“Not happening.” She smiled. A dazzling display, she was sure. “As of very recently, Rio has been removed from the equation.”
Silence. The scary kind. Her kind.
“You killed him?” Elliott demanded from the front as the SUV swerved.
“Seriously?” Now she was insulted. “In case you missed it—and, honestly, I can’t remember if you were there for the fabulous show or not—but I brought Rio’s ass back from the dead because I am amazing.” How many times did she have to tell the world that truth? “Why would I go to all the trouble of saving him, only to then kill him? Makes no sense.” She was huffing a bit because he’d made her mad. “You don’t kill your own henchman. That’s like villain 101. Pick up a book.”
Griffin caught her hand in his. His fingers stroked along her inner wrist. “You hid him, didn’t you?”
“He’s my henchman. Right now, that can be a bad thing. Someone wanting to hurt me may decide to go after him.” She was just handing out truths left and right. She almost felt virtuous. Almost. “He’s not strong enough to face my enemies. One day, he will be.” He’d never be pushed around again. “But until that day, I’m going to make certain he doesn’t get pulled into my war.”
“Are you sure he’s safe?”
“Absolutely.” She’d certainly used enough magic on that particular spell. Rio was far away, currently enjoying the sweet life in Colorado and being guarded by beings she trusted completely.
Trolls.
Another story. For another day.
Griffin’s fingers slid over her wrist in a slow caress. “What about the raven?”
The vehicle braked. They’d sure made a fast trip to the pier. They got out, their little group sticking close together, and she didn’t answer him. While Elliott prepared the boat, she made sure to get herself a life vest—witches didn’t always love water. That went back to their Salem days and the stupid idea of testing to see if a person was a witch by tossing her ass into water. Since she’d actually been alive during the Salem trials, she had personal experience with the old “swimming” test.
She’d failed the test, by the way.
Those bastards had tried to drown her as punishment.
She might have killed them.
The boat’s motor kicked to life. In moments, they were shooting away from the pier. The wind and ocean spray hit her face.
“Valerie.”
Griffin was in front of her. Elliott steered their boat. A nice boat. Or, rather, yacht. At least a thirty-footer.
“What about your raven?” Griffin pressed.
“I don’t have a raven,” she replied, raising her voice to be heard over the roar of the waves and the boat’s engine.
Then…
Edgar flew down. He landed on her shoulder.
Griffin kept gazing at her. One dark brow rose.
“I don’t have a raven,” she said, telling the truth. “The raven has me.” That was the way of it. “Familiars pick their witches. We don’t pick them.” Her hand lifted, and she stroked the raven’s glorious feathers. Such a beautiful black. “Edgar chose me. He’s brilliant that way.”
Edgar cawed.
“Yes, thank you.” She smiled at him. “We match like that.”
“Are you talking to the bird?” Griffin demanded. It sounded as if her shifter was choking on something.
“Of course, I’m talking to him. I can talk to all animals.”
He took a step back, as if she’d truly surprised him. “That’s…that’s how you knew about me working with the witch council. You’ve been using your bird to spy, haven’t you?”
“Better fly high, Edgar,” she murmured to her friend. “We’ll chat later.” He took to the sky. Valerie considered Griffin’s question. “Spy is a strong word. I prefer eavesdrop.”
Elliott laughed.
She rose and let her body brush against Griffin’s. He wasn’t laughing. Neither was she. “You were going to get rid of me after a month.” More anger there, burning inside of her, and if she looked deep enough…hurt. “If you didn’t have sex with me, the bond wouldn’t hold. You could get rid of me. Even kill me.”
His lips parted. “You were trying to seduce me.”
“I didn’t have to try very hard.”
Griffin shook his head. “You didn’t want me? It was…an act?”
“I wanted you. I still want you.” When would he get that she wasn’t lying to him? Not him. “And I didn’t understand why you didn’t feel the same attraction I did.” Her hand rose and pressed over his heart. “I haven’t ever wanted anyone the way I seem to crave you.”
There. She’d told him. She waited, wondering how he’d respond since she’d absolutely just bared her tattered soul to him. He would—
“Didn’t you crave Tomas?”
For an instant, the wind seemed to stop blowing. The waves stopped battering the boat. She felt all of the blood drain from her head. Felt ice sweep over her body.
Then the storm hit.
Chapter Fifteen
“He’s going to die!” Tears poured down Valerie’s cheeks. “Every single day, he grows weaker and weaker.” It shouldn’t happen. A body shouldn’t be so frail. So weak.
Death shouldn’t take the young.
Genevieve gave a long sigh as she looked up from her book of spells. “Of course, he’s going to die, Val. He’s human.” She shrugged one elegant shoulder. Genevieve was always elegant. Always dressing as if she was the queen of the world and not the illegitimate daughter of a council witch. “Humans die. That’s their thing.”
“Death isn’t for Tomas. He’s only twenty-five. He’s young. He’s strong.”
“He is sick. One of those terrible human conditions that eats away at the body. I could see his weakness the first time you introduced him to me.” Genevieve closed her book. “I wondered why you were wasting yourself with him. He’s hardly your type.”
“He makes me laugh.” He had such a quick smile. And he loved her. “He can’t die. We can fix him.” She ran forward and grabbed her best friend’s hand. “I’m not strong enough do it on my own. But together, we can. We can do anything.”
Genevieve’s eyes flew wide. “We can’t heal a human!”
“Of course, we can! We’re the best witches on earth.”
“He’s a human. That’s forbidden! We can’t show magic to him.”
Valerie glanced away from her friend. Guilt flushed her cheeks.
“You’ve already shown him magic.” Genevieve’s voice was hushed.
He’d been so sick. He hadn’t been able to get out of bed. She’d wanted to make him smile. Tomas had such a great smile. So she’d made it snow in his room. He’d laughed and laughed.
Then he’d started coughing and hadn’t been able to stop.
“You’re going to get in trouble.” Now Genevieve was holding her hand, gripping it too tightly. “You’d better hope he dies before he can tell anyone!”
What? Valerie snatched her hand back. “He’s not going to die. We’re going to heal him!” She had plans. “And then we’re going to make him immortal. He’ll be able to stay with me forever.”
Genevieve shook her head. “You can’t do that.”
Why not? “I can’t let him die. That’s what I can’t do. I love him.”
“You don’t. You can’t love anyone, Val. We all know that’s your curse. The strongest magic, the coldest heart. That’s what everyone said when you were born. You think you love him, but you don’t. You pity him. And you’re just getting your emotions all confused. He’s going to die, and you’ll see. You’ll go right on living. You’ll probably be even more powerful. A witch’s magic grows with pain, and you—”
“I want you to help me!”
Genevieve drew herself up. Stood tall. “I am.”
No, she wasn’t. “Heal him. If we put our power together—”
“I won’t use magic on your mortal. He’s going to die.”
Frustration poured through her. “I won?
??t lose him!” She whirled for the door.
Only to find her path blocked by Devon. Valerie blinked. She hadn’t even heard him arrive. He must have used magic to slip into the room. Devon was strong, almost as strong as Genevieve. “You can help me.” She gave him a dazzling smile. He usually fell for her smiles. “We can put our magic together, and you can help me—”
“I am helping.”
His words were too similar to Genevieve’s. A chill swept over Valerie.
“He’s dying right now,” Devon said. No emotion was in his voice. Just a flat calmness. “It’s good to let him go.”
No. “No!” She lifted up her hands, she just needed to pull some magic—
Devon broke her fingers. Both hands. He grabbed them. Twisted. Had pain spiraling through her because she’d never expected the attack. She cried out even as—
As they surrounded her. Genevieve moved in close behind her. Devon was before her. Genevieve and Devon locked hands, trapping her between them, and then they began to chant.
“No!” Another scream burst from her. They were binding her. Trapping her right there. Holding her between them. Her fingers throbbed. Her skin seemed to burn.
“The human dies,” Devon gritted out. “We won’t lose everything for your latest pet.”
“We’re taking over the council.” Genevieve’s voice showed the strain of the magic. “You’re our third. We need you for our plan to work. They won’t look at us as if we’re garbage any longer. We’ll light the way. We’ll be the power.”
“But not if you destroy everything!” Devon raged. Sweat slid down his cheek.
Her magic pushed at him. Pushed.
But he and Genevieve held her back.
They held her trapped, even though she was stronger than them both because…
She’d linked herself to Tomas. Already used magic to buy him time. Part of her essence was within him. So as he fought, as he lay dying, as he struggled to take his last breaths…
So did she.
Her lungs closed up. Coughs choked her. Her body shuddered as she fell to the floor.
But Genevieve and Devon didn’t ease their magical locks. They kept her trapped.
Tears slid from her eyes. Pain cut into her. Her heart raced too fast, then the beats became too slow.
Thud.
Silence.
Thud.
She could barely breathe. Couldn’t take the air inside her lungs. Couldn’t move at all.
But she could feel—she felt Tomas. Felt him reaching for her. Felt him—
Dying.
Just as she died.
***
Griffin knew he’d said the wrong fucking thing to Valerie. Jealousy had been driving him, a ferocious monster tearing him apart from the inside, and he’d blurted out the other man’s name.
He’d never wanted to take back words more than he did in that moment.
“I didn’t mean…I’m sorry, Valerie.” His hands curled around her shoulders.
She seemed to stare right through him. Her dark eyes were so deep and fathomless.
“Valerie?”
Elliott killed the yacht’s engine. “Something is very wrong out here.”
Something was very wrong right in front of him. Valerie was statue-still, and she barely seemed to breathe. “Baby?” His hold tightened on her.
“Is it me…” Elliott muttered. “Or have the waves stopped moving? And what the hell is up with the wind? Shouldn’t it…you know…blow?”
Griffin gave Valerie a little shake. He had the weird feeling that she’d just left him. Gone somewhere far away. “Valerie?”
Nothing.
This wasn’t right.
He pulled her closer. Locked his arms around her. “You come back to me. Right the hell now.”
She trembled in his arms.
“Fucking hell!” Elliott’s alarmed cry. “Do you see that wave?”
Valerie jerked against him. “Griffin?”
He looked into the distance. Saw that the ocean was definitely moving again. The biggest wave he’d ever seen in his life was charging right for them.
Valerie tried to pull free, but he just held her tighter. Elliott ran back for the wheel, and the monster wave slammed into them. Salt water poured onto them, battered the vessel, and the yacht listed to the side as Elliott fought to hold the yacht.
The water fell like an avalanche, and Valerie was torn from his arms. She flew over the port side, a scream breaking from her lips.
“No!” Griffin roared as he rushed after her. Not hesitating, he dove right over the side of the vessel. He hit the water, desperation plaguing him because everyone knew witches and water didn’t mix.
Valerie bobbed up beside him. Her bright life vest was still bound tightly around her. She shoved a wet mess of hair out of her eyes.
He grabbed her and hauled her into his arms.
“You jumped in after me.” Valerie blinked water out of her eyes.
He held her even tighter. Gentle waves brushed against him, soothing now, but he expected another attack at any moment.
“I had on a life jacket,” she murmured, “but I do appreciate your effort.”
He kept an arm around her stomach as he dragged her back toward the yacht. A ladder hung from the back of the vessel, and he threw out a hand, catching it. Griffin hauled them up, and water poured from their bodies.
Valerie was soaking wet and absolutely the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She sagged into one of the back seats.
He stared at her, his hands fisted at his sides. “I’m sorry.”
She frowned at him.
“About Tomas.”
Pain flashed on her face as lightning crackled overhead. “I don’t want to go back there,” she whispered.
He wasn’t sure what she meant but… “You don’t have to. You don’t have to tell me a damn thing about him. I shouldn’t have asked.” He eased onto the seat next to her. She shivered, and he swore. Griffin shot from the seat and hurried to get her a towel. He didn’t find one, but he did pull a blanket from the cabin. He took it back to her. Wrapped her up. “I’m a jealous bastard.”
Her fingers gripped the edge of the blanket.
“I don’t like knowing that others have been close to you, before me.” He was not explaining this well. He sounded like a total jackass.
“I never expected you to be a virgin.” Her flat voice. “Is that what you wanted of me? For me to be untouched? Different…from the woman I am now?”
“I don’t want you to be different. I want you to be exactly as you are.” That was truth. One he hadn’t fully expected. “And I’m more fucking jealous because I think you loved Tomas.” There, he’d said it. He was more jealous because she’d loved the guy and not because of the sex. Though, yeah, he didn’t want to think about her having sex with someone else.
Her gaze held his. “You shouldn’t be jealous of a dead man.”
So…fuck. She hurt. She hurt remembering the man she’d loved and lost. “I’m sorry,” he said again, wishing there was some way he could comfort her. Wishing he could just do something for her. Anything. He wanted to take away her pain.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Griffin’s brow furrowed. “Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I’m the one who bitch slapped us both with the wave.” She winced. “I got a little stressed.” She glanced toward Elliott, then lowered her voice—as if that would help with a shifter’s enhanced hearing. “When I lose control of my emotions, I lose control of my magic, too. I went back to a dark place. A place with too much pain.”
He’d done that to her. His fucking jealousy. His problem. He’d deal with it, and he would not hurt her again. “You don’t ever need to tell me about him.” Griffin wrapped his arm around her. Realized that she just fit him. Her body pressed perfectly to his.
“I never expected you to be a virgin.” Her voice was musing. “But when I think about it, I believe I might like to use a few spells on the women
who knew you before me.”
He feathered a kiss over her temple. “Does that mean you’re jealous?”
“I guess it does.” She seemed surprised.
Griffin smiled. Good. If she was jealous, then that meant his witch might just be getting as lost as he was.
“You should probably keep those women very far away from me.” Her voice was serious. “I’d hate for them to accidentally be turned into rats.”
“Accidentally?”
He felt her shrug against his body. “Accidentally on purpose.”
Would she do it? His fingers slid under her chin. He tipped back her head so that he could stare into her eyes. Stare into them. Lose his soul in them. He was starting to realize it was the same thing. “I’m not so sure you’re as bad as everyone says.”
“I’m not.” She gave him an angelic smile. One of such pure innocence and— “I’m much worse.” Soaking wet, hugging her towel, still wearing her life vest, she gave him a devilish wink.
Laughter boomed from him. Griffin couldn’t help it. The woman might be dead serious, she might be the most dangerous witch to ever walk the earth…but, screw it.
She made him happy.
Maybe he was the crazy one.
***
Warren stared into the darkness. He could hear the roar of the boat’s engine approaching. Finally. He’d wanted to go with Griffin to the drop, but the guy had insisted on Warren staying at the island.
Griffin had wanted protection at the island. Just in case…
In case of what?
The only trouble that Warren saw—that trouble was Valerie Storm. And Griffin was bringing the woman right to them.
But Griffin had worried, he’d been convinced that Carmichael might try to break into the mansion on the island. Griffin was certain that Carmichael wanted to hurt Valerie. Not just hurt her, kill her.
No one can kill the king’s mate.
“He left you all alone?”
Warren’s nostrils flared as he whirled around. A tall, blond male stood just a few feet away. The guy had a smirk on his face. “Who in the hell are you?” Warren demanded.
“Devon Vesiux. Council elder.”
“Witch,” Warren snapped.