Ritual Magic (24 page)

Leo paused and leaned back as if he was
honestly considering the offer because it was of deep interest to
him. "No, I believe there are too many strings to that offer." His
eyes narrowed.

"Then chocolate?" Sophia smiled wickedly as
an eyebrow climbed upward in a telling sign of excitement. She eyed
Leo as if she held his deepest desire in her hands, and that was
when I felt a deep sense of fear. She was holding a card that she
knew
would drive Leo insane just considering it. Figuring
that she had him, Sophia leaned back as if the negotiations were
over. "Chocolate then."

Leo's hand shot up in the air with his palm
facing Sophia and my heart stuttered furiously underneath my
shirt.

"I doubt that you are aware of the true
offer that you are making me here." His eyes turned slightly red as
he leaned in. "Actually, I believe that you are
completely
aware of what the offer would do to my future. No," he shook his
head thoroughly, "pass." He then laughed loudly and leaned back in
his seat so far that the front feet of the chair began to leave the
ground. He had the expression of a man that had just dodged a huge
bullet.

Sophia instantly looked put out. Huffing,
she snapped her fingers loudly and a voice rang out behind me.

"Yes, Madam?"

Turning, I finally noticed the entrance that
Leo had used when he had come to answer my call—a dark doorway
leading away from the well-lit room. Standing in the doorway was a
stocky little demon, black as the night was long, with a crooked
nose and deep brown eyes.

Wonder what wall he walked into?
Repeatedly.

"Bring Maximilian here, would you Smithe?"
Sophia breathed as she turned back to Leo. She was clearly trying
to get her edge back in the fight.

"Maximilian has been speaking of nothing but
meeting you, my dear." Sophia waved her hand in the air as she
leaned in eagerly and gave me a sideways glance coupled with a
sharp wink. "He has a deep interest in you, and his desire to have
a child is beyond measure. He would be a wonderful father and
I
would be an exceptional grandmother."

My heart sank as I eyed Leo's passive face.
Say something, you demon!
I simply blinked my eyes in her
general direction to acknowledge that I honestly heard what she was
saying.

"Negotiations are over?" Leo leaned forward
to block the view that Sophia had of me. "I don't think that we
have actually reached an agreement." Sighing, he waved his right
hand in the air just as Sophia had previously. "C'est la vie!"

Sophia lowered her chin slightly, but tilted
it straight up and began to beam as a new man walked into the room.
Or maybe I should refer to him as the
Abercrombie and Fitch
model, because he should have been.

Maximilian walked into the room, standing
more than six feet tall with broad shoulders, olive skin, wavy
golden brown hair, Roman facial features, and long tapered hands.
His outfit was all black—black shoes, black pants (not suit style),
black button down shirt, and a black broad brimmed hat held tightly
in his left hand.

Yes, this man could have been Zorro in
another life...and I really have a thing for Zorro.
Yikes!
Clean thoughts, Celeste. Clean.

His hair was what was throwing me off the
most, besides his amber colored eyes. His hair was golden brown and
cut so close to his head that the curls hugged his scalp—giving him
a Julius Caesar quality that was hard to deny as being very, very
sexy.

Wonder where the jet black horse is sitting;
maybe underneath the window, ready for a fast escape into the
sunset?

I sat in absolute disbelief that this
man
had anything to do with Sophia in any way. The entire
situation didn't seem to ring true. Turning back to the table, I
noticed that she had been eyeing me appreciatively. Maybe she knew
that I respected the goods—no mother wants to think that her child
is unattractive.

Sophia turned back to face the amazing
figure of a god in the doorway. "Come greet your Tio Leonzio, Max."
She waved in Leo's direction.

The sound of strong strides echoed against
the wooden flooring until they halted just behind us.

He's too close!
I began to feel the
sweat bead down my back. There was something about this man that I
didn't want anywhere near me.
Was it the hotness? The utter
hotness? Think clean thoughts—Solomon is waiting, Solomon is
waiting, Solomon is waiting.
Releasing a cleansing breath, I
kept my eyes trained on Sophia.

Leo and Max made their hellos and then it
was over. I paid as little attention to the whole thing as
possible. That is, until Sophia's smile spread like a black wisp of
smoke across her eager expression. She immediately looked as if she
were the cat that was planning on consuming the brown-eyed canary,
opening her mouth and then turning to me with that same wicked
expression twinkling deeply in her eyes.

"And introduce yourself to our
dear
friend Celeste Ravenwood, my son."
Wicked, wicked woman!

"It is a pleasure to make your
acquaintance." A rich, heavy English accent sounded just to my
right. I allowed my eyes to meet the voice, but I was suddenly
captivated by those intoxicating eyes of his which were golden,
clear and mysterious all at the same time. His hand was extended,
requesting mine in a sign of respect, and even though it crossed my
mind to avoid contact, it would have been rude for me to refuse
him. The last thing I wanted to do while I was sitting in the home
of a demon was to be rude.

Lifting my hand to brush mine across his, I
instantly felt how cool he was. Immediately I knew something that
just didn't click. "You're a vampire." I looked at him as if I knew
his dirty little secret.

Max leaned over my hand, turning over the
palm and eyeing it as if he could see my past, present and future.
"Yes, I am." The corners of his mouth turned up in tiny peaks as he
leaned down and laid a small feather of a kiss on the inside of my
wrist—my pulse point. Releasing my hand slowly, he walked over to
his 'mother' and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before walking
to the chair across from me. He completely skipped the chair that
was sitting empty across from Leo—he was clearly more interested in
sitting closer to me.

I suddenly didn't know what to do with my
hands as I could feel his eyes boring into me from across the
table.
What a freaky little family they make
.

"So," Sophia smiled as if she had won the
argument. "We are all agreed—our dear Celeste will provide me with
a grandchild." She smiled warmly at me and it gave me the total
creeps.

Did she really believe that trooping in
the hottie was going to change my mind? How hormonal did they think
I was?!
I wanted to laugh, but it was clear that Sophia would
probably take it the wrong way...which was actually the
right
way, I guessed.

Leo laughed richly from his chair next to me
as he lifted his left leg and rested the calf on his right thigh.
His perfectly shiny black Italian shoe shimmered in the light.

"I doubt that dragging in the
child
would persuade Celeste into agreeing to provide you with an heir.
By the way, don't you already have Max as your heir, yes? Why would
you want another child in this house—he's barely a babe himself."
Leo smirked, even his eyes implying that Max was as young as they
came, making Sophia appear to be a coordinator of a cougar dating
service. Suddenly I felt
very
old.

Max raised an eyebrow at me from across the
table and I could see Henry shift out of the corner of my eye.
Don't know what that means, but I will be keeping an eye on
Henry more from this point on
. But that's when a new sensation
hit me as my focus zeroed in on Max's golden eyes, which were
boring into my very soul—caressing thoughts that I didn't even know
I had.

Suddenly a vivid image of me standing in a
slinky black negligee was foremost in my mind, my hair cascading
down my bare shoulders, my body tense with seduction and my face in
a lusty expression—my eyes glassed over and my mouth pursed out
like I was making a little 'o' with my lips.

Guess this is what men think is sexy. Go
figure. Too bad I don't fit that bill
. I bit down on my tongue
as I looked deeply into Max's eyes again.
I
was not the
source of that
very
detailed image.

Feeling my eyebrows furrow, I looked at this
amber-eyed vampire with deep concentration and new awareness. My
instincts took over and I clenched my left hand tightly without
thinking and then released it, flicking my palm underneath the
table towards Max's side of the table. I was now very aware that
Max was much more dangerous than just a vampire—he was something
more, much more.

Max sat up instantly as if he had just been
struck by something painful. His eyes grew large enough that I
could see more of the whites of his eyes than the amber. I tilted
my chin upward a fraction and let my gaze drill into him.

He had tried to put a suggestion in my mind.
NOT NICE!

I fought the urge to cross my arms because I
could see Sophia smiling at us and nodding like she had
orchestrated all of it.

"I believe that the children should have
some time to get to know each other." Sophia pushed up from the
table and extended her hand to Leo—a sign that she was getting
ready to lead him away.

Leo turned back to me and eyed my cold
stare. His eyebrows flicked upwards a fraction as he took in my
deadly expression.

"I suspect that you are getting ready to
show me something quite interesting." He shrugged like he didn't
care as he pushed away from his chair and spoke brightly, "I am
open for a tour." He turned back to Sophia, smiling broadly and
then wrapped his arm around her proffered hand. Glancing slowly at
me over his shoulder, he smiled one more time as they whisked out
of the room through the door that Max had come through.
He's
obviously looking for information. I have to stall.
But
how?

Leaning back in my chair, I looked down at
the edge of the lace on the tablecloth and back up to Max's seat.
He was no longer there, and I snapped my head around to the left to
see that he was now sitting in the chair directly next to
mine—Leo's vacated seat. He was leaning into the arm of the chair,
applying his weight in my general direction. His face was almost
glowing and his eyes were absolutely captivating, but the fact that
he had moved without my hearing or seeing him practically set my
hair on end.

"What
are
you?" My voice sounded
upset and frustrated.
Just the tone I was shooting for
.

Max flicked his hand over into my space and
ran one finger against the back of my hand, allowing it to leave
cool streaks of sensitivity across my skin. "A vampire....a
warlock. Kind of like a two-for-one...I'm unique." His eyebrows
waggled at me as he closed his eyes and took a long whiff.
GULP!

"Right. Unique." I rolled my eyes up at him
and removed my hand from underneath his touch. I pushed away from
the table and felt exhilarated as I watched Max's frustrated
expression. It seemed that women didn't just walk away from
him...for any reason.

Walking over to the far end of the room, I
ran my fingers over a shelf of books that was standing on the far
wall. The entire wall was a monstrous bookshelf built from floor to
ceiling. The books were old and leather-bound. I found that I
actually had read quite a few of the books present, but there were
many, many others that were completely foreign like
The History of Demons and Angels
,
Who Knew
They Were Really Gods?
,
Jack And Jill
Were Really Demons
,
and
The Eight Habits
Of Highly Destructive Demons
.
Oh, and my
favorite—
Take Over A Dimension in Twenty Easy
Steps
. Guess that was sort of a 'world domination for dummies'
book. The thought made me want to laugh right then and there.

"We need to talk." Max's voice was directly
behind me then.

How the heck does this guy move so
quickly and without sound? Oh yeah, he's a vampire.
I had to
get a grip on the situation—he was going to dominate everything if
I didn't.

"Okay." I turned away and walked to a
camel-backed loveseat upholstered in a tight English floral chintz
print. Sitting down, I crossed my legs, leaned forward on my thigh
and flicked my eyes towards the other end of the room. I noticed
that Henry was now standing off against one of the walls, but
clearly on
my
side of the room. It appeared as if he was
taking a defensive position behind me.
That's strange
.

Looking back at Max, I noticed that he had
taken a seat in an antique wooden chair directly across from
me.

"I see that you are more than you appear to
be." Tilting his head to the side, he thought for a moment and then
smiled a sexy, dark smile. "I like that." His left eyebrow lifted
and his smile seemed to broaden.

I wished, for some strange reason, that I
could see how Henry was reacting to the new conversation. Something
told me his unexpected reactions would tell me so much more about
this vampire-warlock than anything else. My body instinctively
turned to allow me to see Henry from the corner of my eye. I tried
to make it look casual as I laid my arm across the back of the
loveseat.

"I can't even begin to tell you how much
your reaction actually disturbs me." I leaned my head down so I
could look at him underneath my eyelashes. "It disturbs me
very
much
. What were you expecting to find?"

Max leaned back and began to tick points off
on his hand. "A beautiful woman. A witch. An opportunity to have a
child with that beautiful woman who just happened to
be
that
witch." He waggled his eyebrows at me and I immediately realized
just how
young
this guy possibly was.
Is there something
wrong with his face?