. “You,” he barked, pointing at a witch near the entrance to his tent. “Gather your friends then report to my bedchamber. And make sure they have all their limbs.”