Sebastian Drake was the stuff of fantasies. Six-feet-four, shoulders easily twice the width of an average male, tapering down to a waist that was pure lean muscle. The red plaid kilt he wore stopped just shy of showing his tree-trunk thighs, but one could guess by the way he was posed—one foot propped against a stone bench, both meaty arms crossed over his leg—that they were as impressive as the rest of him. The outline through the material of his man-skirt showed as much.
Aurora did her best not to stare as GiGi beamed up at him from her seat on the bench beside him. It was all she could do to remind herself that she wasn’t in the market for a burly bedmate. But she did allow herself one last peek at his shapely ass.
“My brother is a conceited prat. Please do wipe the drool from your chin and avert your eyes. If we add to his ego at this point, his head won’t fit through the doorway.”
Aurora sent a laughing glance at Arabella Drake. “That bad?”
“The worst. I’m afraid your flirty friend is going to make him insufferable.”
“She does enjoy the attentions of a gorgeous male.”
“Then they are a match made in heaven.” Arabella shook her head and turned away. “Would you care for tea?”
“Very much.”
“You’re English, but I detect a hint of another accent.”
“I’ve resided in America for many, many years. I’m sure I’ve picked up American speech patterns.”
Her companion nodded as if “America” said it all. “Why are you here?”
“My brother, Jace. It seems he’s run afoul of your brother, and I’d like to extract him from the mess he’s made.”
“Brothers are a bore.”
As her hostess poured tea for the two of them, Aurora took the time to study her. Features too strong for a typical beauty, Arabella was striking. Her manners lovely. Yet, an underlying core of steel resided beneath her soft exterior. That much was obvious. Odds were, Arabella Drake was nobody’s fool.
“Does your friend hope to seduce my brother into giving her what she wants?”
“Is it that obvious?”
She laughed and handed Aurora a porcelain cup. “Thank you for not lying.”
“Honesty is the best policy, don’t you think?”
“I do.”
Aurora sipped her tea as she watched the scene before them play out. Sebastian fondled a perfectly curled lock of GiGi’s gleaming hair. The sardonic amusement on his rugged features said he was just as sharp as his sister. Dear GiGi would need to up her game if she planned to get information out of him.
Turning her attention back to their hostess, Aurora met her knowing green eyes.
“What is it you wish to ascertain, Mrs. Thorne?”
“What can I do to save Jace? Whatever he’s done to slight your family, I’ll rectify if I can.”
“He stole Sebastian’s woman. Can you rectify a broken heart?”
Aurora wanted to slam her head on the table—multiple times. “How did my brother manage that?” She cut a glance Sebastian’s way. Jace was an attractive man, but Sebastian Drake made him pale in comparison.
“It doesn’t matter. She was a slapper. A truly horrible slut of a woman, who set out to lure my brother to the dark side.”
“Slapper? That’s a new one to me. You make her sound like a villain from an episode of Star Wars.”
Arabella’s head whipped around. “My understanding is that you were in stasis for a good twenty years. How do you know about pop culture references?”
Giving the younger woman an arch look, Aurora said, “The original Star Wars movie was released back in the nineteen-seventies, dear. I’d have had to be dead not to hear about it.”
A genuine, hearty laugh erupted from Arabella, drawing the notice of GiGi and Sebastian. She quickly waved away their attention and turned to Aurora. “I like you, Mrs. Thorne. So, I’ll tell you what I know.”
“Sebastian is ambitious. He wants to rule the Witches’ Council because he feels the way they currently run things is archaic at best.”
“From what I gather, he’s not wrong.”
“Right. He wasn’t as attached to Claudia as he’d like Jace to believe, but he’s threatened him with death and dismemberment if your brother doesn’t help him achieve his goal.”
“But what can Jace do?”
“Provide intel on Alastair Thorne so that Sebastian can leverage him to do his bidding. Failing that, capture Alastair and turn him in to the Council. They’ve been after him for a long time, as I understand it.”
“I see.” And she had the feeling she did. Jace had tried to make it appear as if he had trapped her and Alastair at the castle in order to save his own ass. Knowing Alastair would kill him without a qualm, Jace had locked them in the tower room, with the assumption that she would remember about the hidden passage. Jace could then claim he was trying to do as Sebastian asked. “It appears GiGi and I have played into your brother’s hands by coming here.”
“It appears so.”
“Does Sebastian truly believe he can defeat a group as powerful as the Thornes on his own?”
“It was rumored Alastair was at odds with his family.”
“The rumors are wrong.”
“Well, things just became more interesting.”
Aurora chuckled and sipped her tea. “You could say that.”
“You don’t appear concerned. Why is that?”
She cast the young woman an enigmatic smile. “Would you be concerned if Alastair Thorne would move heaven and earth to find you?”
“Only if I was on the wrong side of his affections,” she muttered. “My brother is in a fix, isn’t he?”
“Only if he’s on the wrong side of Alastair’s affections.”
Arabella laughed again. “Sebastian deserves whatever his machinations wrought.”
“All men do.”
“Well, now we know Drake’s real game,” Ryker stated in disgust. His intense regard scarcely moved from his wife’s animated face. His restraint was admirable. Alastair doubted he could be as controlled had Aurora been flirting with that damned Lothario.
“Now we know,” he agreed.
He smiled wryly at the memories of Aurora’s words. Would you be concerned if Alastair Thorne would move heaven and earth to find you? She knew him well.
“The question is, what do you intend to do about this upstart?”
“Give him a bigger fish to fry.”
“Who’s bigger than you?” Ryker scoffed.
“Victor Salinger.”
It turned out that Victor Salinger wasn’t going to be as effortlessly set up as Alastair had initially believed. Victor seemed to be lying low and wasn’t easily drawn out since their last confrontation a few months before. The trouble was Alastair had nothing with which to trade. Other than his life, not a thing would tempt his old enemy to come out of hiding.
“Maybe I should up the stakes. Put my life on the line to entice Victor to take the bait,” he mused aloud as he stared into the crackling fire. He and Ryker were firmly ensconced in a pair of club chairs in the library of Rēafere’s Fortress, going over options to appease Drake, get Jace out of his current pickle, and somehow make everything right with the women in their lives, who were currently sipping tea in the parlor.
Ryker shot upright from his lounging position, dropping his feet from the ottoman to the floor. “No! No way, no how. How many times do we have to go over this? How many times do you have to step into the crosshairs of that deranged sociopath? This is Jace’s fuck up. Let him clean up his own mess.”
“He’s Rorie’s last living relative, with the exception of her children. I have to do this.”
“No, you don’t. You shouldn’t sacrifice yourself on the altar of his career choices.” Ryker slammed his tumbler down on the side table between their chairs. “Think, Al. If you do this, you could cost your family everything.”
That caught his attention, and he gave his friend a questioning look. “How do you figure?”
“With you gone, the rest of the Thornes are vulnerable. Those girls only have an inkling of the heartache and destruction the Désorcelers can provide. Don’t do this to them. Don’t do it to GiGi or Rorie either.”
“Look at you, making such an impassioned speech. It’s like you care more than you let on.”
“Stuff it, Al. You know I’m speaking the truth. Without you to stop him, Victor can create havoc the likes from which this family will never recover.” He picked up his glass and swallowed the last of the contents before he plopped it back on the surface of the table. Standing up, Ryker glared down at Alastair. “Don’t be a fool for love. Rorie’s a big girl. She knows what’s at stake, and she knows her brother made his own bed.”
“You forget, Preston can protect the family if need be. Besides, I made a promise to her when she was in stasis. I intend to keep that promise.”
“A promise she didn’t extract from you,” Ryker retorted angrily. “You’re my best friend. The last true friend I have. Don’t make me grow old alone with just my regrets.”
“If you patched things up with GiGi, you’ll have more than regrets.”
“That’s on her, Al. Not me. I’ve tried my damnedest to get her to listen.”
“Have you? A magical means exists to show her the truth of the past.”
Alastair smiled as Ryker shook his head.
“Don’t change the subject,” his friend said as he cuffed him on the shoulder. “This is about you, Al. Your life is worth ten of Jace Fennell’s.”
The door opened on his last words. A pale-faced Aurora stood tight-lipped and angry.
Alastair heaved an internal sigh. There was no telling which direction her thoughts and emotions would veer. Either she’d read him the riot act for not helping Jace, or she’d be pissed he intended to come up with a plan to crucify Victor. It remained to be seen which plan of action would irritate her more.
“Listening at the keyhole, my love,” Alastair teased.
She neither confirmed nor denied his guess, but she did charge forward and flick his ear. Hard.
“For the love of the Goddess,” he grumbled, rubbing the abused part of his person. “What was that for?”
“You will not offer yourself to Victor Salinger to help my brother. Ryker is right. It’s a foolish thing to do.”
“So not the keyhole. A scrying mirror. And unless I miss my guess, my sister helped.” He grimaced his distaste for all the secrecy and antics flying about.
“Are you going to deny it?” she demanded.
With her hands on her hips and the reflection of the flame in her eyes, she looked like a virtual goddess herself.
“Ryker, would you excuse us?” he asked, never removing his unblinking gaze from Aurora. “Please shut the door on your way out and make sure my sister doesn’t utilize her scrying mirror.”
Ryker threw up a hand as if to halt any further information. “I don’t want to know what is about to go down in here. TMI isn’t good for anyone.”
Aurora frowned her confusion. “TMI?”
Alastair waited until the door closed behind Ryker before pulling her into his lap. “Too much information.”
Her struggle not to laugh was lost, and Alastair joined in. He snuggled her close and inhaled deeply. The light scent of Chanel soothed him almost as much as the feel of her in his arms.
“Leave Jace to his fate, Alastair. If he’s truly a gifted spy, he’ll figure a way out.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I made you a promise.”
“No, you didn’t. Or at least not one I remember.” She drew back and cupped his face. “He’s my brother, and I love him. But like the rest of us, he’s an adult and capable of making his own choices. If he decided to get involved with the Council and, by association, Sebastian Drake, it’s not for you to extract him from his mess.”
“How can I hold it against him when the grief of losing you was what provoked his poor decision to join the Council in the first place?” He brushed his nose against hers and placed butterfly-soft kisses along her jawline, leading to her ear. “My own actions have been questionable for the same reason.”
“Arabella Drake warned me that her brother was dangerous. He’s ambitious and wily.”
“Which prize do you think he’d prefer? Me, an old rebel who has seen his day, or Victor, the leader of the Désorcelers Society?”
“You don’t believe he’d betray you after he’s gotten what he wants? I do. He has a craftiness to his smile. I have no doubt he’s intelligent, darling. Please don’t underestimate him.”
“I rarely underestimate anyone. I value my own hide too much.”
“I can’t talk you out of this?”
“No.”
“Can I seduce you out of this?”
He laughed huskily and lifted her to straddle him. “You can try.”