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KADE DISPELLED HIS tracking spell before storming away from Sorcha. He felt so angry and betrayed that he could barely look at her. Seeing the dagger on her door that she’d tried to hide from him had been the final straw. It was bad enough that she’d hidden what she really was from him. Pretending to be a shy and weak witch had been the worst part of her betrayal. She’d seemed like an innocent virgin when he’d slept with her for the first time. He figured it had just been a ruse to dupe him. Why she would bother was a mystery. Maybe tricking idiots like him was her form of enjoyment. Clearly, she wasn’t as powerless as she’d seemed. She could teleport, which meant she was far stronger than most magic users.
Furious and hurt, Kade strode away from the stone mansion that he had no intention of ever returning to. Dawn was only a couple of hours away, but he had plenty of time to travel to the Vampire District and visit his allies.
Stepping into an alley, he scowled at a pack of green-eyed rats that hissed at him, then teleported to Sebastian’s and Eden’s mansion. He pounded on the door until Sebastian yanked it open a second later. “Is Eden here?” the warlock demanded, looking over the taller man’s shoulder for the succubus.
“What on Earth is wrong, mon amie?” the master vampire asked. His shirt was unbuttoned and the button on his pants was undone. Clearly, Kade had interrupted his allies in a tryst.
“I’m here, Kade!” Eden called out as she entered the hallway. Her long black hair was mussed, but she was dressed in a formfitting scarlet dress.
“Can I come in?” Kade asked impatiently.
Sebastian looked at his beloved and waited for her to nod before inviting his ally inside. Kade stepped around him and strode after Eden as she headed for the large formal living area where the couple usually entertained their guests. “What’s going on?” the former assassin asked, turning to face him.
He noted her stance and posture were ready to attack or defend and barked out a laugh. “You can take the assassin out of their guild, but you can’t take the instinct to kill out of the assassin,” he said bitterly.
Sebastian ambled over to him and put his hand on his ally’s shoulder. “Sit,” he said firmly and pushed the warlock down. Kade’s knees buckled and he plonked down onto the armchair. “Drink,” the vampire added as a glass of wine appeared on the coffee table.
Eden refused to sit and watched their ally coolly as he gulped down the alcohol. “I think you’d better explain yourself, Kade Sinclair,” she said.
Rubbing his face with one hand, Kade had to resist the urge to throw the empty glass into the unlit fireplace. “I met Sorcha,” he said.
Eden’s beautiful dark brown eyes widened, then she moved so quickly that he could barely track her. She was suddenly looming over him with her knee pressed against his midsection. One hand was clamped around his throat and a dagger she’d pulled from seemingly out of nowhere pricked his neck. “If you’ve hurt her, I’ll gut you like a rabid dog!” she hissed in rage.
Kade dropped his glass and it shattered on the floor. He held his hands up and didn’t dare move another muscle. “She’s fine,” he croaked as beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. “I didn’t touch her!”
Sebastian casually strolled over and leaned down to pluck a long blonde hair from his cloak. “Then how did you get close enough to this woman to explain this?” he asked in amusement.
Eden’s blade bit into Kade’s skin and blood welled from the shallow slice. “Explain yourself, warlock, or I’ll introduce you to the training the Assassin Guildmembers are taught!”
“Let the man speak, mon amor,” Sebastian said and gently drew her back from the startled magic user. The blood vanished from her blade as she tucked the dagger back into a hidden pocket of her dress. The scowl didn’t leave her face as they sat down on the couch. Her eyes remained locked on their ally.
“I first saw Sorcha a few weeks ago from a window of a house where a fairy had just been murdered,” Kade said, eyeing the succubus warily. He touched his neck to find the cut had already healed, then he went on with his story. “She was wearing an illusion and had camouflaged herself against a hedge. I figured she was just hiding from someone. I had no idea she was the killer.”
“Nobody suspects beautiful women of being murderers,” Eden said. Her tone was flat rather than smug. She gestured at him to continue.
“I saw her a few times and we eventually spoke to each other,” Kade went on. “I thought she was a low-level magic user. I figured she worked for someone outside of the Magic Guild, since I’d never seen her at the guildhall.” Another glass of wine appeared and he picked it up. He glanced at the floor to see the stain and broken glass had vanished. “Sorcha seemed so sweet and innocent,” he said and his face darkened in renewed betrayal. “I sensed she was hiding something from me, but I foolishly allowed myself to develop feelings for her. We became very close.” He flushed at that admission and took a gulp of wine.
Eden was staring at him incredulously. “You had sex with her?” the succubus said in flat disbelief. “With Sorcha?”
“Yes,” Kade said in annoyance. “Several times,” he added, then glared at Sebastian when the vampire smirked slightly. “Why do you look like you don’t believe me?” he asked the succubus.
“Because Sorcha zaps anyone who tries to have sex with her with electricity,” Eden said. “Describe her,” she ordered the stunned warlock.
“She’s tall, slender, has long blonde hair, silver-gray eyes and a hint of gold to her skin.”
Eden shook her head in amazement. “That’s her, alright,” she confirmed. “I can’t believe she let you take her virginity.” The look she gave him wasn’t at all friendly.
“She really was an innocent?” he asked, feeling suddenly guilty for doubting her. This meeting wasn’t going as he’d expected at all.
“Lord Dallinar tried to rape her when she was twelve, but she lost control of her magic and blew his bed to pieces,” Eden said in satisfaction. Then her shoulders slumped and her anger at him changed to sorrow. “I only wish I’d been able to defend myself from the Immortal Triumvirate like she can.”
The things Eden had told Kade about what their leaders had done to her came back to him. He felt the blood drain from his face when he realized he’d made a colossal mistake. “Sorcha doesn’t have any choice about killing her targets, does she?” he asked.
Eden shook her head and Sebastian pulled her more tightly against him. “None of us do,” she replied. “Or did in Malachi’s and my case.”
Kade put his glass down and rubbed his face with both hands. “I was wrong,” he said, words muffled slightly. “I did hurt Sorcha.”
Eden lunged at him, but Sebastian caught her before she could rip his ally’s throat out. “What did you do, monsieur?” he asked in a cool tone.
The warlock dropped his hands to reveal his miserable expression. “I told her she was a monster and that I didn’t want to have anything to do with a killer like her,” he confessed.
Eden sucked in a breath and tears welled in her eyes. “Sorcha didn’t ask to become a killer,” she said. “None of us did. We were taken from our class when we were four years old. Wort became our teacher, our mentor and our torturer. He forged us into deadly weapons and brainwashed us into believing the Immortal Triumvirate were omnipotent. We were told that if we made one wrong move, or disobeyed our orders, that we would be punished harshly, or even killed. Sorcha and I were forbidden from having sex with anyone other than our masters. If she gave herself to you, then that means she trusts you,” she said accusingly.
Kade’s guilt and misery increased at hearing that news. “I screwed up,” he said heavily.
“That is a vast understatement,” Sebastian said sardonically. “How are you going to repair the damage you’ve done, mon amie?”
A thought occurred to the warlock and his amethyst eyes blazed when he turned to Eden. “Lord Dallinar locked half of your magic away when you were born and he did the same thing to Malachi. Did he restrict Sorcha’s power as well?”
“Of course he did,” the succubus confirmed. “All half breeds had at least some of their magic locked away.”
“I didn’t,” Kade refuted and it was her turn to be shocked. “I was rescued shortly after I was born,” he explained. “But I’m one of the half breeds like you.”
Eden was speechless, but rallied quickly. “Sorcha is half undine and half human,” she said.
“I know,” Kade said. “She told me.”
“Did she tell you her mother was a sorceress?” the former assassin asked. Kade blinked at her, stunned into silence. “I thought not,” Eden said smugly. “If she had access to her full power, she would be your match.”
“Congratulations, Kade,” Sebastian said with a grin when the warlock’s mouth dropped open. “It would seem you have found the woman you need to become bonded to.” He leaned over to clap his ally on the shoulder.
“Sorcha is my mate?” Kade asked with growing hope. With her power locked away, he’d had no way of knowing how strong her true potential was.
“You tell us,” Eden said, still angry with him for hurting her best friend. “Is she?”
“Yes, she is,” he said firmly. His heart had known it all along, but his mind had been skeptical. Now that he knew Sorcha’s power was locked inside her, he just needed to convince her to let him break her link to the Immortal Triumvirate. That would be the easy part. Convincing her to become bonded to him for life after he’d been so horrible to her would be far harder.
