Read Possessed (Book One of the Hollow City Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel Online
Authors: Hazel Hunter
Possessed (Book One of the Hollow City Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel (13 page)
“A pilot from another coven will be coming. Also, Lena’s been in touch with Marceline, and she has a message for you.”
Gillian looked up, startled.
“What is it?” she asked cautiously. “I’m not going back to the Baltus Institute, not at this point.”
Raina grinned.
“Nothing like that. Apparently, she was ready to go on a full scale Templar hunt when she heard about what happened. She said, ‘It sounds like you’re on to something big. Don’t let them take it away from you. Call if you need anything. We’ll come running.’”
Gillian grinned. That sounded like pure Marceline. Raina grinned a little and turned to go. Impulsively, Gillian touched her arm.
“We can’t thank you enough,” she said.
“Tosh,” Raina said. “It’s one of the benefits of being out here. Occasionally, I get to help people.”
“Are you sure you won’t head to your coven?” Shayne asked. “If just for a few days.”
Raina shook her head.
“I thought about it, but this is my territory. If Templars want to come looking for me, let them. I’m not afraid.”
But I am,
Gillian thought, biting her lip.
Shayne sighed. “Well, it’s not like I can talk,” he said. “I’ve done a metric ton of stupid things in my time.”
Raina laughed, but stopped abruptly when she glanced up the stairs.
“Travertine!” she said. “What are you doing?”
The little marmoset was at the top of the stairs, dragging Gillian’s backpack. Raina gave Gillian an embarrassed smile.
“Looks like it’s time to get packing,” she said, with a little shrug.
LOOKING OUT THE window of the plane, Gillian watched the small, grass runway fall behind them. As they gained altitude, she caught a glimpse of the shimmering river. The higher they climbed, the more the green of the pine forest seemed to spread forever. Raina was so isolated. Gillian grimaced at the thought.
She turned to see Shayne watching her.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes.” She sat up straight and squared her shoulders. “I’m going to see this out.”
He leaned in and spoke softly in her ear.
“Where you walk, I walk. That’s my promise to you.”
His breath tickled and she grinned, but then her smile faded. “We’re going to Port Ilya, but then…”
Shayne paused, staying close. “Yes?”
Gillian took a deep breath. “We’re going to the Midnight Market,” she whispered.
Shayne leaned back and she had the satisfaction of seeing his eyebrows arch. While Templars hadn’t made him flinch, the Midnight Market was something else.
“You’re certain,” he said after a moment.
She nodded. “There are things there that are nowhere else in the world.”
Shayne was silent for a long while, but then he nodded.
“All right.”
Though they were only two words, it was the way he’d said them.
I’m here. I will be here, and I will follow you as far as we need to go.
Gillian lifted the arm rest between their seats and leaned against him. In the small high-wing plane, it would be hours yet before they reached Port Ilya. Against the warm, muscular bulk of his body, she could feel herself drift away to sleep.
In her brief sleep, she dreamed, or at least she thought she did.
The tall pillars of onyx and malachite gleamed. The feel of silk on her body was soft and sheer. But through the marble halls, strange words were echoing. They were musical and terrible, familiar and yet desolate, but Gillian couldn’t bring herself to turn away. As her soft footfalls brought her closer, she could finally make out the sounds.
She died, she died,
they said, over and over.
She died, she died.
And to Gillian’s shock, she knew it was true.
• • • • •
Gillian’s story continues in SHADOWED (Book Two of the Hollow City Coven Series).
For a sneak peek, turn the page.
Book 2 Excerpt:
SHADOWED
Book Two of the Hollow City Coven Series
Shayne set the backpack in the corner. “Do you want me to take the floor?”
“What?” Gillian asked, shocked at the serious expression he turned to her.
“You hesitated when he asked if we would share a room––which I think we should. But with regards to the bed…” Shayne paused for a moment. “A lot has happened, to say the least. We jumped into things pretty fast.” He watched her face. “And they were good,” he said quickly. “But maybe it was too fast.”
Gillian turned away from Shayne, not wanting him to see the hurt in her eyes.
“I didn’t think it was too fast,” she said, her voice strained. “I’m…I’m sorry you regret it.”
“
Gillian
.” His strong arms wrapped her in a tight embrace. His breath was warm on her neck. “I don’t regret a thing.”
She closed her eyes in relief. His soft lips kissed a trail from the base of her neck to just behind her ear.
“That feels so good,” she murmured, tilting her head.
“I couldn’t agree more,” he whispered against her skin.
Up on deck, she could hear footsteps going to and fro. The timbers around them creaked a little. She’d been about to say they must be underway, when Shayne gently turned her face to him and kissed her. His mouth was almost tentative at first, but in moments his lips were kneading into hers, firm, demanding… Gillian remembered the bar.
“Oh my god,” she gasped, pulling back.
Shayne immediately let her go and stepped back. His eyebrows mounded furiously, and he mouthed a silent “what?”.
“In the bar,” she said, hugging herself. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
She told him about the woman at the bar, the words tumbling out in no particular order. Though Shayne raised his eyebrows, he didn’t interrupt. When she finally finished her breathless tale, he chuckled a little.
“Your first time, I take it?” he asked, smiling.
“My…my…what?” she managed to stammer. This was not the reaction she’d been expecting.
“I’m disappointed,” he said, and her heart clenched, “that I wasn’t there to watch.”
She’d been about to attempt an explanation but stopped. Though she knew she had to be gaping at him, she couldn’t stop.
“I’ve lived eight-hundred years, Gillian. After the first hundred or so, experimentation is nice.” He watched her intently. “Are you saying you didn’t enjoy it?”
Though she felt as though she were melting under his gaze, she couldn’t lie.
“No,” she said quietly, staring at the floor.
In fact, at the moment, she couldn’t remember a kiss that had so taken her breath away.
The ship began to rock, the motion small at first, but growing steadily. She wobbled a bit. Shayne quickly closed the distance between them. But rather than embrace her, he moved her backward toward the bed. A thought occurred to her, and she stopped him.
“Wait. Are you saying you’ve been with other men?”
Shayne froze, hands around her waist, looking down into her eyes.
“Yes,” he said. “Is that a problem?”
In all honesty, she didn’t know. His one brown eye and one blue, looked between hers. She tried to imagine it––Shayne with another man––but didn’t even know where to begin. But slowly, as her hands found his rounded biceps and she gazed at his broad chest, she saw two Shaynes. She pictured him with that man, equally beautiful, both carved like Greek gods, both needing each other, one submitting to the other. They were gorgeous. Gillian blinked.
“I see it’s not,” Shayne said lowly, his voice like velvet.
She could hardly deny it, as a delicious warmth slowly spread between her legs.
His fingers found the zipper at the back of her dress, then deftly he undid the hooks of her bra. In seconds, every stitch of her clothing was on the floor. But rather than undress, he took his time looking at her, his eyes covering every inch of her body. The ship rose and fell, as if cresting a wave. Again she swayed, not used to a moving floor. Shayne circled her waist with his arm, steadying himself with a hand on one of the rafters over his head. His face was only inches from hers.
“Have you been in love?” he said lowly.
The question surprised her, looking into his glittering eyes. She hesitated, but then she shook her head. She’d had affairs, but nothing that had ever seemed like love, like something that would last.
“Have you?” she asked.
“I thought I had,” he whispered hoarsely, “until I met you.”
MORE BOOKS BY HAZEL HUNTER
THE HOLLOW CITY COVEN SERIES
A daring quest. A deadly enemy. A protector who won’t quit. Although Wiccan Gillian Granger’s life’s work is finding a legendary city, her research in musty libraries hasn’t prepared her for the field, let alone a gorgeous escort. Shayne Savatier knows he’s on a milk run, especially after he meets his beautiful charge. But when enemies attack her, everything changes. Passion intertwines with protection, and duty bonds hard with desire.
Possessed (Hollow City Coven Book One)
Shadowed (Hollow City Coven Book Two) - coming soon!
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THE SILVER WOOD COVEN SERIES
Though she’s taken the name given her by a kind stranger, Summer can no more explain waking up homeless and covered in blood, than she can the extreme attraction drawing people to her. Amnesiac, confused, and frightened, she’s not even aware that she’s a witch. But help arrives in two very different forms: the cool and restrained Templar Michael Charbon and his centuries-long friend Wiccan Major Troy Atwater.
Rescued (Silver Wood Coven Book One)
Stolen (Silver Wood Coven Book Two)
United (Silver Wood Coven Book Three)
Betrayed (Silver Wood Coven Book Four)
Revealed (Silver Wood Coven Book Five)
THE CASTLE COVEN SERIES
Novice witch Hailey Devereaux had resolved to live life as an outsider. Possessed of a unique Wiccan ability, her own people shun her. But that all ends when two very different men enter her life: the brooding Major Kieran McCallen and Coven Master Piers Dayton. But their training and tests are only the beginning. As she struggles to fulfill her destiny and find her place in the world, Hailey also discovers love.
Abandoned (Castle Coven Book Two)
Healed (Castle Coven Book Three)
Claimed (Castle Coven Book Four)
Imprisoned (Castle Coven Book Five)
Sacrificed (Castle Coven Book Six)
Castle Coven Box Set (Books 1 - 6)
THE MAGUS CORPS SERIES
Meet the warlocks of the Magus Corps, sworn to protect Wiccans at all costs. As they find and track fledgling witches, it’s a race against an ancient enemy that would rather see all Wiccans dead. But where danger and intimacy come together, passion is never far behind.
Dominic (Her Warlock Protector Book 1)
Sebastian (Her Warlock Protector Book 2)
Logan (Her Warlock Protector Book 3)
Colin (Her Warlock Protector Book 4)
Vincent (Her Warlock Protector Book 5)
Jackson (Her Warlock Protector Book 6)
Trent (Her Warlock Protector Book 7)
Her Warlock Protector Box Set (Books 1 - 7)
THE SECOND SIGHT SERIES
Join psychic Isabelle de Grey and FBI profiler Mac MacMillan as they hunt a serial killer in the streets of Los Angeles. Even as their search closes in on the kidnapper, they discover not only clues, but a fiery passion that quickly consumes them.
Second Sight Box Set (Books 1 - 6)
THE EROTIC EXPEDITION SERIES
Travel the world in these breathless tales of erotic romance. Each features a different couple in fast-paced tales of fiery passion.
A young couple is stranded in an Alaskan storm.
In the Sahara, a master tracker has the scent of his fiery client.
A forensic accountant blossoms under the care of a plantation owner in Thailand.
A beautiful doctor on the rebound crashes with her pilot in British Columbia.
Two treasure-hunting scuba divers are kidnapped in the Caribbean.
THE ROMANCE IN THE RUINS NOVELS
Explore the ancient world and the new in these standalone novels of erotic romance. Each features a hero and heroine who come together against all odds, in exotic and remote settings where danger and love are found in equal measure.
Set in the heartland of the ancient Maya.
Set on the ancient Greek island of Crete.
Set in the rugged Pueblo Southwest.
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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear Wonderful Reader,
Thank you so much for spending time with me.
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Hazel
Copyright © 2015 Hazel Hunter
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
