Desire Awakened (Aaron's Kiss #13) (24 page)

“No. No, that’s not right.” Megan pulled on
the bands on her arms and tried to get at her. “You’re a fucking
liar. All of you are. I own that building and I can’t be tried
here. This is not right. I’m better than all of you.”

“Really? And how is that possible?” Lizzy
watched the rage slide over Megan like a warm blanket and egged her
on more. “You think you have some special power that makes you
better than us? I don’t believe you. You were a brat as a child,
and you’re a horrible being now. Nothing you could say or do now
will change any of that.”

“Sherman didn’t think so.” The room grew
eerily quiet, but Megan was beyond listening. “He loved me and told
me so. He said that if he’d ever had a child, he wished she could
be just like me. He gave me things, gifts that my mother made me
return. But I hid the best away and you’ll never get it from
me.”

Her laughter was maniacal and loud. As Logan
stood up, Lizzy looked at him, sorry for the insanity of the woman
who held the one thing he was looking for. But he pointed at her
finger and then nodded to her. She lifted the ring he’d given her
to show him and he smiled and nodded. Then she looked at Megan.

It took her several seconds to realize what
he was saying, and she moved toward Megan smiling. Christ, she had
it on her the whole time. And Genese had known it. Before she was
close enough to touch, Tess stepped in front of her.

“I can’t let you near her, Lizzy. She could
harm you and I can’t allow that.”

Lizzy nodded and looked at Tess with a
smile.

“I really hate that look,” Tess said.

“She has something that belongs to Phillip.
Could you—” Lizzy felt Logan step up beside her and wrap his arm
around her waist. “He could get it, couldn’t he? It’s the charm
around her ankle.”

Tess looked at Megan then back at Logan.
“You’ll do just what I tell you and nothing more?”

He nodded.

Within seconds, Megan was being held down
and her screams were tearing through the room. When Tess nodded at
Logan, he reached forward and started to grab the charm from her
ankle when Phillip was suddenly beside him.

“Don’t touch it.”

They both looked at her grandfather.

“It’s spelled to kill any who touch it while
it’s on her body.”

Tess laughed. “Touch it, you say? Well, we
can handle that. Men, hold this bitch down. I’ve something of a
project to take care of.” Her blade glistened in the light and as
it came down, Lizzy turned her head into Logan’s chest and he held
her. The scream that accompanied the clash of metal against metal
nearly made her sick. When Logan laughed, she looked up at him.

~~~

Logan walked to Phillip and bowed before
him. He’d gone to the Fates first to give them the small charm, but
after they’d inspected it and claimed it to be the right book, they
gave it to him to do as he pleased. Since he wasn’t sure what to do
with it, giving it to Phillip seemed to be the best bet. As soon as
it was in his hand, the chain fell away and the book lay before
them on the table.

“She had it the entire time?”

Logan had no answer to Phillip’s question so
he didn’t say anything.

“Sherman had asked me about it many decades
ago and, like a fool, I told him what it was.”

“Not a fool, sir, but a man who trusts
easily. I’ve been accused of that myself a very long time ago. I
closed up my heart, never to share it again because of that one
comment.” Logan pulled Lizzy to him. “But now I have reason to love
and trust again.”

They looked at the woman still screaming on
the floor. Tess was still laughing, and he had to grin himself.
When she’d brought the blade down, everyone, including himself, had
thought she was going to take her head off, or the very least
Megan’s leg. When the blade hit the metal of the chain, it broke
and fell away without much in the way of fanfare. For a few seconds
anyway. The magic that came from the chain flared high in the room
before it came to rest on the tip of Tess’s blade. She looked at
him and nodded.

The power that surged through him nearly
knocked him on his ass, and when he reached for Lizzy, he felt it
run from him to her like a long line of electrical conduit. The two
of them fell to the floor, their breath knocked from them.

“How are you feeling now?” Tess had come up
behind them as she put her sword away. “You should get yourself
something to drink. Juice is good, but a little blood may not be
remiss.”

She winked at them as she walked away. She
followed her men out of the room and to the courtyard where Megan
was going to be hanged. With her possession of the book of spells
and her crimes against Logan, her sentencing was quickly over.

Logan looked at Mel. “Will you be all
right?”

Mel nodded and smiled sadly.

“She won’t be bothering you again, Mel. You
had to keep the kingdom safe.”

“I thought the same thing of Sherman once he
was gone, but he seems to keep coming back all the time. Do you
think there will ever be a time when he’s not coming back to bite
me in the ass?”

Logan looked at Shamus when he sat beside
Mel. “I don’t know that much about him other than he was a prick
and an asshole. I’d say that you have the best now, a king who
loves you, parents that support you, and a family that would do
anything for you. It could be a great deal worse.”

“Really? And how is that, Logan? I’m nearly
as old as the world, I work all the time, and I have no life to
call my own. Not that I don’t love what I do and the people who
come to me for advice, but a break once in a while might be
fun.”

He knew she was kidding and laughed with
her. She quirked her brow when he didn’t answer right away. Then he
glanced at Aaron. “You could have him as your father-in-law.” He
pulled Lizzy to him as Aaron came toward him. “And be mated to the
man’s only daughter.”

Mel laughed, and Aaron glared. The two of
them had been bickering for nearly the entire time he’d known them.
But he also had noticed that while they seemed to not be able to
stand one another, he knew that either of them would die for the
other. There was a great deal of love and respect there.

Lizzy hugged them all as she told them
goodbye. They had to get their house in order, and he had to get to
work. The first meeting of the group of men he now could call
partners was tonight after sunset, and he was looking forward to
it. And since Aaron had volunteered his home, he and Lizzy had to
get to it.

They walked along the walkway to their front
door and stopped when they saw Bradley on the front porch sitting
in a swing they didn’t own. Airic was with him. They both stood up
when they joined them.

“We heard the meeting was here and came to
see if we could help you.” Airic nodded toward the truck in the
drive. “We brought some food too.”

Logan grinned. “You know that we haven’t
opened anything. The television isn’t even hung on the wall
yet.”

“Yeah, we got that.” Bradley nodded behind
them and smiled. “I brought some more help too.”

Turning, he saw about a dozen men. Some of
them had tool bags, others had just hammers. All of them looked
ready to work. Logan turned back to Bradley. “You don’t have to do
this. We’ll get it. Eventually, but we’ll get it.”

Bradley nodded. “I know that, but this is
payback for something.” He looked at Lizzy and winked. “Your mate
did me a favor and I owe her. This is my way of thanking you
both.”

Logan and Lizzy were putting the lamps
together at the now cleared off kitchen table when he asked her
what she’d done. She flushed, and he thought this was going to be
good.

“His daughter was parking.”

Logan took a few seconds to realize what she
was saying.

“And when I caught them together, I…well, I
made them see the errors of their ways.”

Logan laughed. “And just how did you do
that? Don’t tell me that you made the boy go limp in front of his
girl? Oh, Lizzy, he’ll never live that down.”

“No, I made them see…” She cleared her
throat. “They both know what it feels like to have a baby.
All
the pain of having a child.”

“You didn’t.”

She nodded.

“How much did you make them hurt? I’m
betting if Bradley is this happy, you did a great job.”

“I made an impression. I think the boy was
more afraid than she was. Men don’t like to think about a baby
coming out of them right there.”

Logan laughed. He was in tears by the time
Bradley walked in to see what was so funny. By the time the lamps
were finished, the two of them were still laughing so hard he
thought he would be sore for a month. Finally, regaining some
control, Logan looked at his new friend when he asked him about the
trial.

“It went well. I think something happened
afterwards, though. I sort of got this rush of magic or something
when I picked up the book of spells I was looking for. Lizzy got it
too.”

“You did. Both of you did. Do you know what
it smells like to me?”

Logan shivered, not liking the smile on
Bradley’s face.

“You might be glad you’re sitting down.”

Logan closed his eyes. This was not going to
be good. Not good at all. He opened his eyes again and shook his
head. Nope, he decided, he really didn’t want to know. When Bradley
got up and walked away, Logan sat there for several minutes before
he stood up to find out.

“Fuck.” He ran down the hall toward the
kitchen. “Hey, Bradley. Wait up.”

Kathi Barton, author of the bestselling
series Force of Nature, lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband
Paul. In addition to writing full time Kathi likes to spend time
with her eight grandkids, three children and three
children-in-laws. She writes to relax and have fun.

Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and
Hugh Jackman brings them to life for her readers in a way that has
them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is
paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi
on line and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from
her fans.
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