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KADE COULDN’T WIPE the grin from his face as he took his time to head to work. He was earlier than usual and stopped in an alley to think about Sorcha. She was as passionate as she was beautiful and she was a quick learner. It had been his great pleasure to initiate her into sex. He sensed she’d had a troubled upbringing, but he hadn’t questioned her about it. As much as he enjoyed spending time with her, they couldn’t have a future together.
His brow furrowed when he remembered her losing control of her magic a couple of times. He wasn’t entirely sure what an undine was, but she could clearly use water magic and turn it into ice. She’d said she didn’t have full control of her magic. “Maybe she’s stronger than she seems,” he murmured. Ever since he’d first glimpsed her, he’d wished she could be the match he was searching for. “What if I could boost her power?” he whispered. Hope blossomed in his heart at that prospect.
Carriages began turning up to deliver workers to the guildhalls. He blended in with a group of witches and wizards and waited in the foyer. They were given various jobs to do and he was handed two packages to deliver. They were both in the Fae District, which would take him all night to walk to and back from if he couldn’t catch a carriage. It was rare for the couriers to be given that privilege, so he wouldn’t be expected to return to the guildhall until tomorrow night.
Kade didn’t waste any time and strode away from the City Square. When he was a couple of blocks away, he turned into a side street and stepped into a dark, recessed doorway. No one was watching him, so he teleported home to his library. Several bookcases contained spell books. He took them down and began perusing them, searching for a way to boost Sorcha’s power. No other woman called to him like she did. He was determined to find a way to ensure she would be the match he needed.
After a few hours, he teleported to a few blocks from the address where the first parcel needed to be delivered. A light drizzle was falling and he had to look like he’d been walking in it for several hours. By the time he reached the house, his cloak was soggy and his boots were wet and muddy. He knocked on the door and handed the package to a wizard who was apparently a servant. From the ashamed way his colleague kept his eyes lowered, he wasn’t proud of his job.
No one in the house had anything for him to deliver, so Kade continued to the next destination in a wealthier suburb. He teleported most of the way and walked the rest. An elf answered the door this time. “Finally!” he exclaimed in annoyance. “We’ve been waiting all night for this parcel!”
“Carriages don’t stop for couriers very often, my lord,” Kade reminded him, keeping his head down subserviently. “I had to walk here after delivering other packages.”
“You should have walked faster, peasant!” the elf snapped. He snatched the parcel out of the courier’s hands, then pointed at the ground. “Wait there. I have something to be delivered to the Magic Guildhall.”
“Dawn is only three hours away,” Kade pointed out to the elf’s receding back.
“Then you’ll have to deliver it to the guildhall tomorrow night, won’t you?” the haughty magic user said with an audible sneer.
Kade clamped his mouth shut to keep in the suggestion of what the elf could do with the package. He stood in the drizzle and waited for the master of the house to reappear.
“Here,” the elf said and thrust a badly wrapped bundle at him. “Make sure you don’t lose this. If you open it, I’ll know,” he warned the courier ominously.
“I won’t open it,” the warlock said with an inward eye roll. He tucked the parcel beneath his cloak as the door was slammed shut in his face. It was tempting to toss the bundle in the trash, but he couldn’t afford to get into any trouble. He trudged away, then teleported home after stepping into a dark alley.
Back in his library again, he tossed his cloak and the parcel onto a couch, then resumed his search for a power boosting spell. He didn’t notice it when his cloak vanished and his boots became clean. A glass of wine appeared on the desk and he absently picked it up to take a sip. His thoughts kept returning to Sorcha as he perused the spell books. She was as enigmatic as she was lovely. He couldn’t wait to unravel her secrets and learn everything there was to know about her. He only hoped she would agree to become bonded to him once he told her he wasn’t as weak as he seemed.
Nerves fluttered inside him as he contemplated the likelihood of Sorcha joining the rebellion. Her life would be in danger once they became joined. He would have to tell her he’d formed a new triumvirate with a master vampire and the Demon Guild Master. Eden had been less than happy at the prospect of being allied with Raum and he couldn’t really blame her. He still wasn’t sure whether he and Sebastian had made the right choice when they’d chosen the demon lord to become their third. “It’s done now and we can’t change it,” he said, then took another sip of wine.
He’d been avoiding thinking about the instructions of how to use the silver tablet against Lord Kreaton. While he’d obtained a unicorn hair, he still hadn’t figured out how to get his hands on the heart of an alpha werewolf without murdering a shifter. He still had six and a half months left before Halloween and their inevitable confrontation with the Immortal Triumvirate. “I’ve still got time,” he said, firmly ignoring the niggling worry in the back of his mind.
Kade searched his spell books until long past dawn. He yawned widely when he took a break. So far, he hadn’t found anything that would boost Sorcha’s power enough to make her a suitable match for him. The few spells he’d found that might have been able to do the job involved black magic. While he’d borrowed Raum’s demonic power to break Eden’s and Malachi’s bonds to the Immortal Triumvirate, he didn’t want to use dark magic on Sorcha. He would keep searching and hope he could discover an enchantment that didn’t rely on using evil means.
He knew how Raum would have dealt with this predicament. The demon would have used the strongest spell he could find to ensure the woman he chose would have enough strength to assist him. Kade doubted Raum would even ask his partner if she wanted her power to be boosted first. At least the Demon Guild Master wouldn’t be able to force his choice to become bonded to him. That had to be her decision, or their plan to overthrow their enemies would apparently fail.
Giving up for now so he could get some rest, Kade dreamed about Sorcha when he fell into a restless sleep. In his dreams, she was trapped by hulking monsters that were shrouded in shadows. She looked like a small child huddled in a corner with her knees drawn up to her chest. His heart broke at the fear he saw on her lovely face and the desperation in her eyes. He woke up feeling disturbed, as if he’d had a premonition of doom for the woman he was rapidly falling for. “Maybe Raum’s methods wouldn’t be so bad after all,” he murmured. If he couldn’t find a spell that would boost Sorcha’s power using normal magic, maybe he should seriously think about using black magic instead.
