Soul Sucker (27 page)

She managed to look into his eyes. They glowed like blue sapphires. He looked all Fae, his power flowing over her, pushing at the Siren’s hold. Punching holes in her certainties, reminding her why she wanted to live and love and...

She turned the gun toward the Siren. “I want to kill you so badly right now.”

Vadim cleared this throat. “So do I, but don’t you think we should bring him to justice?”

“Why?” She stepped back until she was against Vadim’s chest. “You promised me vengeance, remember?”

He kissed the top of her head. “After the trial we can turn him over to the Otherworld prison system. Trust me, they’ll make him suffer for the rest of his life.”

“Never!”

The Siren leapt toward Ella, his hands raised to her throat, his power arching inside her like an electrical storm. Even as she fired her gun, Vadim was quicker. Magic roared through him and the Siren was lifted in the air and slammed against the opposite wall. He landed in a tangle of limbs; his neck broken, his gray eyes wide open and tinged with shock. Blood dripped from his shoulder where Ella’s bullet had lodged.

Vadim drew Ella close. “If I act now, I can bring him back to life in a different form and we can kill him again.”

She shuddered. “No, once was quite enough, thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

She punched him in the chest. “Stop showing off.”

He bent to kiss her mouth, kissed her again until she stopped shivering and returned the kiss. After a long while, she drew away from him.

“We should call this in.”

“We should.” He headed for the door, still holding her hand. “Why the hell did you let him take you into his office like that?”

“Because I didn’t realize who he was at that point.” She glared at him. “He seemed so
nice
. I understand exactly how he got all those empaths to trust him now. As some weird kind of empath himself he understood and sounded as if he genuinely wanted what was best for them.” She put her gun away. “Dammit, the man almost had me convinced.”

Vadim took his cell phone out of his pocket. “What stopped you?”

She made a face. “You did.”

His smile was slow in coming but incredibly self-satisfied. “I knew it.”

“He wasn’t expecting us to be fully mated. He couldn’t gain total control of my mind because I’d already found someone to take on my psychic burden.” Ella looked around the main office. “No wonder he knew who to pick next. He knew everything about us.”

“I’m sure there’ll be a full investigation as to how he ended up working in here.” Vadim pressed a few keys. “I wonder why he waited until the empaths chose a mate?”

“Either because he knew they wouldn’t be going mad by themselves or because he wanted them to feel saved and relaxed when he came to call.” Ella grimaced. “It depends whether you believe he genuinely wanted the best for empaths, or simply hated us and wanted more power.”

“As I said, that will all come out in the investigation. Personally I think he was in it for the power and control. But I might be biased because he just tried to make you shoot me.” He propelled her toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before anything else happens.”

“But won’t they want to...” Ella stopped talking as she noticed the small gathering out by the main road.

“Oh hell,” muttered Vadim.

He took her hand and walked into the center of the crowd. Sitting in the midst of a group of Fae was the most beautiful woman Ella had ever seen.

“Has she got anything to do with your reluctance to return to Otherworld?” Ella whispered.

“Yes.”

“Are you engaged to her?”

“It’s much worse than that.”

“She’s your wife?”

Vadim’s laugh was short. “No, she’s my grandmother.”

“No way. She doesn’t look old enough.”

“That’s because she’s Fae.”

“Morosov, she’s wearing a crown.” Ella smiled at the woman who had dark hair and blue eyes just like Vadim. She didn’t smile back. “Are we going to say hello?”

“Unless we want to die a slow and painful death, I suppose we have to.” Vadim kept hold of Ella’s hand and inclined his head a regal inch.

“Grandmother, may I introduce Miss Ella Walsh?”

“I know who she is, Cygnet.”

“Then you’ll know we are mated.”

The Fae waved an impatient bejeweled hand. “Naturally. I am the one who arranged it.”

Ella opened her mouth, but Vadim squeezed her fingers even more tightly in a clear signal for her to shut up.

“I wondered if that had anything to do with you.” He bowed. “As you can see, you might have forced my temporary return to Otherworld, but not my compliance.”

“You wish to stay bonded to this
human
? If you hadn’t interfered that maniac would have killed her for you.”

“I will never willingly give her up.” Vadim smiled. “You have done me a great favor, Grandmother. I can now live legally in the human realm with my mate.” He bowed again. “We have to get back to work now. It was a pleasure seeing you again. Take care.”

Ella gulped as a roaring sound filled her ears and she found herself outside the SBLE building on Market still holding Vadim’s hand.

“You don’t need to use the portals?”

“Obviously not.” Vadim dusted down his suit and headed toward the main lobby. “Are you coming? We need to get a special unit down to the Merton office immediately.”

“Wait a minute. Did you just tell your grandmother that you mated with me so that you could live permanently on the human side?”

“It is one of the advantages a bonded male gets for mating with an empath.”

“So I’m like your fricking psychic green card?” Ella scowled at him. “You’re way more than fifty percent Fae, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “It depends on which version of my ancestry you believe.”

“Bullshit! She tied you to me so that you’d come running back to Otherworld begging her to release you from our bond.”

“I’m quite sure that was her original idea. But, as I said, she miscalculated.”

Ella simply stared at him and wondered whether he could see the steam coming out of her ears. He was the most infuriating man she’d ever met.

“Why did your grandmother call you signet?”

“It’s just a pet name.”

She stamped her foot. “Dammit, Morosov, you aren’t going to tell me anything, are you?”

He swung around and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, yanking her hard against him. “I’ll tell you this. We’re mated. I’m staying and you’re just going to have to suck it up and deal with it, soul sucker.” He kissed her and then stepped away. “Got that, Ms. Walsh?”

He had already walked into the lobby and headed for the elevators before she deigned to follow him.

“Signet,” she murmured. “Just a pet name. Pah.”

A lone black feather floated toward her and she started to smile. “Silly me. Not
signet
. Cygnet. Baby swan.”

A delightful vision of the future unrolled in front of her. How many references to Hans Christian Andersen, ballet and Natalie Portman’s fingernails would she be able to get into their conversations before Vadim finally lost it?

There would be a ton of paperwork to fill out, but for once she was happy to do it. Laney and the rest of the empaths had been avenged. She found herself smiling at the thought of taking Vadim to see her mother over the weekend and maybe suggesting their future offspring might be able to fly... There was no point in letting Morosov think he had the upper hand quite yet. He might have declared his intentions, but she certainly hadn’t declared hers.

She waved at Peach and waited for the elevator to return. She’d gotten over her fear of them. Life had suddenly become so much more
fun
.

* * * * *

About the Author

Award-winning and bestselling author Kate Pearce was born into a large family of girls in England, and spent much of her childhood living very happily in a dream world. A move to the U.S.A. finally allowed her to fulfill her dreams and write her first novel. Kate is also published by Signet Eclipse, Kensington Aphrodisia, Ellora’s Cave, Cleis Press and Virgin Black Lace.

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ISBN: 978-14268-9534-0

Copyright © 2013 by Kate Pearce

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