Seduced in Shadow (15 page)

His hand stopped sifting through her hair and withdrew, leaving a yawning ache in her chest. “I mean, the
Mal
are up to something. Bonnini seems to be at the center of it but we’re not really sure what’s going on.”

“‘We’ meaning who exactly?”

“Those Etruscans who don’t want to see the
Mal
come into any more power than they already have.” His body moved and she realized he was shaking his head. “I forget you don’t really know what’s going on. There’s so much you don’t know.”

And there lies the problem
, she thought. She didn’t belong in his world. Not yet anyway. And Antonin was an integral part of his. He had a role to play in a war most people didn’t know was raging.

He sighed again. “You’re not going to be able to stay here. We need to find you a safe place and…”

She pulled away to prop herself on one elbow. “And what?”

The quirk of his lips looked almost like a grimace. “And I have more work to do.”

Work?
So now she’d just been a job to him? And he was leaving?

The thought hit her squarely in her heart, threatening to crush it. When the pain was almost too much, she felt like slapping herself. What was wrong with her? She told herself she couldn’t be in love with him. No way! Hell, they’d only met yesterday. She just
couldn’t
be in love with him.

“Ellie, I—”

“I should get a shower,” she interrupted, jumping off the bed as if she’d been hit by an electric cattle prod.

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Seduced in Shadow

“Ellie, wait—” His arms reached for her but she sidestepped him.

“And I should get out of here. I’m sure you’ve got—”

“Ellie, stop.”

She fell silent, forcing herself to meet his gaze. Then she took a deep breath.

“Antonin, really, I understand. I’ve got a lot going on myself at the moment. Work, Dad and…other stuff.” She laughed, though it didn’t sound very humorous. “There’s so much to learn, so much I don’t know.”

“Ellie, come here.”

Still sitting on the bed, he held out his hand.

What was wrong with her that she wanted to take it so badly?

Ellie clenched her hands into fists and turned toward the door. “I really need to take a shower. I’m sure my dad will find me somewhere safe to stay while you go do your work. And I’ve got work of my own to finish. Guess there’re no little work fairies to take care of that, huh?”

Damn, now she sounded pissed off. And she wasn’t. She was just fine.

Oh hell, she wasn’t fine. She was covering, she knew she was.

She snuck a look over her shoulder and found him staring at her with a rueful expression. He dropped his hand to the bed and continued gazing at her. Was that hurt in his eyes? She couldn’t be sure.

She knew she was being bitchy but that was much better than spilling her heart out and having him pat her on the head and walk away.

She was just looking out for herself.

With a halfhearted smile, Ellie turned around and walked out of the room.

Antonin thought about running down the hall after her. Telling her he loved her, telling her she wasn’t going anywhere, that she could stay here and never leave.

But her expression had stopped him. She’d looked so lost.

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Stephanie Julian

Hell, Ellie had been through more in the past twenty-four hours than most people lived through in a lifetime.

If she stayed with him, she’d only be exposed to more threats that she didn’t need in her life. If he truly cared about her, he would let her go and leave her protection to her brother and father.

For the time being anyway. And when he returned…

Yeah, best not to think about that just now. He was about to get very busy. He had commitments to keep. And one
orchi
to track down. A monster who knew what the woman he loved looked like.

* * * * *

Ellie allowed herself to cry in the shower—silently. Holding back the sobs but letting her tears mix with the hot water.

She dressed in the clothes she found on the toilet seat. Her own underwear, t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Obviously someone had been to her house to get them. She refused to think about how or who.

Plaiting her still wet hair, she tied it off with a piece of dental floss, because she had nothing else.

Downstairs, she heard voices from the kitchen. When she went down, she found her father and Sal sitting at the table. No Antonin.

Her father’s remorseful expression told the whole tale. “Antonin summoned us. He told us what happened. He had to go, baby.”

Ellie nodded, forcing her expression into a calm mask when all she wanted to do was run after him and tell him to be safe. And to come back to her. “Did he go back to get the
orchi
?”

“Antonin’s good at what he does, sweetheart,” Sal answered. “He’ll be fine. Now we just have to find a safe place for you.”

Safe.
She snorted. “Yeah, about that… Dad, we need to talk.”

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Seduced in Shadow

* * * * *

It took Antonin an hour to get back to the house in Chester County where Bonnini had taken Ellie.

It was empty.

And not just empty of Bonnini and the
orchi
—but empty of everything.

Not a surprise. Just fucking frustrating.

Back in his car, he let his gaze roam the neighborhood. Only two houses on this street of the development were occupied and one of the residents had already left for work. He’d given Antonin a hard stare as he’d driven away.

Antonin wondered what kind of look the man would have given the
orchi
. He probably wouldn’t have believed his eyes. Most
eteri
couldn’t grasp the fact that there were things in the world they couldn’t explain with logic.

The air shimmered next to him, announcing the arrival of Cam, whom he’d called in to help.

“So you got anything?” his brother asked.

He shook his head. “Not a fucking thing.”

Cam sighed. “I guess it was too much to hope we’d get a lead. Good news about your house though. Bonnini never got close. We don’t think he knew it was there. The wards in place are impenetrable. Bonnini never had a chance in hell of finding the house. Same for Sal’s. Both places are safe.”

Antonin nodded. That was good. It saved him the hassle of trying to sell the building. Still, he didn’t know if he’d be able to sleep well there again. Everything would remind him of Ellie, keeping him up, making him want her—when he had the
Mal
to fight and an
orchi
who knew Ellie’s scent to take out.

“She’ll be fine, bro.” Cam’s voice was low and smooth. “Give her a little time.

Besides, you and I have an
orchi
to hunt down. Haven’t had anything that big to fight for a while. Should be fun.”

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Stephanie Julian

Antonin shot his brother a look. “Only you would think this is going to be fun.”

Cam’s smile turned feral. “Just think of all the mileage you’ll get outta this, Nino.

You’ll be a hero. Ellie won’t be able to resist you. Of course she could if she really wanted to. She’s immune. Ah, there you go. Said the magic word, didn’t I?”

Antonin hit Cam on the shoulder before he realized he was doing it. “You son of a bitch. You knew she was immune all along, didn’t you?”

Cam’s grin made him see red.

“You’re an idiot for not seeing it right from the start,” Cam said. “Hell, even I could see the
bassadone
spell never worked on Ellie, you wuss. She’s the daughter of a god. Of course she’s going to be more resilient than a normal
etera
. It only makes sense. You were just too slow to get it. So let me give you a bit of advice, little brother. Ellie is a rare catch. Even a blind person can see you love her and for some reason she seems to love you too. So after we take care of this situation, you go to her and, if she’ll have you, get yourself blood-bound to her.” Cam winked. “You’re not much of a catch but you might luck out. She could take pity on you.”

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Seduced in Shadow

Ellie ran, not bothering to count her paces. She’d gotten much better at this whole running thing.

Up the hill at Nolde Forest, she ignored the trails, preferring the challenge posed by the rocky terrain. The trees shaded the ground from the late June sun, already warm at six a.m. It was at least ten degrees cooler here than at her small house in Kenhorst, only a couple of miles away.

She’d needed her own space when her mom and her second husband had returned from their trip a few weeks ago. She had too much to hide, too many things she couldn’t explain.

She’d refused to go into hiding like her father had wanted her to. To abandon her life and job just wasn’t an option. But that didn’t mean she was going to be stupid. Her home had a state-of-the-art alarm system and a complex arrangement of protective wards. And she had a constant magical bodyguard. A rotating team protected her daily and she barely ever saw them. There’d been no reason for them to make contact.

Bonnini hadn’t made another attempt on her or any other Etruscan descendant since her kidnapping.

Her dad visited on a regular basis, just to talk or to help with her training. She still marveled over her newfound ability to work spells. As the daughter of an Etruscan god, her blood held
arus
, the magic inherent in all Etruscans. That
arus
allowed her to do incredible things.

So far she’d learned only simple spells. Making candles light without matches and heating a plate of food by waving her hand over it. Just last week, she’d mastered the spell to make inanimate objects dematerialize.

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Stephanie Julian

Making them rematerialize… Well, that was taking a little longer to figure out. But both her dad and Sal said she’d learn. Eventually.

Even her freelance marketing business was beginning to take off, keeping her busy—and helping her keep her mind off Antonin. She hadn’t seen him since she’d walked out of his bedroom more than two months ago.

But she’d missed him so much her chest ached with it. She woke up almost every morning wrapped around a pillow, dreaming it was him. She wanted him to come back to her, wanted to say she was sorry for leaving him as she had.

And she wanted to beg him to stay with her. Forever.

With a final push, Ellie reached the summit, stopping to take a deep breath.

“You are becoming fast.” The doe picked her way around a tree stump to stand by her side. “And not nearly as loud.”

She turned to give her friend a smile. “Thanks. How have you been? I haven’t seen you for a week.”

The doe nodded. “I am fine. And you?”

Ellie’s smile turned rueful. “I’ve been busy. Spell training takes a lot of time but I think I’ve finally mastered the dematerializing spell that has been giving me fits.”

“Have you taken your full powers yet?”

She shook her head. “I’m not ready to make that commitment just yet.”

Frankly, she was worried about what might happen if she did. She’d talked to Justin about what had happened to him and, though he hadn’t advised her not to do it, he’d made a good case for giving herself a little time to fully understand what it would mean to her life.

As the child of a god, she had hidden reserves of magical abilities stored in her genes. They could be unlocked, as Justin’s had last summer.

But he’d nearly died in the process and she wasn’t quite ready to tempt fate that much.

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Seduced in Shadow

“You know,” she said to the doe, “I always felt kind of out of place in my life. As if I didn’t really belong. Now I realize I didn’t.”

But she’d found one place that felt completely like home… With Antonin.

Ellie sighed. “I really wish I knew where Antonin was. I’m worried about him. Dad keeps saying he’s fine but no one will tell me what’s going on and it’s just…frustrating.”

The doe shook her head and Ellie could have sworn she smiled. That was, if a deer could actually smile.

“I am sure you will see him soon. As a matter of fact—”

“Ellie.” A voice sounded behind her.

Her heart stuttered and her lungs gasped for air.
Oh thank you, God.

Spinning around, she flung herself at him, knowing he’d catch her. And he did.

Antonin staggered back a step before planting his feet on the ground. His arms crushed her against his chest and his mouth came down on hers as if he’d been starved for her.

As he lifted her off her feet, her tongue swept past his lips to invade his warm mouth.

God, she’d missed him so much. She wanted to soak him in like sunlight, eat him up like chocolate and generally devour him like a lobster tail smothered in butter.

Her body heated like that butter on a stove, melting all over him.

Antonin returned her kiss with just as much passion, his hands holding her firmly against his body—his extremely aroused body. She could feel his erection throbbing between her thighs. He held her so high off the ground that if they’d been naked, he would only need to lower her a few inches to impale her on his cock.

Just the thought made her moan.
Naked.
Yeah, that sounded good.

123

Stephanie Julian

With her mouth still on his, she couldn’t say the words for the spell. Luckily for both of them, she didn’t need to. All she needed to do was concentrate. In a flash, their clothing disappeared.

Well, almost.

She was still learning the ropes of this magic deal, still trying to remember every nuance. Even for simple spells like this one she forgot things sometimes.

Like shoes and socks.

Ellie huffed and looked at the sneakers on her otherwise naked body. “Shit.”

Holding her tightly against him, Antonin laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. “Oh Gods, Ellie…”

“Sure, go ahead and laugh.” She tugged on his hair, longer now than it’d been the last time she’d seen him. Too damn long ago. “But you’re not exactly ready for any photo shoot in your combat boots.” She huffed as his boots disappeared. “Well, that’s just not fair. What about my sneakers?”