Tempted by Darkness (11 page)

Devin leaned his head back and laughed out
loud, and Kit was struck by how dramatically it changed his
appearance. When he leveled his gaze back on her, he smiled while
shaking his head, “Don’t worry about it, Kit. I expected this. They
don’t trust me and I can hardly blame them. But time is on my side
and they’ll eventually see that I mean you no harm.” Kit found
herself wanting to believe him, she’d seen the shadows in his eyes
that reminded her of a man who had never really felt love and
acceptance. In that moment Kit understood how truly lucky she’d
been—her upbringing might not have been traditional, but she’d
never doubted she was loved. Now she might be frustrated with the
dog and pony show behind her, but the simple fact was—each of those
people had her back—literally. Her mates’ love and acceptance were
unquestionable as well. Yes, she’d been blessed beyond measure.

Flashing him a warm smile, Kit leaned forward
and whispered conspiratorially, “Well, we’ll see, personally I
don’t think they have much faith in either of us. I’m not sure they
trust you to do the right thing, and they don’t think I’m smart
enough to know when I’m in over my head.” When he didn’t comment
she gave him her annoyed mommy scowl and put her hands on her hips
letting know how frustrated she was, then added, “Seriously, they
don’t think I’ll know if you are blowing smoke up my ass, but I
will—so don’t even try it.”

“No, ma’am. Wouldn’t even consider it.” Kit
found herself shaking her head and smiling at his insolence. God,
she didn’t want to like him, but she could already see herself
headed in that direction.
Damn it all to hell.

Devin spent the next hour briefing Kit on the
basics of the dark side of magic, emphasizing how easily it could
be dispelled by light if she’d only use white magic quickly and
effectively. Nothing he’d shown her seemed extreme, but there had
been short cuts in spell casting that almost seemed like cheating.
It was a strange thrill to learn the edgier side of magic and as
much as Kit hated to admit it, she was probably enjoying things a
little more than she should. For reasons she wasn’t sure she wanted
examine too closely, she felt a satisfying sense of power using the
darker elements of magic.

Before she realized it, dusk was beginning to
fall and Kit suddenly felt exhaustion roll over her in a crashing
wave. “Don’t worry, Kit, we’re finished for now. I want you to
practice what I’ve shown you because these steps are the foundation
of everything that comes after. These building blocks must be
second nature before you can master the more powerful steps that
will follow. I know how my brother’s magic works and I’m going to
give you all the tools you need to defeat him. We’ll meet again in
two days.”

“Why so soon? Has something happened?” The
power she’d been feeling moments before had suddenly shifted to
fear and Kit felt it stab into her chest, stealing her breath.

“Many things are happening, but Damian is
becoming desperate and suspicious. Either of those in and of
themselves would be a problem with him, but together they spell
disaster. He’s barely functional because his anger is far greater
than his ability to channel it effectively. Locked alone behind the
seal, he has no way to vent the rage that is continuing to boil. He
calls his minions to speak with him around the seal, and even
though he can’t perform the magic himself, he has a rapidly growing
group of devoted followers who are happy to do his bidding.”

Devin’s chin dropped to his chest and Kit
could feel him trying to gather his thoughts. The ground beneath
her feet rippled and Kit knew Devin was pulling grounding strength
from the earth. When he finally raised his face to hers, Kit was
surprised to see the pain reflected in his dark eyes. His words
were softly spoken but she felt how difficult they’d been for him
to utter, “Ask Marcus, perhaps he’ll be willing to tell you about
our father. He fell into the same abyss of hatred.” Once again, Kit
noticed sadness and vulnerability in the other wizard’s eyes and
she wondered what he’d suffered at the hands of his father. She
really believed the man standing in front of her was trying to help
her, and for that, she was grateful. How isolating it must be to be
caught between opposing forces—not being truly accepted by either
side.

Kit simply nodded and turned to go, but then
thinking again, she turned back, “Devin?” He was already shimmering
as he prepared to disappear from the meadow. Kit watched as he
settled back into this realm and smiled. “Do you think it would be
all right for Braden to tag along next time? He’s incredibly gifted
and I’d like him to be able to learn with me.” She had a feeling
any showdown with Damian was going to involved Braden, so it seemed
reasonable for him to learn the more practical applications and
dangers associated with the dark arts as well. “That is if he’s
interested and if I can get his guardian’s approval—which quite
frankly is a pretty big
if
.”

She was pleased to see laughter light Devin’s
eyes when he answered, “Sure, Kit. I understand your reasoning and
agree. I’d enjoy getting to know him, he really seems like a great
kid—despite his questionable paternal lineage.” They both laughed
at his thinly veiled reference to the fact Braden was Damian’s
grandson.

Kit nodded and waved, “See you in a couple of
days. Take care.” He simply waved and in a swirl of white smoke he
disappeared from her view. By the time she turned around to head
back to the main house, there were several people standing right
behind her. Damn it to destiny she hated it when they snuck up on
her like that.

Libby Wells pulled up in front of the Wolf
Pack’s enormous mansion and sighed. God she was exhausted, she
couldn’t ever remember feeling so utterly depleted. Her projects at
NYU were nearing completion and she could hardly wait for them to
wrap up. She was certainly overdue for some serious R & R, but
until she put the final touches on her presentation for the Society
of Neuroscience’s upcoming conference, Libby really couldn’t
justify taking any time off. Hell, who was she kidding? She’d been
sleeping on the small sofa in her office for weeks because it was
usually too late when she was finally finished for the day to
justify driving home. Jesus Pete there had been one stretch earlier
this month where she hadn’t been to her apartment for eight days in
a row. Thank God the private bathroom off her office had a small
shower.

Opening the door of her small car, Libby
stepped out and leaned backward arching her back trying to relieve
some of the kinks that came from sleeping on the damned sofa. She
gave a loud squeak when strong hands gripped her shoulders and
started to massage them. Her startled response was quickly replaced
by groans of gratitude as she felt the muscles loosen under skilled
fingers. She didn’t even need to turn around, Libby knew there was
only one man at the estate who would touch her so intimately. She
felt his warm breath wash over her ear, “Hi, sweetheart. It’s about
time you came back to see me. I have someone I want you to meet.”
His silken voice drifted over her skin and suddenly Libby’s body
forgot all about the fatigue she’d felt a few seconds ago. Damn her
traitorous body for letting her hormones highjack her good
sense.

“Well, Charlie, I hate to be the bearer of
bad news, but I’m not really here to see you, although I have to
admit your fingers are about to weave some powerful magic and I may
just ditch the beastie boys and stay right here for the duration of
my visit.” He chuckled and turned her so she faced him then leaned
down to press a heated kiss to her lips. The kiss started as a warm
greeting but soon rocketed straight to a smoldering promise of the
physical pleasure she well knew he could give her. Frick-fracking
fuzzy frogs she needed to get this project wrapped up and sleep for
a week on some warm beach while gorgeous cabana boys delivered
fruity drinks with those cheesy little umbrellas.

“No can do, sweetness, as much as I’d love to
bypass the formalities and fuck you right against the side of your
car, that wouldn’t come close to sating my hunger for you.” Libby
shuddered as Charlie kissed a path down the side of her neck before
licking over her exposed collarbone. “You meet with our Alphas and
then we’ll be waiting for you when you’ve finished.” He led her
into the chaotic household and Libby couldn’t help but wonder if
this place was ever really quiet. Charlie leaned forward and
pressed his nose to hers and grinned, “Nope, never and that’s why
Dirk and I live in one of the larger cottages out back.”

“That reading people’s mind trick is annoying
you know. And who is Dirk?” She would really love to study his
brain and find out how exactly he was able to hear her thoughts.
But of course he’d have to be dead and that seemed like a real
waste in her opinion because even if he was too young for her, he
was thirty-two shades of hot and flat-out amazing in bed.

She knew he’d heard her when he arched his
brow and grinned, “Amazing, huh? And hot? Well, I’m liking how this
is working out, but we’ll have a chat about that age thing because
as you know shifters don’t age quickly. I’m probably far older than
you think I am. But for now, head on in and talk to Jameson and
Trev, they’re waiting for you.”

By the time she was seated across from
Jameson, Libby had been fed a snack that would put most of the
meals she’d had the past six months to shame.
One thing you can
say about shifters, they eat well…or at least they eat a lot. Must
be nice to burn calories like a blast furnace.
Looking up at
Jameson, she saw his sly grin and when she glanced to her left she
noted a matching one on Trev’s face.

“Okay, you two. You got me out here, fed me,
and have given me alcohol,” she waved her glass of wine at them.
“So what’s up? You know the deadline I’m trying to meet, so tell me
that Kit is okay and I’ll be on my way.” God she hoped Kit was all
right. She felt like the worst friend ever because she really had
been so immersed in her project for the past several months she had
virtually lost contact with everyone except her grad
assistants.

“Kit is fine, she isn’t the reason we called
you. The project you’ve been working on is going to gain you some
serious acclaim, Libby. You’ll be offered a number of lucrative
contracts, we just wanted ours to be the first offer you heard.”
She arched a brow at him wondering what on earth he might have in
mind. “First of all, let me congratulate you on your successful
project. The implications of your findings are going to put
catapult several medical procedures ahead by years. Your findings
are going to save a lot of lives.”

Libby was well aware Jameson’s assessment was
point on, what surprised her was the fact he
knew
it.
Deciding to wait to see where the conversation was headed, she
simply nodded and held her questions hoping he’d hurry up and get
to the point. He looked at her and smiled, “We also know there are
some implications in your findings for shifters—some rather
significant implications that we’d like to see you follow up on.
And we’re willing to build you a lab and pay you well for your time
while you pursue those threads.”