AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The agency is not an issue. Well, not for me.” She shot Nash a knowing look.
“What about Harlon?” I turned to the warlock. “So far, you’ve managed to stay off the agency’s radar. How eager are you to appear in their records now?”
And, bingo. A tiny scowl played at the corners of his mouth. Then, with a glance at Angelina, he declared, “The agency will not be an issue.”
Hmm. Was he counting on Angelina to sort things out for him? Bad idea.
Then he went on, making my blood run cold. “Not an issue, just like this friend of yours.” With a glare at Nash, he motioned to Angelina.
She flashed a crocodile smile and turned her attention to Nash. In one instant, her too-red lips went from scowling to puckering into a coy, sensual heart. Canting her hips to emphasize her curves, she slipped into full-on seductress mode.
“You don’t need to be involved in this, Nash,” she said in a singsong tone. “In fact, you need to leave, because the agency is coming for you.”
Ha. Did she think she could enthrall Nash? He was a dragon shifter, not an unwitting human.
But, shit. His gaze grew vacant, his body still.
“You never really had an interest in Sedona,” Angelina went on, practically caressing him with her words.
Something flashed behind her. A bolt of lightning, half hidden in the dark clouds. Clearly, Harlon didn’t like Angelina looking at another man likethat.
Neither did I, at least when it came tomyman. But I was sickened too. Did I mean nothing to Nash? Was he so easily swayed?
“Why don’t you head back to California?” Angelina suggested, touching his shoulder. “Life is so much better there.”
Nash turned west, as if in a dream.
“That’s right,” Angelina purred. “Back to California. Remember that little place we stayed in by the ocean? You could go there. I could meet you there.”
Her voice dropped like she meant it, and ugh. Maybe she did.
I pictured Nash’s arms around me after we’d made love. Then I pictured them around Angelina, and bile rose in my throat. How could he have fallen for her — thenornow?
“That’s right,” she coaxed him into another step.
The nearest dragons swung their heads forward, and their eyes glistened.
No, no, no!I wanted to scream. Those dragons wouldn’t even have to fight Nash. They could simply kill him while he was in that state. That would leave me alone, and I would be forced to negotiate. And if I didn’t…
Storm clouds swirled, hinting at the destruction Harlon would wreak.
Down at the ranch, the dogs barked wildly. The barn was a quarter of a mile away, but I could hear the horses pace and fret. We only kept the oldest few in there, and now, one whinnied, while another kicked at the stall door.
Harlon’s eyes shone, telling me,There’s so much you stand to lose. Do not test my patience any longer, you weak little thing.
All the self-doubts I’d ever harbored crawled out of their hiding places in my mind. I had powerful parents, but no powers of my own. I couldn’t shift into a different body or conjure a single spell. I could try as hard as I wanted to get ahead, but I would never succeed…
I cut off those thoughts and rolled my hands into fists.
I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t insignificant. And I would not be cowed into letting Harlon get the better of me.
He sighed. “My patience has its limits, Miss Sattler.”
The wind swirled, rattling the shutters of the main house.
Meanwhile, Angelina remained focused on Nash. “Just walk away. No reason for you to get involved here.”
I hated her for toying with Nash, and I’d hated him for having fallen for her. But maybe Nash hadn’t fallen for Angelina so much as fallen for her trickery. She’d used her vampire charms to lure him in, and her bite had made him a marionette.
