Shamelessly Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 2) (26 page)

To say my call with Leo hadn’t gone well would be the
understatement of the year, but quitting my job seemed like the only solution.
Naturally, I couldn’t quit because I was under contract. Apparently, having a
psycho out killing people because of me wasn’t enough to get me out of my
contract. The powers that be at the network could be real assholes.

“Fucking Leo!” I shouted as I tossed my phone down on the
sofa.

Gryph looked up from where he was doing one-armed pushups.
Shirtless, his muscles rippled under his skin as he effortlessly supported his
weight. I could see why Julia got all hot and bothered with him around. I
wasn’t looking for a man, but I wasn’t blind, so it was impossible to not enjoy
the view.

“You keep looking at me like that, and you’ll make me blush,
Ms. Melina,” Gryph drawled.

I couldn’t help it, I laughed at the idea of Gryph blushing.
“Something tells me you’ve had plenty of women checking you out over the
years.”

Gryph got to his feet and shrugged. “Not so much as you’d
think. I scared most females when I was in the pack. They only came around when
they wanted to dance with danger. You know how some females love a bad boy, and
that’s what they saw me as.”

“I’ll bet they were checking you out, but you were too busy
being a badass to notice, and then you were hiding in that trailer where no
woman could see you,” I told him.

Gryph laughed. “If I didn’t know how you feel about your
warlock, I’d think you were flirting with me.”

“If I weren’t so into Trevor, I might be flirting with you,”
I assured him. “You should probably get used to women ogling you. Now that
you’ve rejoined the land of the living, the ladies are going to be all over
that hot wolfy body of yours.”

Gryph roared with laughter. “Oh, Ms. Melina, I never know
what you are going to say next. Are you sure you only need me for a couple of
hours today?”

Gryph had become as overprotective as Trevor. I’d be angry
if I didn’t get why they were being overprotective. Hell, I didn’t really mind,
since getting killed was definitely on my list of things to avoid.

“My parents will be here soon, so I should be fine,” I
assured him. “No killer is going to approach me with my dad around.”

“I’m sure you’re right about that,” Gryph agreed with a
shudder. Gryph had only met my dad once, and that had been after an argument
with Julia. Since Gryph had already been in an aggressive frame of mind, he’d
tried to stare down my dad. Needless to say, Gryph had been the first to avert
his eyes.

“I’ll stay until they get here,” Gryph insisted.

“What do you have planned for the day?” I asked, since I’d
been surprised to discover Gryph was planning to go out. In general, he handled
his bodyguard duties and then retired to Trevor’s guest house out back. He was
quiet and didn’t seem to have any friends.

“I’m having lunch with Ms. Allie,” he explained, and I
didn’t miss the wicked twinkle in his eyes.

“Any reason you look like there is an ulterior motive to
lunch with Allie?” I asked.

“Now, Ms. Melina,” he began, clearly biting back a grin.
“Why would you think that?”

I snorted. “Julia works there, too.”

He chuckled and got to his feet. “Miss Sassy will probably
be at her office when I arrive to pick up Ms. Allie,” he replied. “Don’t worry
about her though. I plan to keep my promise not to fuck her until after this
job is over. I’m gonna fix us some food.”

“I’m not hungry,” I insisted.

“You didn’t eat the breakfast Trevor made you, so you need
to eat,” Gryph stated simply as he made his way into the kitchen. He was
probably right about me needing to eat. Besides, if I didn’t eat what Gryph
made, I’d end up getting pressured into eating what my dad brought. There would
definitely be pastries, and I wasn’t in any mood for a sex talk with my dad
today.

“You look exhausted.” Those were the first words out of
Dylan’s mouth when I walked into the office the morning after finding out about
the latest murder.

“It was one hell of a night,” I admitted.

“Still going strong after the affinity test?” Dylan asked
with a knowing grin.

“I wish,” I muttered. “There was another murder. Pictures
were sent to mine and Melina’s phones. It was really awful.”

Dylan cursed and came across the room to put a hand on my
shoulder and give it a brief squeeze.

“Do the police have any leads yet?” Dylan asked.

I shook my head. “They were focusing on my exes, but now
they think it may have nothing to do with me.”

“But you don’t agree?” Dylan asked.

“No,” I replied with a loud sigh. “Something tells me this
is about me. Maybe I’m just being arrogant.”

“Have the police stopped looking into that possibility?”
Dylan asked.

I shook my head. “According to them, they’re still looking
at my exes.”

“So, why is this bothering you so much?” Dylan asked.

“Melina is quitting her job today,” I told him.

“That’s a pretty big step,” Dylan stated.

“She feels responsible for the murders, and she thinks she’s
bringing more danger to the people on the show by staying there,” I explained.
“I know why she feels that way, and there’s even a part of me that’s relieved
she won’t have to go out to the studio with a killer out there. This makes it
much easier to keep her safe.”

“But you know how much she loves her job,” Dylan finished
for me.

“Exactly,” I agreed. “I don’t want her to make any hasty
decisions.”

“Would it help if I told you that her contract won’t allow
her to quit?” Dylan asked.

“I hadn’t even thought about that,” I admitted. “I’d better
call and listen to Melina complain before our first interview shows up,” I said
as I made my way toward my office.

Dylan nodded. “While you’re doing that, I’m going to see
about getting a temp in today.”

“Where is Sage?” I asked, feeling bad that I was just now
noticing her absence.

Dylan shrugged. “I got a message saying she had pack
business to take care of. While it’s a pain in the ass to have her call in last
minute like this, we knew it was possible. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen often.”

“Did Sage say how long she’d be out?” I asked.

“Just for today,” he assured me. “We both knew it would be a
lot for her to balance her pack obligations and work full-time. With any luck,
one of the people we interview today will be a good fit.”

“I sure hope so,” I said, since these interviews were the
only reason I’d come into the office instead of working from home.

“Have you put tracking spells on enough of Melina’s stuff so
you can find her if the killer grabs her?” Dylan asked.

My blood ran cold at the possibility of that happening. I
was one of the few warlocks who could cast a successful tracking spell and then
follow it to its source. “I did, but that won’t be necessary.”

“I sure hope you’re right,” Dylan said, but something in my
expression must have told him there was more to this. “You two didn’t run off
and get married, did you? I can’t think of anyone you aren’t related to who
would perform a bonding ceremony, and your mother would never put up with some
quickie wedding.”

“Melina is going to kill me,” I muttered.

“You didn’t do what I think you did,” Dylan practically
gasped. “I know you love her, but you wouldn’t go as far as to bond her to you
without asking.”

“Not intentionally,” I admitted. “It also wasn’t a complete
bonding. I’m not enough of a bastard to claim part of her magic without her
permission.”

Dylan looked utterly shocked, and I didn’t blame him. I’d
given Melina part of my power, and if our bond was severed, that power would be
lost to me forever.

“And you haven’t told her any of this?” he asked.

I ran both hands through my hair and sighed. “Not yet. I
will, but it’s not the right time.”

“She’s less likely to forgive you the longer you wait,” he
warned.

“Yeah, I totally fucked up when I didn’t tell her right
away,” I admitted. “Still, I can’t tell her now. There’s too much going on.”

“You’re probably right,” Dylan agreed. “I hope she doesn’t
lose it when she finds out.”

“She’ll lose it,” I assured him. “What I hope is that she
gets over it quickly.”

I’d had my dad drop me off at Trevor’s office so I could
bring him lunch, simply because I really needed to be close to Trevor. That
decision had been made when I’d discovered that Julia was leaving work early.
She’d offered to watch the familiars so I could surprise Trevor. I’d even
brought my laptop so I could work in one of the conference rooms at Trevor’s
office. My only concern had been Julia running into Gryph. He was likely in a
bad mood after discovering she’d left the office before he’d shown up for his
lunch with Allie.

I’d been enjoying Gryph’s pursuit of Julia. It was subtle
enough that Trevor hadn’t noticed. I wasn’t always sure Julia realized it was
happening. First, Gryph had won over Oliver, so the only way for Julia to avoid
Gryph was to stay away from the house. I was pretty sure Oliver’s howls upon
arrival were his way of alerting Gryph to their presence.

For Julia’s part, she alternated between bitchy and distant
with Gryph. Most guys would be turned off by her attitude, but not Gryph. I
could tell Julia was attracted to him, but I wasn’t sure she liked him, so I
figured there was no reason to warn Trevor about the flirting he was oblivious
to. Besides, Gryph had assured me more than once that he was not going to have
sex with Julia until after this job was over.

There was no way I could have predicted the scene that
played out in front of us when we walked into Trevor’s home and found Julia
pinned to the wall by Gryph’s much larger body. What I saw was Julia’s hands
clutching the fabric of Gryph’s shirt to pull him closer. It would seem that
what Trevor saw was his sister being molested by a horny werewolf, which was
essentially what was happening. It was just a lot more consensual than Trevor
seemed to realize.

Trevor’s face first registered shock, and then rage flashed
in his eyes.

“Get the fuck off my sister!” he yelled before mouthing the
words to a spell that sent Gryph flying across the room.

Julia continued to clutch Gryph’s shirt, causing her to
stumble to the floor.

Gryph let out a growl, and his eyes turned an eerie shade of
yellow as he broke free from Trevor’s spell. Had Trevor not been distracted
with Julia’s fall, the spell would have held.

“You hurt her!” Gryph roared.

“I’m so sorry, Julia,” Trevor apologized before spinning on
Gryph again. “You attacked my sister!”

“He didn’t attack me,” Julia insisted.

“What the hell do you mean, he didn’t attack you?” Trevor
demanded. “He had you pinned to a wall. Are you going to tell me he was holding
you there so you wouldn’t fall over?”

“Don’t talk to my female that way,” Gryph warned.

I didn’t know Julia very well, but I knew that was a stupid
thing to say. While I’d like to say Gryph probably wouldn’t have said something
that stupid if he weren’t so out of practice dealing with people, I had a
feeling Gryph hadn’t been very good when it came to social niceties before he’d
lost his arm. Trevor, the idiot that he was, didn’t see the problem in what
Gryph had said.

All the anger drained from Trevor’s face, and he ran a hand
through his hair. “Sorry for assuming the worst. I had no idea you were
interested in my sister for more than fucking around.”

“No worries,” Gryph assured him, both men oblivious to the
very pissed off Julia. “I was going to wait to claim her until after my job
guarding Ms. Melina is over, but your sister being more receptive to my claim
changed things.”

Trevor nodded his understanding, because, apparently, they
were speaking in the same moron code. “So, you and my sister are a couple? It’s
nothing against you, but I didn’t expect Julia to settle down any time soon.
I’ve gotta warn you about my parents.”

“I know they aren’t likely to be happy about welcoming a
werewolf into the family,” Gryph told him.

Trevor chuckled. “They aren’t like that. It’s just that
they’ll be trying to get you to convince Julia to give up working with Allie.”

“My sassy girl’s smart enough to make her own choices,”
Gryph told Trevor.

The thing that surprised me most was that Julia had remained
quiet this long when she looked like she was going to stab one of them in the
balls.

“Are you both out of your fucking minds?” Julia screamed.

Gryph gave her a patient grin. “Calm down, Sass. Your
brother and I needed to come to an understanding.”

“I’m okay with you dating him, Julia,” Trevor insisted.

“Dating?” Julia asked. “You were both obviously dropped on
your heads as babies. Scratch that. I’m sure you both sustained serious head
injuries
recently
, because that is the only explanation for your idiotic
behavior. I am not dating Gryphon.”

“Not yet,” Gryph foolishly added. “We were working on the
details of that when your brother walked in.”

“No, we were not,” Julia insisted.

Gryph’s green eyes were turning yellow again. “Then what
exactly were we doing, Sass?”

“Sex, Gryphon,” she huffed. “We were going to have glorious
sex against the wall in Trevor’s house.”

Silence greeted that statement, and I began pulling together
my magic, knowing this was going south fast.

Gryph took a step toward Julia when she made a move toward
the door, but she ignored him and stormed out. When Gryph reached the door, he
was met with the invisible wall of my power.

“Let me out of this house!” Gryph roared loud enough for
everyone in the neighborhood to hear.

“No,” I said.

“I’d better go after her,” Trevor insisted.

“Neither of you are going after her,” I told them. “You’re
both acting like idiots today. Gryph, I understand that you want more from
Julia, but I think you need to discuss that sort of thing with her before you
announce it to people.”

“Why?” Gryph asked. “I was using nice words to tell her
brother she’s mine. I didn’t even try to mark her.”

It took me a moment to process his words, having not
realized any man could be that clueless. “Julia is not a piece of property that
you can claim.”

“But she wants me as much as I want her,” Gryph insisted.
“My wolf wants her, and her familiar loves me. We’re a good match.”

“She still may not want you,” I told him with an exasperated
sigh.

“Do you think it’s because of my arm?” Gryph asked, and I
decided Gryph needed some tough love to help get his head out of his ass.

“No one gives a fuck if you’re missing an arm. You’re still
a total badass, and Julia is attracted to you. With that being said, Julia’s
not going to end up in a relationship simply because of instincts. She’s not a
wolf.”

I could see that light bulb moment for Gryph when he finally
realized that sex with Julia wouldn’t represent a claim for her. Unfortunately,
Trevor was still confused.

“Are you trying to say my sister was going to use Gryph for
sex?” Trevor looked utterly bewildered.

I let out a long-suffering sigh and removed the spell from
the door since I’d given Julia enough time to get out of the neighborhood. “I
don’t think that’s all Julia wants with Gryph, but I definitely think the two
of you set back any progress that might have been made in convincing her to
explore her feelings.”

Gryph cleared his throat. “We should get you to work, Ms.
Melina,” he suggested.

I looked at the clock on Trevor’s wall and almost cursed out
loud. “You’re right. We’re going to be late as it is.”

Trevor made no move to kiss me, and I could see he was still
sulking about his sister, so I decided to leave him to it.

“I’ll talk to you when I get home,” I told him.

Trevor merely nodded and let me leave.

I loved that man, but he was acting like an ass. At least, I
could guarantee he’d realize what an ass he was being before I got home. That
was one of things I loved about Trevor; he wasn’t afraid to admit when he was
wrong. I had to bite back a smile while thinking about how much I loved that
warlock.