StrategicSurrender

Elizabeth
Lapthorne

Book 8 in the Urban Seductions
series.

Kiera Patrick has one rule and one
rule only—she keeps work and play separate. She doesn’t intend to follow her
playboy wizard partner’s example and let her love life make a mess of her
magical work life.

But when her mentor teams them with
Hayden Foxworth, a wizard who is rumored to be involved with the darker side of
magic, and tasks them with deciding the fate of an evil grimoire, her heart
hurts for the damaged Mage.

When Hayden persuades the others
that the only way forward it to destroy the tainted thing, they bring down the
wrath of the Tribunal, the council of elders who lead wizardkind. Kiera must
deal with the magical fallout of their decision while battling a burning
attraction to Hayden that has them scorching the sheets even as they fight for their
lives.

A Romantica®
paranormal erotic romance
from
Ellora’s Cave

It was times like this when Kiera Patrick wished her minor
secondary talents as a Seer were far stronger. As a Strategist, she spent the
majority of her working life chained to a desk, reading over files from other
Enforcer crews. Mostly she collated data, gauging whether or not their proposal
had a decent chance of success.

Not precisely the glamorous lifestyle others immediately
thought of when she told them she was an Enforcer. As soon as she mentioned that
her magical talents lay as a Strategist, the light of dawning understanding
appeared in her questioner’s eyes followed inevitably by the comment “Oh” and
clear disappointment. Certainly her work was interesting. The Enforcers whom
she helped led adventurous, frequently dangerous lives, and her fellow
Strategists were a mixed bag of eclectic individuals. But analyzing
probabilities, using her magical talent to see the larger picture, deduce the
likelihood of any given plan to work with minimum casualties, and writing
endless reports was not what people considered to be the darkly dangerous work
of an Enforcer.

But there were limited “exciting” possibilities for a
Strategist. At least she wasn’t working for a giant, faceless Corporation
dealing with management strategies—or heaven forbid, PR.

With her photographic memory and magical talent, she could
have found work elsewhere and sometimes wondered why she clung to her childhood
dreams. At times she found herself having to subdue the frustration of having
her hard work and hours of preparing a report utterly ignored. Some of the more
arrogant teams resubmitted rejected proposals with a “new” strategy practically
identical to hers. She hated the knowledge that her work and suggestions hadn’t
even been fully read, let alone considered.

Kiera supposed she should be grateful they even bothered to
follow the rules enough to submit the reports. She knew that no one except her
fellow Strategists considered it
real
work. Most Enforcers didn’t have
time to come in from the field, write out a four- or five-page summary with
attached research and documentation to back up their reasoning and wait a day
or two for her to go through it and make suggestions.

“Real” plans were thought up and carried out far from the
cushy—albeit sparse—furnishings of the Enforcer main Headquarters. No crew
member out on a team would pause mid-assault and say, “Gee, how about we run
this plan past a Strategist? Let’s see what they think.”

Operatives wanted to collaborate with her when deep research
was needed or someone needed a finger on the pulse of the bigger picture. Field
agents rarely bothered to ask her thoughts on life and death, instant decisions.

Feeling restless, agitated, Kiera stood from the chair. With
the thoughts whirling around her head, she started to pace around the edge of
the private meeting room her mentor, Morgan Kingsburg, had requested she meet
him in.

“Come on, Kiera,” she said, trying to pep herself up. “This
isn’t anything new, and Morgan wouldn’t have organized this meeting if he
didn’t have something going on. Let it go, get a grip and get your head back
into the game.”

She tried not to think about how these feelings of dissatisfaction
were becoming more frequent and harder to just shake herself out of. She loved
her job. Truly. Moreover, she was
good
at it.

Analyzing strategies, working even with a degree of
separation on important cases and solving crimes, helping the innocent,
satisfied her. And once in a rare while, she would See something in the near
future, giving her just a little extra spice in her life.

Privately, Kiera liked it when these little exclamation
marks inserted themselves into her routine. Completely out of her control, even
after years of trying to hone the talent, she had eventually accepted it was
not to be. Strategy was where her focusable magic lay. The infrequent visions
from her Sight were merely Fate’s way of occasionally giving her the excitement
and thrill she craved like a drug.

Frowning, Kiera checked her watch for the dozenth time in as
many minutes. She
knew
Morgan’s message had dictated that she meet him
at ten and it was now five past. Her mentor was well past middle age and long
over the need to make younger protégées hang around on a whim. Morgan had been
the one many years ago to take her under his wing.

The Enforcers’ hierarchy and organization itself was akin to
a labyrinth. Even after working within it for almost ten years, Kiera still occasionally
discovered a new division. Never in her wildest dreams would she have considered
assuming she knew even the majority of witches and wizards within the building.

Morgan had not only shown her the ropes and trained her to
intensify her magical talent as a Strategist, he had acted as a buffer in her
first few cases, metaphorically held her hand until she had enough experience
and confidence to work independently. Eventually he’d been the driving force
behind her taking on a partner.

As effectively a desk-bound research officer, Kiera did not,
strictly speaking, need a partner. Morgan—who had more than just a small drop
of Seer in him, himself—had not insisted but instead at first gently and then
more firmly
suggested
the idea. The following day Josh Delamere had
moved to the desk next to hers. Morgan had given her
that look
and the
rest was history.

As if her thoughts had summoned her best friend and coworker,
the door opened and Josh walked in. Kiera had been expecting the six-foot-tall,
dark-skinned frame of her mentor. Although she wasn’t upset to see Josh, she couldn’t
help but feel a moment’s exasperation nevertheless.

“Josh. Did Morgan contact you too? Did you see him in the
corridor? I’ve got that proposition from the Luke crew to go over and I’m
already behind schedule. What the hell is going on?”

Kiera watched as Josh closed the door behind him and
shrugged his shoulders fluidly. His short, light-brown hair was mussed, his
amber eyes sparkled wickedly and while his tie was knotted to precision, the
topmost button of his shirt was still unbuttoned.

“I was…uh…detained. I actually expected Morgan to have
already started. I assumed I’d be greeted with that patented scowl of his.
Damn, but I’m glad I still managed to beat him here. Now he can’t give me the
standard lecture on wasting my talents and how I really need to start—”

“Then you’d better button your shirt correctly, imp,” Kiera
teased him with a smile and a chuckle. The long-running but completely friendly
antagonism between Morgan and Josh amused Kiera more than anything else. Mentor
and student had more than a little in common—Morgan had been considered quite
the fox in his youth before he had fallen head over heels for his wife. That
had been fifteen years ago and lurid tales of his exploits were still the stuff
of legend amongst some of the Strategists around Headquarters.

At her words, Josh froze for a moment then hastily checked
his shirt. His grin was still charming but quite wry as he loosened his tie,
did his button up, then fixed himself. As he adjusted his tie again without
needing the aid of a mirror, Kiera’s grin widened.

Unable to help herself, she shook her head, bemused by her
friend. Tall, brown-haired and well-built with shining amber eyes, Josh was the
epitome of a lady’s wizard, with a new witch on his arm practically every week.
Kiera had long since given up trying to remember all their names and various
connections with Josh and his assorted band of friends.

When they’d initially begun to work together it had taken a
very firm—and genuine—set-down for Josh to understand that she wasn’t playing
hard to get. Kiera had no desire to mix business with pleasure. She didn’t need
her Strategy talent—let alone any of her Seer skills—to know that way only led
to heartache and the swift, frequently permanent demise of a witch’s career.

No. Kiera had zero intention of a fling with a colleague or
partner, and certainly would never attempt something longer term. Since she’d
made her position clear, she and Josh had become close working partners and
good friends. Through the years and many shared experiences they’d forged a
deep, valuable and sincere friendship.

“Who was it this time?” she asked, more to help pass the
time than to stem her curiosity. It wasn’t until she found herself tapping her
fingers together in a nervous gesture that she realized there was also a hint
of uneasiness in her. Kiera frowned, probed her thoughts on this. She had no
reason to believe anything out of the ordinary was going on…but as she looked
within herself she found there was this feeling deep in her gut that she
couldn’t shake. Something wasn’t quite right.

“Belinda, the newbie recruit down in the Sharp Shooters,”
Josh said.
Appreciating the distraction even though Josh couldn’t know she needed it right
now, Kiera thought for a moment. She brought up a hazy mental image of the
pretty young witch. She nodded as Josh continued, “You know, the brunette? Man,
her
ass
is just—”

“Thank you, Mr. Delamere.” Morgan spoke firmly as he entered
the meeting room. There was no anger or heat in his tone, more of an indulgent
exasperation. Josh snapped his mouth shut and shone his trademark charming,
gamine grin at their boss, wholly unrepentant. Expecting this unusual meeting
to begin now, Kiera and Josh moved to take their seats. She froze, however, as
another wizard entered just behind Morgan.

Tall, wiry, dark-eyed and with black, scruffy hair, the
wizard looked quite rough around the edges. Kiera’s mouth dried instantly and
her heart pitter-pattered. It was as if a dozen of her late-night, highly
naughty fantasies of wicked villains, tarnished heroes and adventurous bad boys
had amalgamated together and formed this wizard in front of her.

Her nipples peaked, rasping against the intricate lace of
her bra. Her stomach felt as if it were rolling, curiosity and sexual interest
zapping her like a shot of electricity. The wizard caught her gaze and smiled a
little shyly. When his dark glance met her own brown eyes, the instant snap of
chemistry and attraction arced between them.

Instinctively, she raised a hand to her dark-brown hair. She
ran her palm down the shoulder-length waves, checking that the locks weren’t
frizzed out everywhere and her waves hadn’t managed—as they always seemed to at
the worst possible moment—to spiral out of control and become the corkscrew
curls she carefully straightened every morning.

Without a mirror it was impossible to tell, but she had a
feeling the waves were borderline messy and not the neat ensemble they’d been
that morning when she left her small apartment. When she realized what a
girlish, primping thing she’d become, she flushed, embarrassed. She lowered her
hand immediately. Kiera had never felt such a deep, instant and fierce physical
reaction to another wizard, but that didn’t excuse her becoming some sex-starved
little miss, checking her hair and trying to recall whether she’d paid
attention to her makeup in the mirror that morning.

“It’s a wonder they don’t have a warning flier on you in the
introduction pack,” Morgan continued to Josh. The relaxed and familiar teasing
helped to calm her heart rate, though Kiera still snuck a few subtle glances at
the unknown wizard.

There was no way Morgan would have brought him here if the
man was untrustworthy, but Kiera found her brain filled with questions. Was
this wizard somehow connected to the meeting? Was he a client? Another
Enforcer? Kiera’s heart sank at the thought that she might need to work with
him. This was the first wizard in a long time to get her heart racing—certainly
the first man in memory to make her damp just with a casual look.

All her long-held beliefs about mixing business with
pleasure seemed to silently mock her. Kiera swallowed hard, tried to marshal
her thoughts into order. She had a brain—a damn fine one at that—she needed to
use it and let her rampant body take a backseat. Clearing the small catch in
her throat—since when had physical desire warred so strongly with her
intelligence and calm, rational logic?—Kiera tried to find a discreet way to ask
who the newcomer was, but failed to utter a word before Morgan and Josh
continued their banter.

“They could print out something like an old wanted poster.
With a heading of ‘Beware. This wizard will appear smooth and slick, charming
and a sexy rogue, but many a fair witch has fallen under his power and ended up
broken-hearted’. Though maybe there’s too many words there. I might have to
work on it,” Morgan said.

Kiera chuckled automatically, her mind still busy. Josh
looked as if he was trying to decide whether to pretend outrage or just go
along with it.

“Word of mouth is more than enough,” she added. “A flier
would just further enhance his ego.”

Josh put a hand to his chest and plastered a wounded look on
his face as he glanced from Morgan to Kiera. “I’m not potent enough to warrant
a flier?” he mocked. “I bet there used to be one on
you,
Morgan. Maybe I
ought to—”

“Not today,” Morgan insisted firmly as he compressed his
lips. Kiera’s smile evaporated. Without saying a single word more, her mentor
indicated for them to sit. Kiera, Josh and the other wizard obeyed without
another sound.

Kiera watched as Morgan ran a hand through his mostly white
hair, the darkness of his hand in stark contrast to the snowy strands. What
little amusement Morgan had indulged in the moment previously seemed to have
disappeared as if it had never been. Kiera exchanged a quick look with Josh,
who shrugged and shook his head.

So. They were both in the dark here.

Even more curious now, Kiera shifted slightly on her seat as
the silence grew. After a moment, she spoke softly.

“What is it, Morgan?” she said. “What’s happened that’s
upset you so much? Have you Seen something?”