Going Under (18 page)

“She left the clan?” That had seemed so drastic to Molly. Now that she’d found Owen
and had been part of a clan it was sort of difficult to imagine having this and giving
it up voluntarily. This membership meant something to her. It had become her family
in such a quick fashion.

“She felt like the only way to stay alive was to keep her head down and not be out
as an Other.” He shrugged.

And that bothered him. The question was, why? And should she push him and then risk
getting an answer she wouldn’t like?

“And that bugs you.”

He pushed to stand and began to pace. “I can’t protect everyone. It’s entirely reasonable
given what we’ve seen in the last months to want to get away from all this danger
and keep your head down. She made the choice she needed to make for herself.”

It wasn’t that he’d been sweet on the woman who’d left then. It was that he felt he’d
failed. And she got that one, big time. Still, he gave everything to the clan to protect
them. He was a witch, not a superhero. There was no way anyone could protect everyone.
That wasn’t how things worked.

“Is that what you think? That you have to protect everyone?”

“It’s my job. Now what about you? How are you holding up?”

She let him evade. After all, she was doing it too. “I’m used to a high-stress job.
I can handle it. I just need some rest.”

He turned to her, shaking his head. “That’s shady, Molly.”

“What? Shady how?”

The buzzer sounded and he turned to deal with it.

He refused to let her even give him a dime for the food and laid it all out. The weight
of his disappointment hung between them the entire time.

She sighed. Then sniffled because true to his promise, the curry was hot like she
liked.

“I’m afraid that if I really let go and tell you how I’m doing that I’ll lose my shit.”
There. She said it.

His gaze snapped up from his plate and to her face. “You think I’d judge?” It wasn’t
accusatory, just a question.

She didn’t know the answer. Maybe if she lost control she’d never get it back. Maybe
if she unleashed all that bubbling fury and pain she’d be nothing more than a mess.
And she couldn’t afford it.

“Maybe. I don’t know. It’s certainly not the only reason I’m worried.” She ate for
a few minutes more until her system started to feel better with the infusion of calories.
“I’ve had an easy life. Maybe this is my punishment for that.”

He snorted. “Really? You think all this death and utter chaos is because you had a
happy life until now?”

“Self-centered of me, I know. It’s stupid.” She looked down at her plate and he put
his chopsticks down, reaching out to take her hand.

“It’s not stupid. And it’s not self-centered. But this is not because you had a good
life as a kid. Tell me how is it now? Now that you’re here in Owen.”

She might be able to do that. Just a little bit of unloading.

“I like the feel of Owen. It had always seemed like sort of a snooty yacht club or
something. From the outside I mean. But it’s nothing like that. It’s like one big
family. Sure, some of the family members are jerks who always get drunk at weddings
and cause fights. But there’s a sense of unity I’ve never really experienced before.”

“You never felt that with humans?”

She sighed, thinking. “No, not really. It’s not like I felt bad. Or like an outsider.
But the fact is, I
was
an outsider.” And that had become painfully clear when she’d lost everything she’d
gained in her human life.

“I never really imagined this is how they’d react. Humans I mean. Oh I figured some
would freak out and make a fuss. But a fuss isn’t setting shit on fire and killing
defenseless families in their sleep. It’s not a world I feel much affinity with anymore.”

“They’re not all that way.”

“Why do you always defend them? They stole your entire life, Molly! They came in and
when it got hard, they dumped you and stole your life. Your job. Your clients. Your
friends abandoned you.”

She flinched because he’d been right. No one spoke to her the way he did. It was frustrating
and exciting all at once.

“That might be true. But my mother is human. She raised me, Gage, not my witch father.
And when Rosa discovered me and went to my mother, she shared me with another family
to be sure I got what I needed. She’s the one who urged me to come here to Owen. My
grandparents are human and they’ve never done anything but love and support me. Tosh
Sato is human and he’s risking his career for Others. They’re not all Alison Moore
or her puppet master Carlo Powers. So I think my reply to you is why do
you
always attack
them
? You say you hate it when they do it to you and then you turn around and judge all
humans by the acts of a few crazy people.”

“Yeah, so where are those non-crazy people when Others like the Boraches are run off
the road and murdered? Huh? Silence is just as bad as what PURITY is doing in some
cases.”

“Yes, it is a problem and connecting with those silent majority humans is a big task,
but necessary. What is it exactly that
you
think will solve the problem? Should we go to war? Just kill as many of them as we
can while they do the same? And what’s the end game there? What is the point?”

“We should stop coddling people like Sato who flirt with our rights but then give
out lectures about being patient while Others are being discriminated against left
and right. When our businesses are being vandalized and our homes aren’t safe? He
can’t call himself a friend to Others while he gives
you
a dressing down about vigilantes. And by the way, you rocked that meeting today.”

“I don’t even know how to process you, Gage. You’re pissy and grumpy and unreasonable
and then you compliment me.”

He grinned, clearly caught off guard. “If I keep you on your toes, you’re too busy
trying to figure me out to pop me one for being a dick sometimes.”

“Hm.”

“When you do that it only makes me hot.”

He was so charming. Good gracious, the man was a handful, but she really did enjoy
him on so many levels.

“Toshio Sato is a good man. He is so get that sour look off your face. You’re ruining
all that pretty.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Are you fishing for compliments?”

He shrugged. “Of course not.”

Liar. “Yes, I think you’re pretty. Well, maybe not pretty. You’re too masculine for
that. You’re brutally handsome. Your body is, well, I do like to see it naked. Or
not naked. I just like your shoulders and your arms.”

“And my ass. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you looking.”

She laughed, blushing. “I’m weak. And your butt is spectacular. I can’t not look.
It would be un-American not to look at a behind as fine as yours, Gage.”

He blushed then and she laughed harder.

“You blush!”

“I do. But not very often. About Rose.” He licked his lips and she thought about how
much she liked his mouth and that tongue too. “She was nice and fun. But this thing.”
He waved a hand back and forth between them. “Is more. On a whole different level.”

She wasn’t asking him to say it, but she was glad he did. “Yeah? So why hide it?”

“I’m not hiding it. Not exactly.”

“That is such a guy answer.”

“As I said earlier, I shouldn’t be guarding someone I’m sleeping with. It’s not a
good choice.”

“So you’re not saying anything about our relationship so you can keep guarding me?”
Partly she got that. It made sense and it wasn’t like she wanted him to take out a
billboard declaring that they were . . . whatever they were.

“I’m also a private guy and I work with women who would never let me hear the end
of it. And Toshio Sato better man the fuck up and back us like he should. Otherwise
he’s not a good man. He’s just a guy giving lip service and we’re still getting screwed
over.”

He confused her so much! He didn’t have to say that about Rose and the difference
between that and what he had with Molly. That had been sweet and it had made her sort
of gooey inside. But then he’d circled back to Tosh?

“I agree. And he’s not the only one.”

“You’re getting lines on your forehead again. Stop thinking about work. I’m sorry
I brought it up. When is your mom coming out?”

“She and Rosa are coming out next week to look at some houses. They’ve got a real-estate
agent and everything and I’ve sent them information about the different neighborhoods.
My mom has a job interview too. I hooked Rosa up with Owen. They’ve done a great job
reaching out to her.” It was a relief to know they were coming. A relief to know they’d
be close.

“Good to know. We’re glad to have you. You know that right? I know things were rough
at first. But now that people know you it’s smoother.”

She sipped her wine and considered whether she should share everything. “For the most
part, yes.”

“The most part?” His magick rose and hers stirred. At first it had startled her. She’d
never dated a witch before so her magick hadn’t done anything when she was around
a guy she got naked with. But with Gage . . . things were different. Her magick always
rose to meet his. He touched her and she was often flooded with the warm rush of her
power.

He seemed to evoke a response in her. Provocative even in that.

“Not everyone is excited about me. But I don’t need everyone to be. The ones who count
are.”

“Like who?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Um, yes, it does. Tell me.”

He was so fiercely protective of her. It overwhelmed her at times. But right then
it made her feel safe and cared about.

“It’s just a thing that happens sometimes. It’s not like anyone has harmed me. Some
witches at Owen would be happier to not have anyone with pro-human sensibilities in
any position of power.” She shrugged.

He frowned. “Who?”

“We’ve already established that I’m not going into it. I’m just saying, not everyone
is happy. But that’s life, Gage. Not everyone likes you.”

“I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn about things.”

“Because it’s none of your business. You can’t change it. Or help it. It is what it
is. No amount of frowning or browbeating is going to make everyone like me. So let
it go.”

“Or, you know, you could try sharing with me and letting me take some of your burdens.
That’s what friends do.”

“This isn’t about you. It’s not even really about me. It’s about worlds colliding
and all this grief and fury, angst and longing for a world they will never ever have
again. It’s the only way some of us can mourn without falling to pieces. I understand
it.”

He took her in and it was like he saw right to her very core. Uncomfortable and yet,
part of her needed it and responded with relief.

“And what do you do, then? To mourn?”

“I fight.”

“Fair enough. Ready for the hot tub?”

As a matter of fact, she was.

“The bathing suit is on my bed. I’m going to put the food away and get us a glass
of wine to take up.”

She hustled off and got changed quickly. It would be good to have time to unwind with
him. To look at the stars and let go of the day.

He led her up a spiral staircase to a small patio. “This is another reason I keep
the apartment. It comes with this.” He took the cover off and it steamed up into the
cold darkness.

“This is all yours? I figured it was a community tub.”

“All mine. I haven’t used it much lately.”

She put her towel down and got rid of her shoes before she let him help her ease into
the hot water. The air around them was so cold it stung against her skin as not-quite-snow
fell lightly around them.

She leaned back into his body and let the stress go.

“I like having you all to myself. Just Molly and Gage. No clan, no PURITY, just you
and me in this hot tub with the promise of hot sex when we get out.”

She laughed, reaching over to grab him through his trunks. He arched in her hand.
“Don’t know that we even have to wait until we get back inside.”

“I sure do like the
sex on a rooftop
Molly.” He nuzzled her neck and she sighed, relaxing against him.

He slowly spun her, lifting her to place her butt on the ledge. Steam rose from her
skin, but she was anything but cold as he eased her suit bottoms off and to the side.

Anything but cold as he kissed his way up her inner thigh until he spread her open
and began to devour her hard and fast until she broke, coming so hard she would have
cried out if they weren’t outside.

But the restraint only made her hotter as he stood and pulled a condom from the towel
he’d set on the nearby ledge, getting it on quickly, moving back to her, guiding himself
to the heart of her and working his way into her body.

“Pretty sure of yourself.”

“I like to be prepared for any sex you decide to let me have with you.”

And he was in, so deep it felt like the beating of his pulse echoed through her inner
walls.

But always inside her. Always lodged inside and she wasn’t sure he was a man she could
ever be totally over. So she just had to enjoy what they had and hope she never had
to experience that pain.

Chapter 19

“YOU’RE
stronger now.” Rosa looked her over after giving Molly a big hug.

“What do you mean?”

“Your magick. Interesting.”

“They’ve been giving me lessons. On how to use my power I mean. Maybe it’s just that.”

“Maybe. But I don’t think so. In any case, I’m so happy to see you.” Rosa held Molly’s
face between her hands, smiling.

Molly and Rosa had had a series of long phone calls about the move out to Seattle.
She didn’t want her family moving half a country away because they were worried about
her. She didn’t want anyone giving up anything else, damn it.

But Rosa wasn’t a pushover and what she wanted was to wash her hands of Chicago and
try to pull her life together again in Seattle. She’d told Molly that seeing her husband
in everything, every restaurant, their home, all that had been too much. Especially
when she had to deal with so much crap for being a witch.

Gage knocked at the door, poking his head in briefly, smiling when he caught sight
of Rosa. “I just wanted to check in. Sorry to interrupt.”

“Come in.” She kept Rosa’s hand as they turned. “Rosa, this is Gage Garrity. He’s
the hunter here. Sort of like the head cop, though it’s so much more than that. Anyway.”
She knew she blushed and it was so amateurish she was surprised at herself. She was
usually better at schooling her emotions at work.

Gage stepped in and took Rosa’s hand in both of his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Molly speaks of you often. Welcome to Seattle and to Owen.” He inclined his head slightly.

Rosa sent Molly a raised brow but grinned back Gage’s way. “Thank you. It’s nice to
meet you too. Thank you for protecting Molly. Her mom and I appreciate it. It’s hard
when she’s so far away.” Rosa looked him over in that way she had.

“My mom will be here in a moment, she just needed to freshen up.” Faine had accompanied
them back from the airport but he’d disappeared shortly after they returned to the
office to run back to the hotel to get Rosa and her mother checked in.

Not that she was disappointed to see Gage. Things had changed between them—deepened—in
the week since that night in his apartment. More trust. She knew she could rely on
him. And she was way past crush territory and well on the trip into falling in love.

It was hard when the world was falling apart all around you to make excuses as to
why you should deny your feelings when it was something good and important.

So she didn’t.

Her mother came in and her gaze went immediately to Gage.

“Mom, this is Gage. Gage Garrity, this is my mother, Eliza Ryan.” She’d told her mom
a little about Gage and her sort-of relationship with him. It was clear her mother
knew it when she took him in carefully.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Gage shook her hand, smiling in his charming way. “Do we
need to get their luggage anywhere?” he asked Molly.

“Faine went to the hotel to get them checked in. When he gets back we’ll go meet with
the real-estate agent. They already have several places to look at.”

“I’ll go with you all. Faine has some other things I need him to do.”

He did that from time to time. She knew because he wanted to be with her, even if
the stubborn man wouldn’t say it out loud.

“Oh my, we don’t need a guard. We can have the real-estate agent pick us up here and
have her show us around. She can drop us back at the hotel. We know you have work
to do.” Rosa looked back and forth between Molly and Gage.

“If Molly is with you, you’ll need a guard.”

Rosa and her mother both narrowed their gaze her way. “You said things were all right.”

“She receives death threats on a weekly basis. She’s been flour bombed, shoved, had
insults hurled at her and this building has been vandalized. We have every reason
to believe they’re tracking her movements. So wherever she goes, one of us goes.”

Molly widened her eyes and then narrowed them. The nerve!

“There is
nothing
for you two to worry about. The guard thing is a backup but there’s no reason to think
there’s any harm in going house hunting. I want to come along. Don’t forget I need
to find a place to live as well.” She smiled, soldiering on, but when she got Gage
alone there would be a reckoning.

“Sounds to me like if you have twenty-four-hour bodyguards, there
is
something to worry about.” Her mother wasn’t having any avoidance of a subject she
wanted to talk about.

“My job has some dangers, yes. But going to look at houses is totally fine. We’ll
have Gage with us because that’s what his job is. He decides such things. But I’m
right here. Fine.”

“Mr. Garrity, can you please enlighten us?” Her mother turned and every female eye
in the room landed on him.

Molly threw her hands up. “About what? He’s already told you everything.”

“If you don’t, I have to.”

He couldn’t have actually said that out loud!

At that moment, if her mother and Rosa hadn’t been right there she would have thrown
the stapler in her hand. His gaze went to it, knowing exactly that. But the butthead
didn’t even flinch.

“Your daughter is the public face of the clan. And more than that, of Others in general.
That’s part of her job.”

“And one I do rather well.”

He nodded, solemn still. “Yes, she’s right about that. But the better she is at it,
the more people in PURITY and Humans First focus all that hatred on her. That makes
her a target. It’s my job to be sure that she’s protected as much as possible. I don’t
think you or Mrs. Falco are at risk, but when Molly is with you, it’s best to be cautious
and careful. For everyone’s sake.”

“I’m rather unhappy that you haven’t shared the full extent of this with me.” Rosa
sighed heavily.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you. I’m sorry
I
wasn’t the one to tell you as well.”

Gage got it then. She knew from the look that flashed across that criminally handsome
face.

Faine walked past and she waved. “Faine! I thought you were off doing something else.
Perfect timing. We need to get over to the first house. Can you accompany us?”

Gage narrowed his gaze at her for a moment and she shined him on, still beyond angry
with him.

Rosa and her mother stared at her, but her mother wore a little smirk so on top of
the whole bit about how much danger she faced, now her mother knew there was something
more than a budding romance between them.

“Um.” Faine looked back and forth between Gage and Molly. “I have something I need
to do. I was stopping by to tell you that.”

Gage sent her a smirk and her grip on the stapler tightened so much the plastic may
have groaned.

“If you ladies are ready?” Gage indicated they all leave the office. When Molly passed
him, he reached out to touch her but she flinched away, shooting him a look.

She then sat in the backseat, in the middle, rather than up front with him and kept
up a conversation that would wall him on the other side. He wanted to play some stupid
game? He needed to be schooled, apparently, that he wasn’t the only one who could
do that.

Gage tapped into his patience. What he wanted to do was hustle her pretty ass off
to the side and have it out. But her mothers were here and it was clear he’d already
fucked up. So he’d bide his time.

It was hard not to be impressed with what an icy bitch she could be when she put her
mind to it. Her manners toward him were perfectly civil. But nothing more. He missed
the way she smiled at him, warmth and a little mischief in her gaze.

She turned on the charm with the real-estate agent, though. He was an Other, which
she’d done on purpose, Gage would wager. He checked the guy out of course. He wasn’t
going to let anyone near her or anyone she cared about without a thorough background
check.

They looked at houses but it wasn’t as if Molly’s phone stopped ringing. She had to
excuse herself over and over and her mother frowned. Gage wanted them to know how
hard Molly worked and that she wasn’t being rude.

In the end, her mother ended up liking a waterfront condo in downtown so much she
put in a bid on it. It was big enough for her parents to live there with her if they
wanted, which made Gage like Eliza Ryan all the more. Rosa saw a few places she liked,
but none that really knocked her socks off. But there was time and she could afford
to be choosy.

Molly smiled at her mother, spoke in her ear and then motioned to Gage to speak with
her off to the side.

“So now you want to talk to me?”

“No, as it happens, I don’t. But I figured I’d give it a try rather than go around
you and call Lark. But if you’d prefer that, I’m happy to do so. This is about my
mother’s safety and I’m not going to play games.”

“I deserved that. What do you need?”

“Is this defensible? Will she be safe here?”

He’d gone into each place asking himself exactly that question. But it didn’t erase
the warmth in his belly that she’d come to him, trusting him that way.

“I’ve checked this building out in the past. It’s got a doorman, which is nice. These
floors can only be accessed by a key. Her view is toward the water so there’s no one
directly across from her who could do harm. The balcony is positioned out of the direct
line of sight from any of her neighbors. I think it’s a good choice.”

She nodded. “Thank you.” And turned, moving back to her mother, speaking in her ear
again.

Finally, four hours later, he took them to the hotel.

“I’ve got some meetings I need to go to so I won’t be back until after nine or so.
I’m sorry.”

Her mother looked her over carefully. “Are you getting enough rest?”

No. But he kept his mouth shut.

“I’m working on it, Mom. But stuff keeps happening and I have to address it before
PURITY does.”

Eliza took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll be waiting up for you. We’re all going
to have some tea when you get home.”

Gage accompanied them to their room and checked it over before he turned and let them
know it was safe. “The hotel is owned by Owen. Staffed by our people. You can’t get
through the lobby unless you’re a guest or approved by a guest. Still, don’t open
the door to anyone you don’t know.” He handed them both a business card. “My direct
number is on there. Call that if you need anything. Don’t hesitate if something feels
off.”

Molly hugged them both and turned, striding past him to the elevator without a second
glance.

Once the elevator doors closed he turned to her. “Clearly you have something to say.”

She pushed the button for the lobby. “Not here. Not now. I have to meet with city
officials in twenty minutes and if I said all the things in my head right now, we’d
both be unable to do that. Mainly because you’d be limping.”

“Oh, you think so?”

“Yes. And so do you. You moved over a little. Girl doesn’t have to be a hunter to
notice things like that. Now back off and leave me alone. I have to get into the right
head space for this meeting.”

He shouldn’t have been amused. But he was. “You can’t avoid it forever.”

She snorted and proceeded to ignore him quite pointedly for the next several hours
as she went from meeting to meeting.

He got plenty of his own work done, as guarding her meant a lot of waiting off to
the side. At one point, she’d approached, handed him her tablet and gone back to work.

He resisted the urge to read through her stuff, instead hopping online, answering
email and dealing with anything that had cropped up since he’d left the office earlier
that day.

Once she’d finally finished up for the day it was impossible not to see how beat she
was. It was one thing to be her bodyguard. But this was another level of protection
and he needed to fix her.

“I’m stopping for dinner.” He said this without looking her way. “Why don’t you call
your mom to let her know you’ll be late? Maybe she’ll want to eat and we can bring
something.”

“I have food in my fridge.”

“You won’t eat a meal. You’ll eat an apple and a breakfast bar and call it a dinner.
You’ve been away from the office since before eleven. You haven’t eaten this whole
time. I’m starving and I know you have to be.”

“My mother is already here. Oh and I’ve got a spare too. Thanks to your lovely description
of just how dangerous my job is earlier today, they’re both already going to be worried.
I can’t be later than I already am. I’m sure Rosa has baked something already too.
I’m fine.”

“Look, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to alarm them. I just wanted them to know
how things were.”

“Yes, you did. You even said so. I had planned to go over it bit by bit while they
were here. You know, ease them into this world. But you just threw them into it without
any context. That was shitty.”

“They need to understand, Molly. It’s not fair of you to keep them in the dark.”

“Fuck you. Fuck you. Oh and fuck you. How dare you think you get to decide any of
this for me? Those two women are pretty much all I’ve got left. Rosa has lost
everything
. Her husband. Her daughter. Her job. With the exception of her son, her whole life.
The last thing she needed was for you to dump all that on her. That wasn’t your choice
to make. She’s barely holding on. This trip was about her getting some normalcy in
her life. Finding a new place to live. Meeting witches in the clan. Finding a home.
And you just stomped in with your fancy boots and pooped all over it.”

He swallowed, hard, knowing she was right and in his zeal to let her family know how
dangerous her job was, he’d mucked things up.

“I just wanted them to know they had a reason to be proud of you.”

She exhaled sharply. “You could have told them I’ve met television personalities and
lawmakers. You didn’t need to say their daughter was being threatened day and night.
It’s hard enough to
be
threatened day and night but it’s easier when my mother doesn’t know. That just adds
more stress to my schedule and, in case it’s unclear, I have enough.”