Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats 2)

Despite all of her precautions and careful maneuvers over the years, her past had finally caught up with her.

Because Cam had never shared with Marco what she’d found inside the observatory at Chichen Itza, he had spent the morning tailing her through the crowded streets of the Sunday Market, waiting for the most opportune time to approach her. She consistently seemed to restrain her temper in public. He waited for her to exit the most crowded area of the main plaza so that they could have some semblance of privacy.

He’d finally found the perfect location on one of the streets, where a few men were banging out a song on their drums, and he sent her a text message. He upped his charm, grinning and waving when she looked up, signaling that he was far from intimidated by her attitude the night before. She spotted him and made to turn back around when her eyes latched onto something and froze.

He followed her gaze and saw a tall, touristy looking man with a towel tied around his neck. Marco didn’t like the look on the man’s face, so he turned and weaved his way to Cam’s side. When she let him guide her down the street with barely a word, he knew instantly that something was wrong.

Once they were far enough away from the main plaza that Marco could easily keep track of the thinner crowd of people around them, he sent a quick message to Cam’s team, put his phone away, and said, “Did you want some ice cream?”

At that, Cam frowned up at him. “Ice cream?”

He nodded toward a nearby stall. “This place has the best in the city, and my mamá always said that ice cream helps calm your nerves.” Cam opened her mouth, but Marco beat her to it. “You look like someone just walked over your grave, so don’t dare say I’m wrong.”

Cam dislodged her elbow from his hand. “I was going to say that I don’t like sweet things.”

He snorted. “Why does that not surprise me?”

Cam had been looking around their surroundings for the man she had seen, but his comment merited a glare. “If you make a crack about how only sweet people eat sweet things, I will punch you in the face.”

His aim had been to distract her, and while he had succeeded, Marco decided that he was having too much fun to stop now. He purred, “While sugar is nice now and again, I prefer my food with a little bite.”

She rolled her eyes before focusing back on the people around them. “Why do you make everything a joke? The man back there is dangerous, and we should be finding a place to hide.”

Interesting. Any person who scared Cam enough to run must be dangerous. He dialed down his smile and raised an eyebrow. “I told you that I know somewhere we can go, but first, who is he and why should I be worried about him?”

She stared at him for a few seconds, but Marco stared right back. She finally let out a sigh of resignation. “If you stop interrogating me long enough to get somewhere safe, I’ll tell you all about him.”

Cam agreeing to anything was rare, and he wasn’t going to give her time to change her mind. “I have two locations of where we can hide, but I need to know if he’s human or not.”

“He’s not.”

“Okay, then. Follow me.” He started walking and Cam had to jog to catch up. As he weaved through the streets of downtown Merida, he

wondered about the man who could scare someone like Camilla Melini, a woman with steel-like claws and a kick that could send any man to his knees.

He had seen a flash of terror on Cam’s face before he’d led her away, giving him a glimpse of why she acted the way she did. Something bad must have happened between her and the blond man. Her gruff manner was probably a type of shield she used to avoid getting hurt again.

The thought of that blond man hurting her didn’t sit well with him.

While she would never say so, Marco reckoned that Cam needed an ally. He may be impatient to focus on his other mission, but until they had found the underlying cause of the clue from the observatory, he would watch her back and help her in any way that he could. He only hoped that the fires wouldn’t claim any more victims in the meantime.

Cam struggled to keep up with Marco’s strides. The man walked with purpose and efficiency. If only he would apply himself the same way to his work.

She didn’t like blindly following him through the streets, but Marco knew Merida better than she did. Cam was helpless to do anything but see where he would take her, especially since she couldn’t get away from Richard Ekstrom fast enough.

While looking over her shoulder for Richard had become second nature, after four years of working with DEFEND, Cam had thought she’d seen the last of him.

Hell, she didn’t even know if he still worked with the Federation League—the old anti-AMT fringe group they’d both worked for in the past—or not. Considering what she knew of Richard’s capabilities, he could be a for-hire assassin. While unlikely, he might even he be here on an assignment to take her out.

No, she didn’t think that was it. She did not have any sort of vengeful enemies. Judging from the way he’d looked at her back near the plaza, it left one thing—Richard wanted to use her for something.

Hopefully, she never found out what.

Marco stopped and she had to check herself to keep from smacking into his back. He looked up and down the street, but it was empty. Half of the houses looked dilapidated and unfit for habitation. No doubt, this part of town was a good place to hide.

He looked down at her and said, “Take a hold of my bicep.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain why?”