Page 80 of Birthright

And I took off running toward the manor. “Temptress,” he growled and came after me.

I kept it to a jogging pace to stay within sight of him. I was laughing freely, taking in the sounds and the essence of the night. I didn’t think I would ever feel this free again after Tynan. But having Jordan grumbling behind me and the wind in my face was freeing. Joyful.

I felt a warning presence in the woods. A nearby squirrel jumped in alarm so I stopped suddenly and tried to listen over Jordan’s footsteps. When he realized what I was doing, he stopped, immediately silent. “What is it?” he whispered and moved noiselessly up behind me, covering my body with his.

I turned my head just a bit to the left to listen. “Someone coming, quarter of a mile maybe.”

Jordan lifted the earpiece he had taken out when we were talking and put it back in his ear. He mumbled a command and waited for responses. “One of mine.” He had moved his arms possessively around my waist. I turned inside them and got up on my tiptoes to kiss his chin. He looked down and frowned at me. I pulled his head to mine and insisted on a full kiss. Obliging, he took the last moment of our time alone to try to convey his feelings in that kiss. His lips were warm, his tongue insistent in my mouth. I pulled away and turned as the incoming guard burst through the trees.

“Sir, there’s another crime scene.”

“Detail, Charles.” Another guard came in from the left. He had been closer to us. I knew it instinctively. “Jordan!” I said, with a large hunk of anger attached to it.

He turned his attention to me, not happy that I’d interrupted his work, and gave me his terse look. “My lady?”

“Have your men been following us all night?” My hands were on my hips.

“Of course. We have to keep you under surveillance at all times now. You understood that.”

I did understand and I tried to keep myself calm. I had to get over the feeling of being trapped and realize the need for security. I thought of Manus in the bed with the huge scar. But I was still angry about my sudden lack of privacy and his casual attitude about it. “And if we had decided to play priestess and her boy toy?”

The two guards dressed like SWAT members were turning red faced, trying not to laugh.

Jordan frowned deeply but didn’t flinch. “Then they would have been in for a good show.” He turned back to the red-faced men and gave them a look that evidently they had seen before. They went straight backed and completely blank faced. “Report, Charles,” Jordan repeated in a smooth, stern voice.

“Another Witch. Sector two. Same MO.”

“How long?” he barked.

Charles answered with quick words. “Less than an hour, sir.”

Jordan stood still for just an instant and then started barking orders into the small radio in his ear before pausing and turning back to his men. “Charles, Tomson, escort the priestess back to the manor,” he ordered the guards as he started off in a different direction.

“I’m going with you,” I argued.

“No. You are to go to your chambers. Cliona will meet you on the way.”

He kept moving away from me and Charles nodded toward the manor. “My Lady.” I walked beside Charles as he headed for the manor. Tomson trotted behind me.

They were both Magicians, both beautiful, though not as frail looking as many of them. Maybe Doran had a taste for the delicate men. Either that, or Jordan had recruited all the bigger, more robust of the species to this island for his guards.

I felt to see if either had drawn a ward to keep me with them. None. So they couldn’t hold me…

I yanked the clear wiring from the radios in their vests before they’d even realized I had moved—and ran. I could hear them yelling and arguing back and forth with each other, but I kept running in the direction Jordan had gone. I didn’t know where Sector Two was, but I was betting that Mister Efficient had taken the most direct path. Even running, his trail wasn’t too difficult to follow. All I needed was a bent branch here, a disturbed bit of ground there. And his smell. Mostly his smell.

Once in the open at the edge of town, I lost his trail, but opened my mind to feel for others. Not far off to the south I felt the emotions and presence of several beings. Rounding the back of a small cottage, I saw Jordan just making it to the scene. I came up behind him quietly. One of his guards was bending over the body on the ground, holding the Witch, and when he looked up at Jordan, I saw the heat of anger and repressed tears in his eyes.

A second guard stood from his squatting position next to the distraught man. “Allen,” Jordon said with all his authority. “You have to let go of her.”

The second man looked past Jordan to me. “He was her only consort.” Jordan followed his gaze and grumbled at me then turned back to Allen, who was still holding the remains of his lover.

Jordan lowered his voice but didn’t take the command out of it. “Allen, release her.”

He started to say something else but I passed him and stood behind the guard, placing my hand on his shoulder. He looked from me to the body and then reluctantly let her go, gently placing her on the ground before standing and taking my hand. I walked him away from the others and pulled him into a hug. He dropped his gun, and it clattered at my feet. Falling against me, the young man wrapped his arms around my waist and let his head drop to my shoulder. He was heavy, but not enough to knock me off balance. His pent-up tears quickly roared into loud, hard sobs.

I heard the other guard informing Jordan who the Witch was, and explaining that she and Allen had been together for four years. Fortunately, Allen couldn’t hear through his sobs. I ran my hands up and down his back as he cried, not offering any words. Nothing I could say was going to help.

Jordan shook his head and looked back toward us. I saw him stiffen at the sight of the man in my arms, but he went back to business without a word. I felt the horrible pain in the Magician’s cries. He had obviously loved the Witch deeply. I couldn’t help but think of Tynan. Would he have felt this kind of grief had I died on Thule? The thought made me even more relieved that I’d had a chance to let him go. I was lucky, he was lucky, and a twist of fate turned a disaster into an opportunity.