Authors: Rachel Carrington
“You suppose?”
Rane smiled a
little.
“Do most people welcome you into
their homes when you tell them you want to pry into every intimate detail of
their lives?”
“Of course not.
That’s why I
break in,” Skye shot back with irritation.
He didn’t need to know this was her first actual break-in, unless she
counted yesterday when she slipped into the tax office seconds before the
portly clerk could lock the door.
“At least you’re honest.”
Skye pulled her cover story out of her repertoire.
“I’m a reporter, Mr. Hansen, and contrary to
popular belief, I believe in reporting the truth.
There’s usually only one way to find out the
truth and that’s by going straight to the source.
I assumed you wouldn’t talk to me so I had no
choice but to take matters into my own hands.”
“By breaking into my house.”
“Okay, could we move past the breaking and entering portion of this
evening?
Now that I’m here, the least
you could do is talk to me.
I’m not
asking for much, just a few answers to some pretty basic questions.”
Before I have to kill you.
She needed to know why Sabrina was so
desperate for this one particular wizard to die.
Rane moved so swiftly Skye swore she saw his feet leave the
ground.
“And if I still refuse?”
He stood in front of her, intimidating her
with his sheer presence.
“Then I’ll just make sure the world hears the information I already
have.
After all, rumors can kill a
reputation much easier than actual proof,” she intoned stubbornly, not feeling
as brave as she sounded.
She’d seen the
brief flash of annoyance in those onyx eyes and a strange feeling of unease
filled her.
Warning bells were chiming
in her head, clearly pointing the way to danger, but whatever the risk, she had
to keep the wizard off-guard.
For now,
she’d allow him to believe that the only harm she could do to him was his
reputation.
Rane touched her hair, sifting it through his fingers.
“What is it that you have, Ms. Logan?”
“I know that you’re capable of things that an ordinary man is not.”
“Such as?”
His voice was soft
as silk, easily compelling her to respond to his questions.
“Transporting yourself to different places simply by thought.”
His lips twitched.
“Perhaps
you’ve been imbibing too much alcohol.
I
don’t believe you’re going to be able to easily convince anyone of that.”
Skye exhaled a ragged breath.
“Who says I have to convince anyone?
I just have to plant the seed of doubt.”
Rane’s fingers closed around the lock of hair.
“What makes you think I’m concerned about my
reputation?”
Though the words were calm, almost monotone, Skye sensed she had his
attention.
She breathed a little
easier.
“I’ve been watching you for
quite a while, Mr. Hansen.
You’re very
careful.”
He didn’t release her hair.
In fact, his fingers tightened.
“Being careful isn’t a crime.”
Skye smiled, her breaths coming in even inhalations and
exhalations.
“You don’t want the world
to know what you really are.”
The hypnotic voice dipped to a deadly level.
“I sense a threat in your words, Ms.
Logan.
If you’ve really done your
research you would know that I don’t respond well to threats.”
Skye clenched her hands at her sides.
“You’ve mentioned I might not be able to
convince anyone what you are, but you haven’t one time denied what you
are.
Isn’t that interesting?”
Rane waved a hand behind her.
“Why don’t we talk about what you are?”
Skye’s legs turned to jelly and wobbling, she pivoted.
Behind her, casting an eerie glow on the
paneled wall, was an image of her mother, dressed in a long, flowing black
robe, her face tilted to the sky.
Fire
circled her bare feet and lightening scorched the Earth behind her, leaving the
unmistakable mark of the Coven of Deinera.
As Skye started to shiver, Rane leaned in closer, his lips next to
her ear.
“I would not be much of a
wizard if I could not protect myself and my family.
And you do believe that I’m a wizard, do you
not?”
Skye licked her lips, an impending sense of doom restricting her
breathing.
The witches had given her
instructions to kill Rane Hansen, but they’d failed to mention the abilities
the wizard possessed.
Or perhaps they
hadn’t known, either.
Now, Skye wondered
if she’d walked into something more dangerous than a nest of vipers.
Did the wizard have a violent temper?
She didn’t know if he was capable of killing
her.
No, that wasn’t true.
Knowledge told her he was more than capable,
probably with just a look, but would he?
And most importantly, if murder wasn’t on his mind, what did he plan on
doing to her?
“My friends will start
looking for me if they can’t reach me.
Most of them know that I am here.”
“For a reporter,” the word came out on a scathing note, “you don’t
lie very well.”
Rane shook his head
sadly.
“You told no one about your
planned night excursions because you’ve kept a low profile since you came to my
town.”
Rane lifted a hand and the
curtain behind him swept wide, “But even a low profile can’t hide the stench of
your mother.”
Skye’s breath hissed out of her lungs.
‘You know nothing about my mother.”
“No?
Then tell me she isn’t a
witch.”
Rane issued the demand in a
harsh voice, which sent a shiver down Skye’s spine.
“I don’t owe you any explanations or answers,” Skye shot back.
Rane’s knuckles wandered along her cheekbone.
“No?
Perhaps you’ll change your mind after a time.”
Skye stumbled back, seeking escape.
“What time?
What are you talking
about?”
“Hysterics don’t become you, Ms. Logan.”
“I’m not hysterical.
I’m
concerned.
There’s a difference.”
Her voice cracked and she cursed the one show
of nervousness.
Rane sighed and Skye sensed an internal struggle with him.
Perhaps that was good for her.
Maybe he was softening.
Maybe he’d give her the opening she needed.
“You should make yourself comfortable, Ms. Logan.”
Skye’s eyes widened.
“What
are you talking about?
I’m not getting
comfortable.
I’m going home.”
“I’m not going to be able to allow that.”
“You’re holding me hostage?”
“Hostage implies that I want something from you or your family.
I can assure you there’s nothing I want from
you.”
“Not even my promise to walk away from this?
To turn my back on the truth?”
Rane laughed without humor.
“You could no more walk away from this than you could admit you aren’t
really here as a reporter.
Don’t insult
my intelligence.”
Skye scowled at him.
“You
have no right to hold me here.”
Rane lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug.
“Why don’t you call the police then?”
He inclined his head toward a slimline black
phone perched on the edge of his desk.
“I’m sure our good police department would be happy to take you off my
hands… especially considering how you chose to gain entrance to my home.”
Skye considered the option, but she’d be closer to achieving her
goal if she remained in the same house with the wizard, no matter how fearsome
the mere thought was.
“You haven’t
answered my question.
You’re going to
hold me here?”
Rane lifted his hands, held them upward.
“I do not see that you’ve given me a choice.”
“For how long?”
“How long I hold you depends on you.”
“And you don’t see anything illegal in holding me against my will?”
Rane’s eyes blackened as he stared into her pale face.
“You forfeited your will when you attempted
to impose it on me.
You had plenty of
chances to walk away from this, Skye
.
You chose to pursue it.
Now, you must suffer the consequences.”
Skye winced a little.
She
really wasn’t much for the suffer word.
Surely, he wasn’t going to torture her.
She’d just have to figure out a way to escape this mausoleum Rane Hansen
called home.
And Skye Logan was a master
escape artist.
Her captor just didn’t
know that yet.
But he would… soon.
Rane paced the grounds surrounding the centuries old castle he’d
purchased upon his arrival in
He’d toured the
continents, searching for the perfect spot to call home.
He’d found it among the green, rolling hills
of
lush countryside.
Usually, the scent of
the moors and cherry blossoms sweeping over him brought him a measure of
contentment even if he continued to feel the pang of loneliness.
But tonight was different.
His loafers sank into the dew-dampened grass and with his hands
jammed in his pockets, his mind whirled, but cycling always back to the fiery
woman with the rich, auburn hair and sparkling green eyes.
He’d seen her often enough as he’d tracked her, opening windows to
her everyday existence without remorse, but those windows hadn’t given him a
glimpse of those eyes, deep emerald orbs with the amazing ability to make him
lose his concentration.
No woman had
ever done that to him.
Least of all a
witch.
He gave a short abrupt laugh and leaned back against the wall siding
the kitchen.
The bricks were still warm
from the heat of the afternoon sun and his spine relaxed.
Damn Skye Logan anyway.
She had no business coming to
Further, she had no business studying him
like a school science project.
The
Assembly would be livid unless he resolved this problem without involving them.
And there was no doubt that the novice witch
was very much a problem.
Though he’d watched her consistently over the past few months, what
he hadn’t learned was her reason for invading his life.
She’d managed to keep that well hidden and
unless he discovered the secrets she possessed behind that intriguing face,
he’d have no choice but to keep her . . . or involve the Assembly.
The first choice seemed the more palatable.
Rane didn’t like playing the heavy.
That was usually best suited to his older brother, Jaxon.
A born leader who’d taken over the Assembly
when Falcon had stepped down, Jaxon ruled with an iron fist, except when his
wife intervened.
Rane grinned at the
thought.
Even Jaxon had been leveled by
a woman.
A mortal one at that.
Inhaling the dusky air, he continued to pace across the gardens,
plotting and planning and wondering what in the hell he was going to do with a
witch who didn’t want to be here, but most importantly, if she didn’t want to
be here, why did she break in?
***
Skye’s heart slammed against her breastbone as she crept along the
inner wall of the castle.
She couldn’t
imagine what had possessed the wizard to take up residence in a dusty old
castle, but she couldn’t fault his tastes.
As prisons went, it wasn’t the worst place.
Of course, she had no intention of staying
any longer than she already had.