Seduced in Shadow (10 page)

* * * * *

They took a lazy shower, got dressed and had a quiet meal. Antonin was just starting to get worried when Selvans and Sal returned around six that evening. They hadn’t found Bonnini but were still convinced the
Mal
were searching the area.

The look Selvans gave Antonin told him Ellie’s father knew exactly what they’d done while he was gone. And that if Antonin hurt his baby girl, Selvans would hurt him.

Antonin would have fallen to his knees and asked Ellie to be blood-bound to him forever if he thought it wouldn’t freak her out. The ancient ritual involved an exchange of blood during sex, a magical tie that bound their souls together through every life they might live, enabling them to find and recognize each other.

But he didn’t think she was ready for that. So he kept his mouth shut and bowed before the God of the Forest, who lifted one sardonic eyebrow at him before turning to his daughter.

The smile Selvans gave Ellie was adoring as he held out a leather overnight bag.

“Stopped by your place for clothes, sweetheart. Enough for a week at least. Hopefully it won’t be that long but I don’t know.”

Ellie slid Antonin a quick hot glance over her shoulder. “Are we going to stay here?”

Selvans shook his head. “No, you two are going to the Hidden Hills sanctuary in Chester County. It’s a former
Fata
enclave. Most have moved away so it hasn’t really been inhabited for a couple of years. But there’s a cabin. You’ll be safe there until this is over.”

“And how long will that be, Daddy? I have several projects I’m working on. I can’t let them down.”

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Selvans bent down to kiss the top of her forehead as if she were still a child. “I know, baby. That’s why I put your laptop and your cell phone in there. Be careful about using them though. Bonnini may be able to track them. Now go get changed. You need to get moving.”

As soon as Ellie left the room, Selvans turned to him. Antonin straightened, bracing himself for…whatever the god decided to dish out. He’d never felt this way about a woman before and he was ready to fight for her. Even if she was the daughter of a god, she was still the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

So he’d better make this a good one. Bowing his head, he started, “Lord of the Green Leaves—”

“Oh hell, kid. Can it.” Selvans cut him off with a wave of his hand. “You don’t think I can see how you feel about her? I’m not stupid or blind.” The god shook his head.

“But I don’t want you to rush her on this. It’s going to take awhile for her to come to grips with everything.”

Antonin blinked. Had Selvans really just given his blessing to their relationship?

Gods, he hoped so. “Yes sir. I realize that.” And he did. Logically. But his heart was telling him to hurry the hell up and make her his.

“Yeah well, make sure you don’t—”

“Make sure you don’t what, Daddy?”

Ellie was back. She’d slipped into a pair of knee-length jeans, her running sneakers—and his dark blue t-shirt. He really liked her in his shirt.

“Make sure nothing happens to my baby,” Selvans finished with a rueful smile. “Or there’ll be hell to pay.”

“All right, you two.” Sal walked into the center of the room. The little goatman had been uncharacteristically quiet until now. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Grabbing Ellie’s fingers in one hand and the overnight bag in the other, Antonin pulled her along with him. “This is gonna feel weird but it’ll be over in seconds.” He 76

Seduced in Shadow

stared down into her eyes. “We’ll go together so I’ll be right there with you the whole time. Just hold on to me.”

Ellie had a brief bout of panic as Antonin explained how she was about to be moved from here to somewhere else by magic. Through that same rip in the fabric of reality Justin and Scarlata had arrived in.

Okay, she could handle all of this. Her father was an Etruscan god and her brother was in love with a
folletta
who had beautiful pink wings. A
salbinelli
straight from the fairy tales her father used to tell her was about to make her disappear and reappear somewhere else and she was falling hard and fast for a guy who… Well, out of everything she’d learned today, pointy ears really weren’t that big a deal.

Ellie turned to her father. “Will I see you again?”

“Yes, I promise.” Selvans bent, kissed her forehead and hugged her close. Then he said to Antonin, “You better be as good as everyone says you are, son.”

For one brief second, Ellie was certain she blushed fire-engine red, because he
was
good, so very good.

“If you screw up and my daughter gets hurt, you will feel the wrath of the gods.

Any questions she has, you answer. And come clean. Immediately. You should be safe at the Hidden Hills but don’t let your guard down for a second.”

“I’ll protect her with my life.” Antonin’s hand tightened on hers.

Warmth spread through her. He’d just said he’d die for her… This guy was too good to be true.

Then something else registered. What had her father said? Antonin should come clean? What the hell did that mean?

Her dad turned to her again. “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.”

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Sal reached out with his hand and Ellie felt as if she were being drawn through the eye of a needle backward by her spine. There was no pain, just the weirdest sense of being folded in on herself.

She didn’t have time to consider what was actually happening because by the time she thought about it, it was over.

And she and Antonin were standing…
here
.

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Ellie turned her head to look around and…
Whoa, head rush.
She tilted, almost falling over the overnight bag that had somehow ended up at her feet, but Antonin was right there to grab her in his arms and carry her to the couch only steps away.

“Come on, Ellie. Sit down. The first time can be a problem—”

“What did Dad mean?” She looked straight into his eyes as he stood over her.

“Come clean? About what?”

Antonin froze for a few brief seconds before letting her settle onto the couch. Then he straightened and stood in front of her. “There’s still a lot you don’t know…about everything.”

Okay, that didn’t sound good. “Like what?”

His expression went completely blank. “I don’t think we should do this right now.

You’ve had a lot of stuff thrown at you in a short amount of time. I don’t want to confuse the issues any more than we need to. Not yet anyway.”

Now why did that sound like a lame excuse for not wanting to answer her question?

She let him hang for several long seconds, waiting to see what he’d reveal. His expression remained blank.

And suddenly everything she’d learned today came rushing back at her with a vengeance. Just minutes before, she felt she could cope with all this new information.

But now… Her father was alive and a god. She was more than a little afraid what that meant for her life. She hadn’t dreamed up Sal. Her brother was in love with a winged woman. And now, according to Antonin, all that was just the tip of the iceberg. What more could there be? Her brain was way too overloaded as it was. She had so much to 79

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think about she swore the buzzing in her ears was her brain trying to process everything.

She couldn’t think about another thing.

Ellie stood. “You’re right. Is there a bedroom in this place? Somewhere I can get some sleep? I just…need to be alone for a little while.”

Antonin stared at Ellie’s pale complexion. It was obvious she’d reached the end of her rope and he’d helped put her there, selfish bastard that he was.

He pointed to the stairs at the rear of the room. “The bedroom’s in the loft.

Bathroom’s probably up there too. I’ll just stay down here…”

She turned and headed for the stairs, her back straight, her long hair swinging like a heavy curtain to her waist. She took the stairs two at a time, her slim legs pumping, and disappeared into the loft.

“Well, shit.” Antonin wanted to hit something, preferably something that could hit him back. Gods be damned, he’d screwed that up every fucking way he could. “I am such a fucking jerk.”

“Yeah, that about sums it up, you jackass.”

Antonin turned to face the man who’d materialized in the room behind him. “Cam.

What the hell are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too, bro.”

His oldest brother Camillus sat on the couch, smirking. Anyone looking at them would have to search hard for family similarities. They looked nothing alike.

Antonin took after their father, lean and tall, his features sharp and pointed. Cam’s body was stockier than any of his three brothers. The guy would never be fat but he was built like a freakin’ linebacker—all bulging muscle and broad shoulders. His dark hair curled around a face women thought was handsome. Cam had always been a chick magnet, potent without the damn
bassadone
spell Antonin was cursed with.

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Antonin loved his brother, all of his brothers, and would give his life for any of them. But right now, that smug look on Cam’s face was exactly what he needed to get rid of some frustration.

He stalked over and took a swing. But Cam had been his big brother for more than a hundred years and he was damn intuitive.

Cam dodged without using a relocation spell and clipped Antonin on the chin.

“Aw, come on, Nino. I know you missed me but this display of affection is just embarrassing.”

The implied “wussy” at the end of that statement made Antonin aim his next blow at his brother’s rock-hard stomach. Cam didn’t even flinch, though Antonin landed that punch.

His older brother nudged him away like a fly now that the preliminaries were over and Antonin let him.

“What are you doing here, Cam? Hell, I didn’t even know we were coming here until a few minutes ago. How’d you find us?”

“Sal let me know what was going on. Said you had a situation you might need a hand with.” Cam smiled and Antonin’s jealous anger kicked up again. His brother just laughed. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Chill, Nino. I’m not here to poach. Mom and Dad are worried about you. I said I’d check in and report back.” Cam’s gaze flashed to the loft.

“By the way, thanks for making me pick up the Audi at Nolde. Took me awhile to find it. Wanna tell me what’s going on with our charge?”

Big brother to the rescue…again.
Gods be damned, Antonin wanted to strangle Cam then beg him for advice. “I’ve fallen for her, Cam. I know it’s not professional but she’s great. She’s beautiful. She’s smart and sexy and I want to be with her. She wants me too and I’m pretty sure it’s not because of the fucking
bassadone
spell. But how can I tell for sure? Will I ever be able to tell?”

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Cam rolled his eyes. “Come on, Nino. You’ve lived with the damn spell all these years. You’re not a complete idiot, right? Why do you think she might only be interested in you because of the
bassadone
spell?”

Because he wasn’t movie star handsome and charming like their youngest brother Rio and he wasn’t intense like Cam. He’d never had to be any of those things to get a girl because of the
bassadone
. “Because it always has been.”

Cam snorted. “Fuck that. Get your head outta your ass and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You use that damn spell as a shield, you always have.”

Antonin frowned at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You use it so you don’t have to commit. You can always whine and bitch that the women never really want you for you and then you can leave them.”

“Fuck you, Cam. That’s bull.”

Cam slashed a hand out in front of him, throwing just a tiny bit of the power he controlled straight at Antonin, who staggered back two steps. “Don’t even give me that poor-little-me routine. I’ve seen you at work, bro. You’ve gotten really good at love ’em and leave ’em.”

Bullshit.
Most of his relationships had ended because the
bassadone
spell eventually wore off and by then the women were tired of him. Cam was just trying to get a rise out of him. And he wasn’t biting. “What the hell do you want anyway?”

Cam shrugged. Nothing ever fazed his big brother. “Told you. Just checking in.

And since I’ve done that, I’ll let you get back to your miserable life. I’ll let the ’rents know you’re okay. If you need me, just give a holler. Later.”

* * * * *

Ellie listened to the men talk from her seat on the stairs to the loft. The height of the ceiling magnified their voices, making it easy for her to hear every word.

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She’d been on her way back downstairs to confront Antonin again. She didn’t want to be a coward. She wanted to know everything and she wanted to know it all right now. Especially whatever it was he was hiding from her.

Then Antonin had spoken to a man she assumed was his brother and taken away all her angry heat.

He wanted to keep her.

A tiny corner of her heart melted—which made her want him again.

But first she had to know what this
bassadone
spell was they were talking about.

Was it a spell he had put on her? A spell to make her want him? Was there a way to tell whether he’d woven a spell over her? Would she want to know if he had? Was this what her father had told him to come clean about?

Too many questions. Questions she wanted answers to.

Ellie heard Antonin downstairs, pacing, prowling. Almost like a caged animal.

Shifting closer to the banister, she looked down to see him stop and stare out the large window at the front of the house. With his arms stretched above him and his hands flat on the glass, he looked trapped, as if there was no way out.

She followed his gaze out the window. All she could see was dark forest. Her dad had said they were going to Chester County, which bordered Berks. But she really didn’t know anything other than that.