Page 74 of Dark Victory

“If you do this, we are done,” Tabby said loudly. As she spoke she heard her pulse roaring in her ears. It was deafening.

He slowly turned, a chilling smile beginning. “Ye threaten me?”

Her heart began to break, and too late, she wondered if she’d already fallen for him. “No.” She could barely get the words out. “I am telling you.”

His eyes widened and the men at the table shifted uneasily. “I decide, Tabitha, when we are done.”

A frisson of fear went through her. “I can’t let you do this,” she heard herself say. She whirled, heading for the front doors.

“Stay away from him,” Macleod ordered.

Tabby stiffened her spine and went out into the rain.

HE KNEW WHAT JAN wanted even before his intercom buzzed. He could feel Sam outside his office, seething with anger, with impatience.

“Nick? Can you see Sam? She seems a little…disturbed.” Jan was wry.

Nick grimaced. Sam was more than disturbed; she was ready to blow a gasket. “Send her in. And, Jan? Go easy on her, okay?”

Jan made a sound that meant never.

He was used to their deep dislike for each other, but no man could expect two of the sexiest women on the earth to get along, especially when they were intent on being rivals, although only God knew why. They might look as different as night and day, but they had more in common than not. Sam looked as tough as nails, while Jan resembled a sex kitten, Marilyn Monroe style. Sam screwed around; Jan had decided she’d mourn her deceased partner until she died. Jan had been one of his best field agents, a long time ago, and Sam was one of the best now. If they could ever stop disliking one another, he’d love to put them in the field together.

It was a fantasy.

He rubbed his temples, knowing he was overworked if his fantasy was about putting those two out in the field and not in his bed. Sam strode in, flushed.

His eyes widened as he felt her pain, most of which was emotional. “She’s gone?”

Sam breathed hard and slammed down into the chair facing him. “Not only is she gone into the past without a word—Lafarge paid me a call.” She touched her gut. “She’s a witch, Nick. A powerful one.”

“What happened?”

“She put a spell on me and I told her where to find Tabby. Oh, I forgot. She’s after my sister—and it’s some kind of payback.”

He had never seen Sam so out of control. “Cool it, kid. I don’t want to find you laid out on a slab, covered in white.”

“I am friggin’ worried!”

No kidding, he thought. Jan poked her beautiful face inside, a file in her hands. “I have something for you, Nick.”

Sam turned in the chair, her eyes shooting daggers. “Nick is busy.”

“He’ll want to see this,” Jan said, her expression going from warm to cold in less than a nanosecond.

“Can you two sheathe the claws?” Nick waved Jan over.

Sam ignored her and said, “What if Lafarge can time-travel?”

Nick took the file from Jan. “Can I assume this is about Lafarge?”

Jan smiled. “You sure can. Unfortunately, it’s generic.”

And that meant it was as authentic as a cubic zircon. Nick opened the file and said to Sam, “Your average witch can’t time-travel.” He looked up. “We’ll have that DNA comp back by this evening.” He’d ordered a comp as well as the standard test. If she was one-ten-thousandth something inhuman, he wanted to know. A small genetic dose of demon, beast or “other” wouldn’t show up on a standard DNA test.

“She isn’t average. I also think she’s really, really old,” Sam said. She stood, hands on her hips. “I need to ask you something. Can I have a moment?”

He already knew what she wanted. He said casually, “If you think I’ll let you go back in time, the answer is no.”