Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats) (10 page)

if it killed her. She’d succeeded with Kiarra, but she wasn’t so sure if she could get her brother Giovanni out of James Sinclair’s influence.

After their parents had died fourteen years ago, their maternal uncle James Sinclair had adopted her

brother Giovanni. James Sinclair had one purpose in life—to accumulate enough power to change the
Feiru

way of life to his liking. Based on the rumors she had heard, Sinclair wanted to find a way to end elemental magic, no matter how far-fetched that idea sounded.

She only hoped that her brother wasn’t too indoctrinated with Sinclair’s views, and he could still be

swayed to Cam—and DEFEND’s—way of thinking.

Once she had a minute, she would call Kiarra and check in with her. She’d put off calling her sister for

various reasons—mainly because she was afraid Kiarra would believe the rumors inside DEFEND about

Cam—but it was time to step up and face her sister’s questions.

Cam reached the edge of the main plaza and did a quick scan. Food carts and ad-hoc tent restaurants

lined the outer edges, with a maze of vendor stalls in the actual plaza itself. There were some musicians

belting out songs, and a few people were even dancing at the edge of the crowd. One couple was dancing

steps similar to what Marco had taught her the night before, and she itched to join in.

She nearly started at the thought
.
She never danced in public. Giving her head a shake, she walked on.

Between deciphering the clue and keeping an eye out for any possible enemies—such as the shadow-

shifter—Cam needed to push her experiences from last night out of her mind. She wouldn’t let Marco

distract her. He’d been secretive about learning the old language, and she wondered what else he was hiding from her.

Her cell phone vibrated and she reached into the pocket of her skirt and took it out, only to find a

message from Marco:
Look behind you
.

Scowling, she looked over her shoulder and saw Marco waving at her. She was just about to turn back

around and ignore him when she noticed a tall, blond man off to the side. Cam’s heart skipped a beat, and

she froze.

It was
him
.

Four years had passed since she had last seen him, but Cam would recognize Richard Ekstrom

anywhere.

Richard caught her eye and a look Cam knew all too well—one of steely determination—came across

his face. That look had never bode well for the man’s targets in the past, and no doubt, it meant trouble for Cam too.

Richard smiled and moved toward her. However, just as Cam turned to flee, a warm hand cupped her

elbow and urged her to go left. She looked over and saw it was Marco.

Marco leaned down to her ear and whispered, “Come with me. I know where we can go.”

She was still battling the shock of Richard’s appearance, so her usually sharp mind barely said, “Fine,”

before letting Marco guide her down a side street.

Despite all of her precautions and careful maneuvers over the years, her past had finally caught up with

her.

Because Cam had never shared with Marco what she’d found inside the observatory at Chichen Itza, he

had spent the morning tailing her through the crowded streets of the Sunday Market, waiting for the most

opportune time to approach her. She consistently seemed to restrain her temper in public. He waited for her to exit the most crowded area of the main plaza so that they could have some semblance of privacy.

He’d finally found the perfect location on one of the streets, where a few men were banging out a song

on their drums, and he sent her a text message. He upped his charm, grinning and waving when she looked

up, signaling that he was far from intimidated by her attitude the night before. She spotted him and made to turn back around when her eyes latched onto something and froze.

He followed her gaze and saw a tall, touristy looking man with a towel tied around his neck. Marco

didn’t like the look on the man’s face, so he turned and weaved his way to Cam’s side. When she let him

guide her down the street with barely a word, he knew instantly that something was wrong.

Once they were far enough away from the main plaza that Marco could easily keep track of the thinner crowd of people around them, he sent a quick message to Cam’s team, put his phone away, and said, “Did

you want some ice cream?”

At that, Cam frowned up at him. “Ice cream?”

He nodded toward a nearby stall. “This place has the best in the city, and my
mamá
always said that ice cream helps calm your nerves.” Cam opened her mouth, but Marco beat her to it. “You look like someone

just walked over your grave, so don’t dare say I’m wrong.”

Cam dislodged her elbow from his hand. “I was going to say that I don’t like sweet things.”

He snorted. “Why does that not surprise me?”

Cam had been looking around their surroundings for the man she had seen, but his comment merited a

glare. “If you make a crack about how only sweet people eat sweet things, I will punch you in the face.”

His aim had been to distract her, and while he had succeeded, Marco decided that he was having too

much fun to stop now. He purred, “While sugar is nice now and again, I prefer my food with a little bite.”

She rolled her eyes before focusing back on the people around them. “Why do you make everything a

joke? The man back there is dangerous, and we should be finding a place to hide.”

Interesting. Any person who scared Cam enough to run must be dangerous. He dialed down his smile

and raised an eyebrow. “I told you that I know somewhere we can go, but first, who is he and why should I

be worried about him?”

She stared at him for a few seconds, but Marco stared right back. She finally let out a sigh of

resignation. “If you stop interrogating me long enough to get somewhere safe, I’ll tell you all about him.”

Cam agreeing to anything was rare, and he wasn’t going to give her time to change her mind. “I have

two locations of where we can hide, but I need to know if he’s human or not.”

“He’s not.”

“Okay, then. Follow me.” He started walking and Cam had to jog to catch up. As he weaved through the

streets of downtown Merida, he wondered about the man who could scare someone like Camilla Melini, a

woman with steel-like claws and a kick that could send any man to his knees.

He had seen a flash of terror on Cam’s face before he’d led her away, giving him a glimpse of why she

acted the way she did. Something bad must have happened between her and the blond man. Her gruff

manner was probably a type of shield she used to avoid getting hurt again.

The thought of that blond man hurting her didn’t sit well with him.

While she would never say so, Marco reckoned that Cam needed an ally. He may be impatient to focus

on his other mission, but until they had found the underlying cause of the clue from the observatory, he

would watch her back and help her in any way that he could. He only hoped that the fires wouldn’t claim

any more victims in the meantime.

Cam struggled to keep up with Marco’s strides. The man walked with purpose and efficiency. If only he

would apply himself the same way to his work.

She didn’t like blindly following him through the streets, but Marco knew Merida better than she did.

Cam was helpless to do anything but see where he would take her, especially since she couldn’t get away

from Richard Ekstrom fast enough.

While looking over her shoulder for Richard had become second nature, after four years of working

with DEFEND, Cam had thought she’d seen the last of him.

Hell, she didn’t even know if he still worked with the Federation League—the old anti-AMT fringe

group they’d both worked for in the past—or not. Considering what she knew of Richard’s capabilities, he

could be a for-hire assassin. While unlikely, he might even he be here on an assignment to take her out.

No, she didn’t think that was it. She did not have any sort of vengeful enemies. Judging from the way

he’d looked at her back near the plaza, it left one thing—Richard wanted to use her for something.

Hopefully, she never found out what.

Marco stopped and she had to check herself to keep from smacking into his back. He looked up and

down the street, but it was empty. Half of the houses looked dilapidated and unfit for habitation. No doubt, this part of town was a good place to hide.

He looked down at her and said, “Take a hold of my bicep.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain why?”

“So you don’t get lost or try to run away. Not that I’d mind if you wanted to admire my muscles while

you’re at it.” He winked. “I’m about to use my god-like powers to save your ass again.”

While she was anxious to get away from Richard, she was also curious to see some of Marco’s other

tricks. She still hadn’t figured out why he had such strong control over his elemental water.

Of course, she couldn’t pass up warning him. “Any funny business, like back in the jungle, and your

dick won’t be in any shape to come out and play anytime soon.” She ignored his chuckle and wrapped her

hand around his bicep, letting her nails graze his skin. His muscles bunched and flexed as he put his hand out in position to the west, and she waited to see what he’d do.

The air around her feet became extremely humid, and warmer, before a sheet of ice started to form a

few feet over their heads. As the ice expanded and grew, a fog cloud started to form somewhere in between

the ice and the street. She watched as the fog thickened to the point where she could barely make out

Marco’s form next to her.

She’d seen first-borns use their elemental abilities before, but never anything like this. She couldn’t help but whisper, “Are you sure you’re not a Talent?”

Marco’s arm tensed under her hand, and for once, she wished she could see his face. “No, now shush.

I’m trying to concentrate.”

She’d allow that comment to pass, only because she needed his help to escape Richard. While she could

use her speed or one of her other secret tricks, she much preferred someone else using their abilities. That way she could keep hers a secret for as long as possible. Marco knew some of them, but not all.

When she could see no more than a few inches in front of her face, she felt Marco’s hand reach over

and push against her hip. “Move behind me and put your hands on my waist.”

His hand lingered, his heat soaking into her skin. As she stepped behind him and his hand fell away, she

tried not to think about how his touch affected her. But then again, he’d probably perfected the technique with countless other women. That thought kicked her head back into the game.

As soon as she placed her hands around his lean waist, Marco started moving and it took everything she

had to let him lead her along rather than just push him aside and blaze a path herself.

Chapter Eleven

As Marco guided Cam out of the second fog trap he’d created, she readjusted her hands on his waist,

and he fought the urge to cover her hands with his own. For someone so strong, Cam’s touch was light,

almost delicate. He wondered what it would feel like to have those deceivingly delicate-feeling hands roam his body before gripping his ass. Then he checked himself, banishing the image. The last thing he needed

was for Cam to see him sporting an erection.

Despite what people thought of him, Marco rarely bedded any of the women he flirted with. Even now,

his grandfather’s words filled his head:
Make people love you so they’ll never suspect what you’re capable
of doing, but remember never to allow them close enough to discover the truth.
While Grandpa Herrera’s words had never failed him in the past, Marco wished at times that he could ignore them.

Hell, there were days he wanted to forget everything his grandfather had ever taught him and live life as

a normal person.

Of course, that would never happen. The best he could hope for was to find someone who would listen

to his biggest secret and understand the need to keep it.

The fog cleared, and like before, Cam removed her hands straight away and moved to walk beside him.

Using his elemental abilities was always a risk, but part of him wanted to create more fog so Cam would

have to hold onto him again.

Marco took the lead and they weaved through the side streets of Merida in silence. Eventually Marco

stilled, cocked his head to the side, and strained his ears. After an hour of zigzagging through the streets, he was pretty confident that the tall blond man was no longer following them. Rather than risk meeting with

Cam’s teammates and leading the blond man to them, he was going to take her somewhere the man couldn’t

go. Only then would he be confident they were safe.

He looked to Cam and raised his eyebrows in question. Since they’d done this a number of times on the

way, she knew he was asking if she heard anything. Judging from what had happened back in the jungle

two nights ago, her hearing was far keener than his, probably due to whatever latent ability she’d inherited.

Marco knew some of the old stories and legends, but he had yet to figure out what latent abilities she

actually possessed.

Cam squinted her eyes as she looked one way and then the other. Her expression could only be

described with a word he’d never thought he’d use for Camilla—adorable—and contrasted greatly with her

threat to abuse his cock. Not that he wouldn’t mind a little abuse, just not the kind that involved steel-like claws and a temper.

Okay, maybe a little bit of claws and temper.

Whoa, boy, you need to tone that shit down.
Hundreds of women had thrown themselves at him over