Irresistible Magic (8 page)

“What?” On reflex I tucked my wings close to my back. I didn’t want to be seen.

“Faeries do that when they are turned on. Give him a signal that you’re into this.”

“We do not flutter our wings when we’re turned on.” I let out an exasperated breath and kicked my wings out, only in irritation, not desire.

He laughed. “I bet you a hundred dollars you do. You’re just too distracted to notice.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the elevator dinged and slid open. Harrison shuffled me into the tiny space and, without looking, hit the button to the fifth floor. As soon as the doors closed, I jumped away from him and wrapped my arms around myself, feeling trapped and slightly dirty.

His eyes twinkled with mischief, but he gave me my space right up until the elevator stopped on our floor. Then he pressed against my back and moved me forward into the empty hall.

“Let go.” I pushed him away. “No one’s here.”

He shook his head and took his place beside me. “You never know if they are or not. It’s important to keep up appearances.”

“You’re being an ass.” I leaned against the wall as he pulled out a plastic keycard. “If you think I’m letting you manhandle me while you’re part of my
detail
, you’ve lost your mind.”

“Feisty. I like it.” He used the card to unlock the door. “After you.”

I slid past him and found myself in a large entry that opened into a plush, carpeted living room. Windows lined the wall, looking out over the old buildings of the French Quarter. Ornate sixteenth-century furniture filled the space, making it almost a carbon copy of the office Allcot had over The Red Door, the club he owned on Frenchmen Street. Was he really that anal about his surroundings, or was his interior decorator just lazy? “Where are they?”

Harrison shrugged and disappeared into a galley kitchen. “Thirsty?”

“No.” I paced the room. “Where are Tal and Link?” I all but shouted.

A yelp came from the next room and a door opened. Link shot out and launched himself at me. Thank goodness he was in Shih Tzu form, otherwise I would’ve been buried under one hundred and fifty pounds of wolf. I caught him mid-leap and buried my face in his fur. “Hey, buddy. There you are.”

He licked my neck, making me laugh.

“Missed you, too. Where’s Tal?”

His little body wiggled with excitement as he pressed into my shoulder.

“Okay, that’s enough.” I kissed the top of his head and set him back on the floor.

Harrison strode toward the door Link had shot out of but stopped in his tracks when Link growled and paced back and forth in front of the doorway. Harrison took another step and Link started to shimmer.

“I’d stop if I were you,” I said. “If you get any closer, he’ll shift.”

Harrison froze, but it was too late. Link growled and shifted into full blown wolf. Harrison narrowed his eyes. “Call off your beast.”

I could. Link would obey, but Harrison deserved a little payback for his performance downstairs. I shrugged and joined Link near the door. “Is Tal in there?”

Link rubbed his head on my leg, showing Harrison I belonged to him. I had to swallow a laugh. I wouldn’t let Link hurt Harrison, but it sure was fun seeing his confidence stripped down.

I knocked once on the door that had clicked closed and then pulled it open. Inside, Allcot had his hand out and Tal was reaching for it hesitantly. The pair shook briefly, with Tal pulling his hand away first.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Kavanagh,” Allcot said. “I knew we’d come to an agreement.”

I stared openmouthed at Tal, who shook his head slightly, warning me to not ask just yet. An agreement with Allcot?
Shit.
What had Tal done?

Allcot nodded once to me. “Ms. Rhoswen. I have some information for you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You mean other than my mother being in town?”

“She is here at Carrie’s request.” He was as cool as ever, irritating me to my core. We were talking about life and death and he acted like it was just another day. Maybe for him it was.

“It’s good Mom has time with her and Beau,” I said, happy Carrie had thought of my mom. Tal reached out and took my hand in his. I squeezed his fingers, itching to leave.

“You’ve had a stressful day,” Allcot said.

“Is there a question in there?” I challenged. Way to state the obvious.

He cracked a smile and chuckled. “No. But you should be questioning me.”

“Why? Are you behind any of it?” I was tired of his game.

His smile vanished as anger flashed in his piercing gaze. “I don’t appreciate your tone, Ms. Rhoswen. Push me too far and I’ll reconsider your security detail.”

I shrugged but kept my mouth shut. The truth was I did want help to keep my staff safe, even if I wasn’t at all interested in being followed by his henchmen.

“I see we’ve reached an understanding.” He paced forward as if stalking me. “We have reason to believe someone at the Void is responsible for the break-in at your office.”

“What? Who?” Why would they do that? They already had access to my recipes. Did they know about my abilities?

“The new director is most curious about you. We believe she’s behind it.” Allcot tilted his head, studying me.

“Why?” I didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to even consider that the Void might be after me again.

“We have our ways.”

“And the attack today? Was that the Void too?”

He shook his head. “No. We believe the attacks on you and Carrie are both from Asher’s men. I have my people working on finding him. Until then, stay near Harrison. He will keep you safe.” He gestured to Harrison and said, “You may take them out the back way now.”

“What about Carrie?” I called as he turned to go.

He paused and glanced back. “That is none of your concern.”

Chapter 6

None of my concern? What an ass. Of course Carrie’s well-being was my concern. She’d been engaged to my brother. She was the mother of my nephew. She was practically family. Effing vampire.

Tal and I followed Harrison up a flight of stairs to the roof access. Only this time, my security detail kept his hands to himself. It was a good thing, too, because I could feel the anger radiating from Tal. It was so bad, Link hadn’t been able to shift back to Shih Tzu form. We were failing at being inconspicuous.

Talisen strode with purpose toward the adjoining building as if he knew exactly where we were supposed to be going.

I stopped in my tracks. “Wait a minute. If I’d been followed earlier today, my tail knows I came here with Talisen. Isn’t he going to be suspicious when he doesn’t see Link and Tal leaving the building?”

“It’s already taken care of,” Harrison said.

Tal put his arm around my waist and tugged me to him. I fit perfectly and even though I was still keyed up from my mother’s revelation and the short meeting with Allcot, his presence made me calmer. Tal visibly settled, too, and Link shimmered back into Shih Tzu form at our feet. I pressed into Tal and rested my hand on his hip. He glanced down at me, his expression soft, full of all the love I knew was there.

He leaned closer and kissed my temple. “Link and I already left the hotel once. We came back in the same way we’re leaving now.”

“You already know about the plan then?” I glanced once at Harrison.

Tal stiffened but clamped his mouth shut and nodded.

When we got to the edge of the roof, Tal and Harrison jumped the short way over to the next building. I fluttered my way over, clutching Link to my body. Landing next to Talisen, I set Link down and glared at Harrison. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He blinked. “To do my job.”

“Not tonight.” I placed my hands on my hips. “You can start tomorrow. I’ll be at my shop by seven.”

“Sorry,
Wil
.” He smirked and I wanted to smack him for using my nickname. We weren’t
that
familiar. “Allcot has me on duty tonight. But don’t worry, you won’t even notice me.”

My mouth hung open in total irritation and Talisen ground his teeth together. “I don’t think we have a choice,” he said. “Just ignore him. Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me after him through another door and down five more flights of stairs. Only the sound of shoes and paws on the wooden steps filled the narrow stairwell.

At the bottom, Harrison blocked our way through the back entrance. He stared Tal in the eye. “When we get in your car, head directly to your apartment. Don’t deviate and whatever you do, do not let anyone see Rhoswen. Got it?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it,” Tal said. “I’ve already been briefed.” When Harrison didn’t move, Tal raised both eyebrows. “Are you going to move aside, or are you going to stand there eyeballing my date all night?”

A thrill ran through me at Tal calling me his date. It was stupid because the evening had turned into a disaster. My mom, Allcot, Harrison, and David. None of them were a welcome addition. All I’d wanted to do was enjoy this night with Tal. But he hadn’t forgotten our plans for the evening and neither had I. Of course, now we were banned from going anywhere accept Tal’s apartment.

Oh crap. Our first date and we’d be alone at his place.

My heart started to beat erratically and my breathing turned uneven. What would he do? What would I do? Hell, I wanted him. Badly. But when we took our relationship further it would change everything. Was I ready for that? Tal gave me a worried glance. I shook my head, indicating I was fine. But I was far from it. A swarm of butterflies had taken up residence in my chest.

Harrison checked a text on his phone and then, without a word, stepped outside. The door shut silently behind us and waiting at the curb was Tal’s new black truck. The four of us climbed in with me and Link sandwiched between the two of them.

“So,” I said, “your place?”

Tal took off, clutching the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. A few moments later, he purposely relaxed his grip. He reached out and placed a light hand just above my knee. “Sorry. It’s not much of a date.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “I’m sure we can think of something to salvage it.”

He let out a surprised laugh. “You think so, huh?”

Heat crawled up my neck, but I smiled at him and tried to forget Harrison was privy to this conversation. “We’ll figure something out.”

“No doubt,” he said in a low seductive voice. “But dinner first.”

We were quiet the rest of the way to his apartment. Tal turned right off St. Charles. Another right and then a left and we were pulling into the long driveway of a large, unfamiliar French colonial home that appeared to be converted into multiple apartments. So this was where he’d chosen to live. It was gorgeous. He pulled around to the back and parked next to a red Saturn SUV.

All four of us climbed out, and without even so much as a good-night, Harrison disappeared, presumably to find a good stakeout spot. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fancy place,” I said, glancing up at the three-story home and admiring the multitude of bay windows and intricate moldings.

“It’s a one-bedroom,” Tal said.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Who gets the bed?”

A gleam lit his green eyes. “We’ll negotiate after dinner.”

I took his hand and let him guide me to the stairs. Nervous anticipation sent blood rushing to my head. For the first time, his flirting actually meant something. When we were in the friend zone, Tal had been quick to flirt, but anything that was too overtly relationshipy, like helping me with my coat or holding my hand, had been off-limits. It had been a line we’d drawn and neither of us had dared to cross it…until last week when Tal hadn’t been able to handle the thought of David and me together. Tal had finally admitted his feelings for me. Everything was new, but also familiar. It was odd. Not uncomfortable, just different.

“So,” I said as we climbed the back stairs. “You said something about dinner. Does this mean you cook now? Or am I going to have a frozen dinner forced on me?”

He placed a hand on his chest and gave me a wounded look. “Ouch. If you must know, I have learned a few useful things.”