Benedict parted his lips, but his phone buzzing stopped him short. He glanced at the text, and my eyebrows shot up. “News from Alek?” I asked when he merely pocketed the phone.

“No,” he shook his head. “Gloria,” he explained.

I smiled at that. “Hot date?”

“Yes, actually,” he said, tipping his chin up as he studied me. As if he was waiting for some grand reaction.

Too bad for him I was an expert at schooling my features. And sure, I had a little weird twist of jealousy gripping my chest, but for what? He definitely wasn’t mine. It just had to be that I’d wanted another fun way to expel my gathered energy, that’s all. A fun run would have to do.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked instead of voicing my irritation.

“What?” he asked.

“Being ordered around like that? Forced dates?”

He arched an eyebrow at me. “I hired Gloria to do just that. My mother…” He trailed off, and shook his head. “The timing is off, but to be fair, I didn’t know what was going to happen when I hired her.”

I nodded, and kind of understood.

“Are you speaking from experience?”

I shrugged. “Mother dearest has been setting me up with consort after consort,” I admitted. “All from the most powerful families across the covens. She wants me to choose one before my next birthday, but I have no intention of being shackled to one individual.”

“Not one for monogamy?”

“It’s not that,” I said. “I simply haven’t met someone who can match me. And I’m not saying that like I’m full of myself, I’m saying that most of the consorts she chooses are terrified of me.”

He snorted, and my gaze widened on him. “What?” he asked, raising his hands. Those strong, delicious hands that had scraped over my skin in all the right places. “I know how powerful you are,” he said. “But knowing that and fearing it are two different things.” He shrugged. “Perhaps you should look for a consort outside the species. Someone who could stand a chance against you.” He blinked a few times. “If things were different, of course.”

“Right,” I said, swallowing hard. If there weren’t so many ancient laws forbidding cross-species relationships. Something tugged at my chest, an emotion I definitely didn’t want to acknowledge at the moment, so I shook it off, sliding gracefully out of my chair. I spanned the distance between us, leaning over his chair to bring my lips within inches of his.

He didn’t move. Didn’t balk or cower. He was the epitome of cool, calculated calm, but I swore I saw his throat bob just an inch as I locked gazes with his.

“Your date is tonight?” I asked, batting my lashes at him.

“Yes.” His voice was rough.

I inhaled deeply, drinking in the scent of him as I took my time looking over his body, imagining just what I might’ve seen beneath all those pristine clothes if I hadn’t stopped our kiss. “After what happened earlier, Benny-boo,” I said, and relished the way that muscle in his jaw ticked at the nickname. “I just might have to crash it.”

His lips parted, and I swore I saw a hint of fang.

I spun on my heels, hurrying into the palace before I did something both of us would regret.

7

Benedict

The atmosphere of the manor hadn’t lightened in the two days since Avianna’s call. It didn’t matter that she’d said she was safe, or that she’d wanted to stay and spy for Alek—it was tense as fuck around here.

I slipped my jacket on and ran my fingers through my hair as I walked out of my bedroom. There was a hum of energy, almost a pull, as I walked past the room that Jocelyn slept in—the room I now called hers, but I ignored it, giving Lachlan a jaunty salute as he sat perched outside her door, looking bored as hell. “I owe you.”

Lachlan snorted and rocked the chair back on its hind legs. “Aye, you do. She’s in there with Valor and there’s no telling what those two females are cooking up.”

I paused and debated canceling for the millionth time this night.

“Go,” Lachlan said quietly. “I’ll make sure your witch is safe tonight.”

“She’s not my anything,” I countered, “but thank you.” What she was, was my responsibility. My charge. My assignment.

I headed down the sweeping double staircase that filled the foyer of the manor. When my feet hit the checkered marble, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Hawke stood in the large, formal dining room, pouring over the map we’d spread out on the table. Maybe stood wasn’t the right word, since he was barely upright, his weight braced on his palms.

“You need rest,” I said as softly as I could, coming to stand at his side.

“I’m fine.” His voice was a low snarl.

The map of the Edgemont territories was marked in various colors for each search we’d conducted since Avi had been taken. The ones Jocelyn and I had carried out after her coven meeting yesterday were marked in purple. “I need to add todays searches,” I muttered.

Tags: Samantha Whiskey Onyx Assassins Fantasy
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