EVERY THOUGHT MIRA HAD CRASHED TO THE floor like a stack of china plates. She blinked. “Uh, excuse me?”
Thomas leaned forward, threading his fingers together in front of him. “Your mother, Eva Monahan, was my father’s sister. That makes us first cousins.”
Suddenly, she felt light-headed. It was almost noon, and she’d had nothing to eat. That meant on an empty stomach she’d nearly killed six men while misusing her magick and then found out she had a long-lost cousin. No wonder she felt a little woozy. She glanced at the bar. “I think I might have that drink now.”
He laughed and stood. “What would you like?”
“An orange juice, if you have it”—with half a bottle of vodka in it—“That would be great.”
Thomas came back with her orange juice and she took a sip, letting it steady her and calm her nerves. After a moment of digesting both liquid and new information, she spoke. “I noted right away that Monahan was also my mother’s maiden name, but I just thought it was coincidence. I, uh, didn’t even know my mother or father had any siblings.”
Her chest and stomach were heavy with sadness. Annie had kept all her parent’s secrets from her, everything. Even though Mira knew she’d done it to honor their wishes, it stung. Hadn’t she understood how alone Mira had felt in the world? She felt betrayed.
And weary of secrets.
“I imagine they didn’t want you to track down your family and discover you were a witch, Mira. They were trying to protect you because they loved you.” He paused and studied the look on her face. “What do you want to know?”
Mira sighed. “Everything.”
“We’ll have time to catch you up. I’m sure you’ll meet some of the rest of the family while you’re here too.”
“Rest of the family?”
“The Monahan family is directly involved with the Coven. My father, Richard, led it before control was handed to me by the council. You have a bunch of cousins who hang around here pretty often. In fact, my sister Serena should be here later today. I’m going to see if she wants to take your training over. She’s an earth witch, like me.”
She blinked. “Not that I’m objecting, but why Serena?”
“I only want people around you that I trust implicitly.”
“Jack’s been doing my training so far. You don’t trust him?”
Thomas took a moment to answer. “I wouldn’t have allowed Jack to be your personal bodyguard if I didn’t trust him, and I still think he’s the best man for that particular job, but let’s try someone new for your training.”
His tone seemed to prohibit any disagreement. Mira suspected not many people tried to argue with Thomas. In any case, she wanted to get to know Serena.
“All right,” she said with an easy shrug. “I’m looking forward to meeting your sister…my cousin.” She rolled the word cousin around in her mouth, trying to get used to the feeling of it.
“Your mom had two brothers,” Thomas said, “my dad and Uncle Andrew. They both married and had kids. You have four other cousins, all around our age. There’s Serena, Kathryn, Phillip, and Micah. I know you have cousins on the Hoskins side, too.”
Mira couldn’t even answer. She set her glass of orange juice on the table beside her.
“I’ll let you rest. I can tell you’re exhausted and overwhelmed. Just let me know if you need anything. You’re family, Mira, and I’m happy you’ve found your way back to us.”
Family. Wow.
Feeling a little shell-shocked, Mira watched Thomas take a photo album from one of the bookshelves. He walked over and handed it to her. “I’ll take you up to your room,” he continued. “You can settle in, get something to eat, maybe take a nap. That’s an album filled with family pictures. They’re all labeled so you’ll know who is who.”
She ran her finger over the leather-bound cover and smiled. “Thank you.”
He led her through the huge house, past corridors tastefully decorated in neutral shades. Hardwood floors with long burgundy and gold rugs abounded. Small tables filled with vases of fresh flowers stood in corners and against walls. Beautiful artwork hung everywhere. They passed sitting areas scattered here and there, all sporting comfortable-looking furniture that invited people to relax.
As Thomas gave her the tour, he explained that the house had two large kitchens with cook staffs, a conservatory, a ballroom, a gym, and an indoor/outdoor pool.
“Who owns all this?” she asked him as they turned down a corridor on the third floor. She was well and truly lost by that point.
“The Coven is supported by donations from the wealthiest magickal families and is run through a system a little like a board of directors. The Hoskins and Monahan families both have seats on the Coven council. The council employs financial advisors who make investments that yield nice returns. We also get income from the people who keep quarters here and don’t work directly for the Coven. Lastly, the Coven owns a few profitable businesses.”
“So the council is the governing body, then?”
“In as much as we have one, yes. The council decides who runs the Coven and makes major decisions that affect witches in a general way.”
“Sounds complicated.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “It’s a big job, but I love it.” Thomas took a keychain from his pocket and unlocked one of the doors. “Here’s your room.”
The door opened into a sitting room decorated in shades of creams and gold. There was a TV, a desk with a computer, a couch and chair, and a small refrigerator. French doors led into a large, well-appointed bedroom with a king-size bed. The bathroom was enormous, with a spa tub that she couldn’t wait to try out. Someone had placed her bags on the bed already.
“It’s far more than I need, Thomas,” she said, returning from her walk-through. “I think I could fit my apartment in here about three times.”
“These are your rooms here at the Coven. Forever.”
“No, Thomas—”
He held up a hand to cease her protest. “The Hoskins and Monahan families contribute a lot of money to the Coven, and you are both. Don’t say another word. These are your rooms whether you decide to stay here or not. Forever.” Again with the tone that said don’t argue.
Mira opened and closed her mouth, but didn’t know what to say in response to any of this.
He turned and walked to the door, but paused before he left. “If you need anything else, let me know. You’re family, Mira, and we’ll do anything for you.”
She flopped down on the bed the moment Thomas was gone and opened the photo album. Within were page after page of glossy photographs of people she didn’t know. Strangers who didn’t have to be strangers but for the overprotectiveness of her parents. They’d traded her life away in an effort to shield her, yet the danger had still found her. Indeed, the danger was double as a result of her parents’ attempt to keep her safe.
Wouldn’t it have been better for her to grow up knowing what she was and becoming stronger in her abilities, so strong that Crane and the Duskoff never would’ve even thought about coming after her?
She shook her head. She didn’t know what her parents’ reasoning had been because she’d never known her parents.
Mira flipped through the pages, once in awhile coming across a woman who looked a lot like her—a cousin? Sometimes she’d find a picture of a younger Thomas.
Then she turned a page and found photos of her parents. The entire back half of the album was filled with them—when they were young and laughing and surrounded by people who loved them.
Tears plopped on the plastic-protected pages before Mira even realized she was crying.
THOMAS WAS AT HIS MOST DANGEROUS WHEN HE was calm. He always went quiet and subdued when exceptionally pissed off.
Two years Jack’s senior, Thomas had always been like a big brother to him, and, like a younger brother, Jack danced on the edge of his temper often.
Wincing at the soreness of his face, Jack rubbed his cleanly shaven jawline and watched Thomas pace in front of a bank of windows in his office.
Thomas never seemed to wear anything but hand-tailored suits and Italian shoes and never seemed to let his guard down. The man was wound too tight, had far too many barriers erected. He needed to lighten up a little, maybe even get laid once in a while.
The doctor had seen to Jack’s injuries, stitched up the cut near his hairline, and salved the rest. He’d given himself what healing he could, which would mean his wounds would mend faster.
He’d relinquished his hold on Mira with far more pain than what he’d endured physically that morning. Letting her go had kicked his ass worse than anything he could remember.
Mira had been ensconced in her quarters, handpicked by her cousin Thomas, and was resting there now. Jack hadn’t seen her all day. He missed her already, and that meant he needed to get the hell out of the Coven, needed to get far away from Mira so he couldn’t hurt her anymore than he already had.
“Got any jobs for me, Monahan?” Jack prompted, since Thomas wasn’t talking and he didn’t want to stand there all day. “I can fly back to Minneapolis, help Ingrid bring the Duskoff hostages back down.” Just give me something to do.
Thomas rounded on him. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”
Oh, hell.
Jack didn’t answer, but his silence told Thomas everything.
Thomas swore under his breath. “I could see it almost the moment you stepped into the library, the way you stood and the way you two looked at each other.” Thomas swore again and showed Jack his back. He shook his head. “You thought to hide it from me, maybe, Jack, but it was all there in your body language.”
Earth magick made Thomas tuned into everyone and everything around him, every little nuance. Thomas was present and grounded in a way that made him seem psychic. Jack really wasn’t surprised Thomas had picked up on it.
“Mira is your cousin,” Jack replied, “but she’s also a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Jack.” He turned to face him. “You see a beautiful woman and you seduce her, that’s your way. That’s why I didn’t want you on this job to begin with. But I trusted that you wouldn’t mess with her head because of your past, and you went ahead and did exactly that.”
“I never meant for it to happen. Damn it, Thomas. I tried to stop it once we felt the strength of the magickal affinity between fire and air and the sexual attraction that came with it. But I can’t say, won’t say that I’m sorry it happened.”
“The attractions are strong at first, but then you should have found a balance and they should’ve faded.”
Jack gritted his teeth for a moment and stared past Thomas, narrowing his eyes. “The magickical affinity did find a balance, but the sexual attraction didn’t fade. Not for either of us. If anything, it was stronger by then.”
Thomas’s face grew stormier. “Let’s lay all the cards on the table. You never told her who you are, did you? You never told her the truth.”
Sickening dread and guilt rose up from the depths of him. Jack hesitated before answering. “No.”
“Then you should be sorry,” Thomas answered in a low, dangerous voice.
“I thought you wanted me to keep that a secret,” Jack growled, trying very hard not to completely lose his temper. “You told me you didn’t want me to tell her anything about that until she was out of danger.”
“I did…I do want you to keep that from her for now. You’re the best we have to protect her, and I don’t want her hating her bodyguard.” Thomas cursed and turned away from him. “I just never thought you’d sleep with her. I never thought we’d have this problem.”
Hating her bodyguard. The words rang through his head. “I am aware of the complication.” He paused. “I’m aware of what I did. Hurting Mira is last thing I want—”
Thomas whirled to face him. “I thought I could trust you with her because of your past and the way it ties into Mira’s future. I thought by having you take this job it would provide you some measure of healing. Instead you just used her.”
Sudden anger stiffened his body. He felt his magick flare hot and fast in the center of his chest in response. He flexed his hands against the tickle of fire in his fingers. “I didn’t use her,” he snarled.
Thomas gave a short, sharp laugh of derision. “I’m counting all your women in my head right now, Jack, all your affairs.”
Jack wanted to bellow at him, tell him that it was different with Mira, that he cared about her and wanted more than he’d ever be able to have from her. He wanted to yell out his frustration at the situation at the top of his lungs, but that wouldn’t make anything better.
The raw truth was that he could never have Mira. She’d find out soon enough who he was, and then she’d hate him. Thomas was right. That would be the end.
“I know I have to let her go,” Jack replied.
“Yeah, you gotta let her go. You shouldn’t have touched her in the first place. What were you thinking?” Thomas laughed. “Oh, that’s right, you weren’t.”
“Thomas, have you ever been with a woman you simply couldn’t resist? Have you ever met a woman that, no matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn’t stop yourself from touching?”
Thomas sobered, the cold smile dying on his lips. A muscle in his jaw tightened. He didn’t answer.
“I’ll take that response as a no.” His eyes narrowed. “I hope you meet a woman like that one day. Then you’ll understand how it was between Mira and me.” Jack turned on his heel and walked out of the room.
“Jack,” Thomas called after him. “Damn it, don’t walk away from me.”
But Jack just kept going.