M&L03 - SS (33 page)

~ Danarius ~

Two weeks later...

“Do you mind if I join you
Mr. Demarco?”

I glanced up to see Claire
standing before me. We’d never met before, but I’d seen enough publicity shots
for her studio at Myths and Legends to know it was her. I stood and bowed
slightly. “Please, call me Danarius.” I gestured towards the chair across from
me and she gracefully lowered herself into it.

I sat back down and she said,
“I’m Claire, but I think you already know that. It’s good to meet you Danarius,
although this isn’t the first time.”

I took in her long dark
tresses, brown eyes and gypsy getup but nothing seemed familiar.

She smiled serenely.
“Sometimes our eyes remember things differently than our noses.”

I drew in a long breath
through my nose, sifting through the multitude of scents surrounding me. It was
difficult to pinpoint in the middle of a crowded restaurant, but it was there -
just a hint of something that tugged at my memory.

“It will come to you,” Claire
promised, and knowing her reputation I wasn’t inclined to argue.

A waitress arrived with a cup
of coffee for Claire. While she stirred in some cream she commented, “I hear
you’ve become quite the regular here at The Outer Rim.”

“They have excellent beignets.”
I indicated the powdered sugar coated pastries on my plate.

“That’s high praise from
someone who lives in New Orleans where the beignets are world famous.”

“World famous or not, the
beignets here are worth the trip. Besides, Dragon insists on meeting here
rather than Myths and Legends.” I wiped my hands on a cloth napkin and sat back
in my chair.

“His caution is warranted.
Your newly formed alliance has yet to gain popularity.” Claire sipped her
coffee and sighed. “There is nothing better than a good cup of coffee.”

A smile curved my lips when
the image of a dark haired beauty floated through my mind. “I could think of a
few things I’d rank higher than coffee no matter how well it was brewed.”

She returned my smile. “I’m
sure you could Danarius, and that’s why I’m here. I’d like you to meet me on
the terrace outside the banquet hall after your meeting with Donovan.”

I considered the woman before
me and what I knew of her psychic abilities. “Why the terrace and why then?”

“You’ll find Danarius, that I
rarely answer questions of that sort, but my advice is usually worth taking.
Come to the terrace after your meeting and satisfy your curiosity.” She
finished off her coffee and stood.

I rose from my chair and
bowed slightly. “I will consider your advice Claire.”

She smiled serenely and we
said our goodbyes. Then I checked the time on my phone and decided to head over
to the security office. Now that I had plans for after the meeting I was
anxious to get it over with.

Rook arrived shortly after I did,
followed by Dragon and then finally Solomon. We took our usual places at the
conference table and Dragon started the meeting with, “Where do we stand
Solomon?”

“The wards I created around
the shadow demon realm are holding strong, but someone has been testing them
for weaknesses.”

“Sergio?” Rook inquired.

“That would be my guess,”
Solomon replied.

“Does he need to be there
physically to test the wards?”

Solomon nodded while he
rocked in his chair like a clueless teenager. It was easy to see how someone
might underestimate his intellect and his power.

Rook sat forward and rested
his arms on the table. “Could the tracking spell you made during the tournament
be used to follow him through portals?”

“In theory, yes. In practice,
probably not. I’m sure he cast a counter spell the second he felt the charm
lock onto his magic.”

Rook glanced at me and then
at Dragon who inclined his head. “I don’t think Sergio ever sensed your spell.”

Solomon stopped rocking. “He
told me he did. That’s why I sent you that text letting you know it was
pointless to use the spell.”

“I still had that charm in my
possession when you sent me that text so I know with one hundred percent
certainty that it hadn’t been used to track Sergio.”

Now the sorcerer glanced at
me.

“Don’t mind me,” I told him
with a wave of my hand. “By all means, discuss the traitor in your midst.”

“I’d like to argue with that
assumption, but it’s the only explanation that fits,” Solomon admitted
ruefully. Then he asked Rook, “Have you used the charm to track him since
then?”

“Yes and there was no
indication that he could sense the spell. It also came in handy when we tracked
you to the fire demon realm. Since the charm was designed to track Sergio’s
magic, we used it to locate his traps in the maze. It also let us know when the
passageways were going to shift so we could duck into a side tunnel and wait
for the right one to come back around. Merek helped us figure out which
corridors would lead out of the maze.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this
sooner?” Solomon asked, looking back and forth between the other two men.

“Who could have warned Sergio
about the charm?” Dragon asked in response to Solomon’s question.

“Anyone who was at the
meeting when Rook asked me to create it.”

“Exactly. One of our closest
friends warned Sergio. I didn’t want you distracted by that knowledge until the
shadow demon realm was completely sealed off.”

I cut into the conversation
while Solomon let that sink in. “Is this why you’ve insisted that our meetings
take place here, during daylight hours? So they would hopefully go unnoticed by
your spy?”

“That’s part of it,” Dragon
shrugged, “but I also want to avoid bad publicity for Myths and Legends. If
there’s going to be any assassination attempts, I’d prefer they happen here,
away from the humans.”

I thought there was probably
more to it than that but I let it go. “How close are you to identifying your
traitor?”

“We’re not ready to point
fingers yet.”

“Let me know if there is
anything I can do to help,” I offered. “Although, I’m having a hard enough time
sorting out the spies amongst my own people. About a third of my vampires left
with Sergio and Bran, but only time will tell if the ones who remained are
loyal to me.”

“Take it from me,” Dragon
said, meeting my eyes with his steady gaze. “It’s good to be suspicious, but
not to the point that you drive people away who would otherwise have your
back.”

“Thank you for the advice,” I
said, bowing my head slightly to Dragon. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to
speed this meeting along. I have an appointment that I don’t want to miss.”

Dragon raised an eyebrow, but
we managed to wrap up the meeting in no time. With the shadow demon realm
successfully closed off, we were ready to hunt. Sergio and the former
councilors who followed Travali were hiding somewhere with stockpiles of
caprius plants and stables of blood-crazed vampires. Unfortunately,
somewhere
meant hundreds of alternate dimensions and demon realms. Solomon was hoping
to narrow down the possibilities by tracking Sergio the next time he surfaced.
Until then, we were looking for a needle in a haystack.

After the meeting I cut
through the banquet hall to the terrace, but stopped short of going outside
when I caught a tantalizing scent drifting in through the open French doors.
Inhaling deeply, I smiled to myself and wondered how best to thank Claire - flowers
perhaps, or maybe a basket of gourmet coffees. Leaving the decision for later,
I stepped into the open doorway.

 The terrace was a large half
circle made of gleaming white marble with a three-foot wall around its outer
edge. Beyond the terrace, the landscape was picturesque with twin moons glowing
over dense forests on the right and left, and a vast body of water straight
ahead. Far below my current position, I could hear waves crashing against a
rocky shore. 

I did a quick scan and found
only one other person in the area. It was a woman and she was leaning forward
with her arms resting on the outer wall. She appeared to be admiring the view,
which was spectacular, but not nearly as alluring as the woman herself was.

I took another step, and then
spoke as I sauntered out onto the terrace. “If I were a paranoid man, I might
think you’ve been avoiding me.”

The woman spun around to face
me with her hands flying up to cover her heart.

“My apologies,” I said,
bowing my head slightly. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was asked to meet
someone here, but now I suppose she isn’t coming.”

The woman’s brows drew
together then her spine straightened and her arms fell to her sides. She wore a
tasteful black dress that managed to be sexy and professional while leaving
most of her long legs exposed for my viewing. Her body was lean with curves in
all the right places and her silken mane of black hair fell in loose curls to
her waist.

I only had a second to take
in her exquisite beauty before she spat, “Claire.”

“She’s an interesting woman,
don’t you think?” I asked, slowly moving forwards.

“Meddlesome might be a more
accurate description,” she replied, watching my every step.

“Perhaps from your perspective,”
I agreed, “but from mine, she’s rather helpful.”

She let out a delicate snort
and turned her head towards the horizon. She had yet to meet my eyes directly.

When I was close enough that
I could reach out and touch her, I stopped and let my gaze travel over every
inch of her luscious body. She shivered and took a step back, but the outer
wall stopped her from going any farther.

Grinning, I said, “Having
faced each other in battle, it’s hard to believe we’ve never been properly
introduced. I am Danarius Demarco, Master of the New Orleans vampires.”

“I know who you are, just as
I’m sure you know my name is Katerina.” Her voice was soft, inviting despite
her tense body language.

“Katerina...” I let her name
roll off my tongue.

She shivered for a second
time when I said her name so I stepped closer to her and said it again.
“Katerina is the perfect name for a mysterious beauty such as you. I can
clearly see why you chose it over the name you were given at birth.”

Her eyes snapped to mine and
I welcomed the magnetic force that drew us closer still. I wrapped one arm
around her slim waist and pulled her against my body while my other hand
threaded through her dark curls to the back of her head.

“Yes Katherine,” I whispered,
looking deep into her brown eyes. “I know your true name. I also know why you
hide from me, but I’ve seen our future in your eyes and we both know it cannot
be avoided.”

“The future is never set in
stone,” she breathed, sliding her hands up my chest.

“Perhaps not,” I agreed, and
a deep growl crept into my voice as I continued, “But our future was engraved
on my soul the moment you opened your eyes in that arena. Run if you must, hide
if you must, but know that in the end I will find you, and I will have you as
my mate.”

Rather than arguing as I
expected her to, she reached up and pulled my head down to hers. Our lips met
and the world was set ablaze. Her soft curves melted against my hard body as
our tongues tangled in a heated rush. Never, had I known such pleasure from
simply kissing a woman. It felt as though every cell in my body had been set on
fire, burning with desire for the woman in my arms.

Too soon, the kiss ended when
she turned away gasping for breath. “I can’t do this Danarius.”

“I’m not sure you have a
choice Katerina,” I said, loosening my grip on her as she turned to face me
once again.

Red flames consumed her
usually brown eyes. “I will always have a choice Danarius. The fates, my
dragon, and even you can all be damned for all I care.”

She pushed hard on my chest
and I stumbled backwards as she hopped up and flipped herself backwards over
the outer wall. I stepped forward just in time to see her smooth transformation
as she became the giant red dragon that saved my life in the arena. I watched
her soar through the air until she finally swooped down and disappeared into
the trees.

“Run if you like,” I murmured
to myself, striding towards the banquet hall. It was only a matter of time
before I found her again, and when I did, I would make sure that escape
was the last thing on her mind.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read this novel. Now that
you’re finished, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Tempting Magic and the Myths
and Legends series. Please let me and other avid readers like yourself know
what you’re thinking by posting a review on Goodreads, Amazon, or wherever
books and eBooks are sold or talked about online.

Best wishes,

Stacie Simpson