Assassin's Kiss (34 page)

With a waver, she purposely wilted into the guard and leaned extra weight on the arm he supported. She gave a little murmur, as if she were tired or overcome, and he reflexively used his other hand to steady her. She sagged into him, reaching into his black jacket sleeve, hoping for a knife concealed there…and found nothing. Damn it.

She blinked and straightened. “Oh, wow. I didn’t know how intense this would be. I’m so glad you’re helping me down these steps.”

He grunted, and kept her moving.

Great, the guards here were like robots.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and he steered her to the rear of the room, behind all the chairs. Damien waited in a black-on-black tuxedo. His cold eyes glimmered with excitement and he took her hand as she neared. “You look absolutely stunning, darling,” he whispered.

She pasted on a smile and made herself remember that many, many women found him irresistible. “So do you,” she lied in response.

He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and they began a slow walk up the center aisle.

Scorpio and his group approached the entrance at the back of the building. After the duplication spell, and the Tessa-turned-dragon illusion spell, he was ready for anything to happen once they reached that door.

They didn’t even make it that far. At ten feet away, the door burst open and a dozen Vespera mages poured out, shouting spells, flinging blue fire, and weapons raised. They were mixed among the Watchers in an instant. No time to do anything but react.

“I’m ready to take these assholes down in a real fight.” Scorpio muttered to Brenin, before pouring on a burst of speed. He was at the first mage in seconds, his sword plunging deep into the man’s heart. The man never got a chance to finish his spell.

Since these were mages, not predatory demons, they could be killed by a precise stab wound. It didn’t have to come down to beheading or immolation. And since the two forces had clashed in seconds, magic lost ground to the brute force and speed of the Watchers.

The man crumpled, but Scorpio was already on to the next one. Brenin, the fastest swordsman Scorpio had ever seen, plunged into the fray beside him, slashing one mage’s throat while sending a fire ball into another’s chest.

The Vespera rushed to defend against the blur of angry Watchers, but they simply didn’t have the same speed. In minutes, the dark mages lay dead.

“Come on.” Hallon urged them forward “They’ll send more when these ones don’t report back in.” He ran to the door and ducked inside.

Scorpio was right on his heels as they jogged into a stone corridor. Instantly, Tessa’s sweet scent called to him. It was only a trace, as if she hadn’t been down here; rather, it indicated she was in this building. Additionally, he had a sense of
knowing
that his mate was close.

Gods help him. Did she feel that same pull?

Rough gray bricks lined the walls and one lone fire bulb hovered above. The darkness didn’t seem to slow down the Bronwy leader. “This way.” He turned a corner and stopped so abruptly, Scorpio nearly slammed into him. Scorpio held up a hand to signal those behind him to stop.

Hallon ran his hands along a ridge of white mortar between the bricks. “There’s a secret passage entrance here, if they haven’t walled it up.” Hands roaming, he cursed and then moved a foot to the left and repeated the process. “Got it.” He jiggled a brick loose, slid it free, and reached inside.

With a barely audible groan, a section of brick that formed a door swung inward. “This has two possible exits. One is in the kitchen, the other leads up the foyer. Right by the main door. ”

“Not sure charging into the foyer is the stealthiest idea.” Scorpio scowled.

“We can split up,” Brenin said, standing behind him. “Check out each path.”

Scorpio nodded. The plan had been established even before they had all sat down yesterday to pore over those maps. Get Tessa. Get Zeebi, if she wanted to return. If she were willing and didn’t try any shady crap.

And eliminate Damien.

The rest of the coven would be dealt with on a case by case basis. Since many of them had been seduced by the dark ley lines, there was a chance that they could return to being good, once the lines were buffered with Whysper’s magic.

And the sooner Whysper did her thing, the easier the Watchers’ jobs would be.

“In,” Scorpio muttered.

Hallon stood to the side, gesturing for him to go in first. “For the foyer, take the fork on the right.”

Scorpio entered and paused, letting his emotional sense dictate which way would take him to his mate. And just like he knew she was in the building, he knew to go right. “Foyer.”

“I’m right behind you,” Hallon said.

“Three of my team will follow you. The rest, I’ll take to the kitchen and we’ll handle the back of the house.” Brenin stood by the door, all business. “We’ll find her.”

Scorpio nodded and headed to the right, easily navigating the pitch black rough stone stairs. Tessa was in the building. So close. His muscles buzzed with fury at her being taken from him.

In less than a minute, he was at a wooden door. Anger cascaded down his spine. On the other side, there was a large number of people. He could hear them murmuring, hear them breathing and shifting their weight. They were mostly quiet, and that worried him.

“A crowd is gathered. Close by,” he said to Hallon, who stood behind him.

The chief scowled. “There’s a large room used for events. It’s right off the foyer.”

Events
…motherfucking son of a bitch. “Like for a wedding?” Scorpio could barely get the words out around his ire.

Whysper’s words came back to him.
You must use caution at all times.
Goddamit. As much as he wanted to run and find Tessa, demonfire blazing, he couldn’t take foolish risks. Who knew how many creatures skilled in dark magic sat on the other side of this door? And Tessa might be in the middle of them all.

Hallon nodded grimly. “The release for this door is right there.” He pointed to a small rectangular panel in the wall.

“We don’t know how many witches are here to simply watch the event and how many are guards,” Scorpio muttered. “Do the civilians receive the same level of magic training?”

“I’d like to say no, but I don’t know for sure,” Hallon said.

“That means once we open this door, be prepared for chaos.” Scorpio glanced back at the other Watchers behind Hallon. “You remember what the guards’ uniforms look like?”

They all nodded, having covered that detail when they discussed Vespera’s layout.

“Then we take them out first. Let’s go.” Scorpio pressed the panel and stepped back to let the door swing on its inward trajectory. The place may be full of the enemy but goddamn it, he had a wedding to stop.

Two black-clad guards were in the doorway even before it fully opened. Scorpio lunged at one, grabbing his neck and twisting hard. The second one, blade in hand, tried to strike Scorpio by reaching beside his comrade. Bad idea. Scorpio grabbed the male’s hand, wrenched it backward until the wrist bones popped. The guard shouted in pain. Hallon ducked under Scorpio’s arm to plunge his own dagger into the man’s side.

The crowd of well-dressed witches seated in a large side room jumped up in alarm. Some ducked for cover. Some ran for the front door.

All element of surprise was lost. Scorpio shot into the foyer as witches shrieked and fled the room. Two more Vespera guards left positions by the door and charged.

Brenin’s team members were already moving toward them as blue and orange flashes illuminated the foyer. At the opening to the gathering room, two mages hastily flung up a blue magical barrier similar to the one Zeebi had created in the woods.

But Hallon recited a spell of his own. In his hand lay a small stone, which he hurled at the barrier as he finished speaking. In seconds the stone grew exponentially, until it was the size of a boulder.

With an enormous crash, it smashed through both the blue barrier and a portion of the wall. Plaster and dust filled the foyer as the guards ducked to avoid being crushed. The remaining civilian witches darted out through the front door.

Scorpio left the guards to Hallon and the other Lash demons, and hurtled into the room, into dozens of rows of chairs that had been upended in the chaos. Elegantly carved wood crashed to the floor around his feet as he turned to the front of the room.

Scorpio’s fists clenched as he took in Tessa, dressed in a black gown, her arm gripped tightly by Damien. Wide blue eyes stared at him with a mix of relief and shock.

Wearing a suit, Damien had a maniacal grin on his face. “Come to give us your best wishes, demon?” He smirked. “We weren’t quite done. We were almost to the kiss, weren’t we, darling?” He yanked Tessa flush to his side.

She tried to free her arm. “Let me go. You’re hurting me.”

Scorpio growled and stalked toward them. “You heard her. Let her go, asshole.”

“I know you want her, demon. You think she’s yours, you think she cares about you.” Damien maintained his grip on Tessa and steered her toward one wall. “Well, she’s not yours. She’s mine. She chose me. Me!”

Behind them, Zeebi stood with a black-robed male. The officiant? She pulled him toward a corner of the room, reaching for something on the wall.

“Damien, stop.” Tessa squirmed.

Scorpio didn’t know if she meant stop the words or stop moving her like a piece of luggage. Either way, he was way beyond done with Damien’s bullshit. “Enough talking. Let her go or I’ll rip your heart out through your throat.”

Damien threw back his head and laughed. “Ah, yes. Because that’s what you do. You’re a killer. Mercenary. Monster. Nothing good will ever come of anything you do or try.”

Crack!

Tessa’s free hand connected with Damien’s jaw, clearly shocking the Vespera leader. He turned angry eyes on her and grabbed her fingers. “That’s no way to treat your groom, darling. Unless you like it rough. Then, I’ll give you everything you do to me and more.” With a sharp twist, he wrenched her arm into an unnatural angle behind her back and clamped his hand around her waist.

She shrieked, face contorted in pain.

Scorpio roared. In a blur of speed, he rushed at the male.

But Damien successfully pushed Tessa against the wall and, in a heartbeat, a four foot wide segment of wall opened, swiveled around, and whisked them out of sight.

With a thud, the wall closed back on itself.

“Fuck!” Scorpio pounded the plaster and ran his hand over it, searching.

An echoing thud made the room shake, and he spun around. Zeebi and the other male were gone.

Hallon rushed over and inspected the wall. “Goddamn it—that must be a new passage. I wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t done it right in front of us. Zeebi opened one, too. Here.” He pushed a tiny button, no bigger than a nail head, on the chair rail. “Go. We’ll follow you.” The wall suddenly spun, whirling Scorpio into complete darkness.

C
HAPTER
31

T
ESSA SLIPPED AND STUMBLED, BARELY
staying upright in her heels and with Damien running down dark steps. His tight grip crushed her fingers. “Where are we going?” she demanded.

He didn’t answer, just pulled her full speed down, down further. Were they going to the dark lines? She was certain he had a way to get to them from inside the building. Probably more than one way. Would he force her to succumb to them? A shiver raced across her skin.

“Stop!” she yelled. “I’m done. Our arrangement is off!”

“Too late, witch.” He skidded to flat ground, making her knock into him. “I want you. So you’re mine. No going back.”

“I’m not a possession!” she shrieked, pushing his chest with her hand.

A menacing smile spread across his cold features. “That’s where you’re wrong, Tessa. You belong to me, like Zeebi does, like my guards do. Like every member of this coven.”

“I don’t want this,” she hissed.

“That’s too bad. It would be more enjoyable if you did. Though
my
enjoyment will only be heightened by your misery. Come.” He moved his hand to her arm and clenched hard, pulling her down a stone hallway.

She should be scared. He was despicable and terrifying. But Tessa only felt anger, indignation, and the need to stop Damien. It was all up to her now. Alone with him, she had her best chance of taking him down. No Zeebi, no guards.

But what could she do against a male of his power?

Disarm him.
It may be her only chance. She had to try anything. Scorpio was here, and he didn’t know the depth of Damien’s ability. Yet he had come anyway, backed by more Watchers and her dad. Her heart wanted to fly, but a cage of fear locked it in place.
Please don’t get hurt
, she willed him. She didn’t know if she could handle it if he got hurt because of her.

Damien walked fast, but she dug her feet into the packed dirt of the floor. “Wait, Damien. I’m sorry.” She leaned back, using her weight to try to halt him.

It worked. He pulled up short, turning to face her, wary.