Magic Hunter (The Rover series Book 4) Read online

  She led me upstairs into yet another sitting room, this one decorated in darker tones: maroons, grays, blacks. It felt cool and soothing as I took another seat on another couch that cost more than my apartment.

  Helix poured drinks for everyone, handed them out, and took up a position at the back of her armchair. When she stripped away the sunglasses and her hat, Helix let out a muffled curse.

  Finally, I could get a look at her. Her hair wasn’t the same color as I remember Sol’s being in my visions. But I probably couldn’t trust the visions since they’d been provided by Esteban. Maybe it was how he remembered her?

  This woman didn’t have the same air of innocence. Her black hair cut across her collarbones in a straight line. Her eyes, however, had the same blue glow of Fin’s. But they were harder, less forgiving.

  Shit. Did I call her out? Or let her retain her anonymity in hopes she would help us?

  “Now, we can talk,” she said.

  I settled into the cushions and cast a grin toward Helix. “I’m not going to go on a rampage. You can relax.”

  “I’ll relax when you leave.” His tone came out clipped and hard.

  He’d been relaxed enough on the back seat of our car, but protecting Sol obviously brought out the prickliness in his personality.

  “So hospitable.” I smiled and turned my attention back to the woman. Sol. “And you still haven’t given me your name.”

  “You can call me Melinda.”

  Well, okay then.

  “Melinda, I don’t know what sort of work is required to assist me, but I need either a way to combat this weapon, or a way to destroy it for good.”

  She sipped her drink. “Can you describe this weapon?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t get a good look at it while it was shoved into either one of my friends.”

  “And they lived?”

  “One of them did, but he’s permanently scarred by it.” Sorrow laced my.

  I met her eyes as she studied me, weighing the sincerity in my voice.

  “If you don’t know anything more about the weapon, what do you expect me to be able to do about it?” She held up her hands. “My work requires access to the weapon. I doubt someone would leave something so powerful lying around.”

  She wasn’t wrong. “Don’t worry about that. I simply need to know if it’s possible at this stage in my plan.”

  “And your fae friend outside, does he have his own plans?”

  You mean your brother? Assuming of course this really was the infamous Sol I’d been searching for.

  I snorted. “Probably. Maybe? I don’t know. He’s learned the hard way how much I hate when he keeps secrets. He won’t double cross me, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Are you so sure?” Helix asked.

  I shrugged. “Pretty sure, he’s my mate, or well, I guess...he hasn’t exactly given me the details. It’s kind of new. I don’t know what the rules are, but I trust him not to betray me.”

  Right? I shoved that thought to the back burner to consider later. He wouldn’t hand me over to Esteban, but he sure as hell would do something stupid to keep me safe.

  “A mate? That’s rare, congratulations,” Melinda said.

  “Then give me a gift and help us both stay alive to see this through.”

  Her soft laugh made my heart sink in my chest. “I happen to know the weapon you speak of. As I said, there are only a few major weapons like this left. And I know who currently wields it.”

  Just like that, all the air vacated the room. Neither of us spoke the name but we were both thinking it.

  Helix growled, and knelt next to the chair to look up into the woman’s eyes. They stared at each other and I assumed they were talking telepathically since his hands tightened on the arm of the chair and she stiffened and glanced away from him.

  Were they mates? Would Fin and I be able to communicate that way? What we did now wasn’t too far off the mark, but it would be handy to speak direct sentences.

  She dragged her gaze back to me. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

  I stared between them as Helix stood and resumed his position at her back. “So, obviously this is a joint decision. Can you tell me why? Especially when you don’t even have to have contact with the owner.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. I couldn’t tell if she objected to my calling out their relationship or something else in that statement. “He aids in my decisions, but in this, we are agreed. I just don’t enjoy when he gets high-handed and starts throwing demands at me.”

  Helix had the grace to flush and I didn’t bother to stop my grin. Even if she didn’t help us, I liked her, a lot.

  She continued. “I can’t help you because he’ll know I had a part in it. There are very few people with my particular skills, and he would hunt me down. I haven’t spent years of my life hiding from people like him to lead him right to my door with one careless mistake.”

  “You know my name. Do you know my reputation as a bounty hunter? I don’t make careless mistakes, and I wouldn’t lead him to you. If a law enforcement official asks me, I’ll deny everything, but I don’t intend to leave anything left of him.”

  She shook her head, her eyes pleading for me to understand. “I’m sorry. I can’t risk my safety on a possibility. Even if you are good at your job.”

  What she didn’t know was that I did understand.

  All the fear she felt, I felt it too, and still did, from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep. In my next fight with Esteban, either he’d go down, or I would. There couldn’t be a middle ground because I refuse to live my life hiding in the shadows for fear of the boogey man.

  I tried one more time. “Is there anything I can say, or offer, to change your mind? I’m willing to put in any amount of work to ensure my friend and I aren’t put at risk when we face him.”

  “Again,” she said.

  “Yes, again. The bastard is slippery.”

  She nodded. “You see my dilemma then. He has eyes everywhere. He knows everything, and I don’t want to have to uproot my life and move to get away from him.”

  “Why all this then?” I waved at the house and then at Helix. “Why the interview process, and the secret identity?”

  “Occasionally, there are clients who need my help. Legitimate jobs that I am able to assist with, that don’t provide risk to me. They are what keeps the lights on. Helix helps in that endeavor to keep us both safe.”

  I let out a long sigh and shook my head. “Do you know someone else who might help us then? Anyone with similar abilities who might be swayed by money or favors?”

  “I’m sorry to say, no one with my abilities. No one will be able to help you with what you need.”

  I dropped my head into my hands and let that statement simmer in my brain. When I looked up, they both stared at me, into me.

  I fucked resented it.

  “You’re a coward,” I told her, meeting her stare head on.

  Helix took a step around the chair, but I didn’t look at him, keeping my eyes on her.

  “Do you think I want to be in the middle of this fight? It started out as revenge, and now it’s about survival because he wants me.” I pressed my hand to my chest. “Do you know how that feels?”

  She waved Helix back with a glare at him. “I know exactly how that feels. Why do you think I’ve been hiding for so long? I know exactly what he’s capable of, and I won’t put myself in his crosshairs again.”

  I stood and stared them both down. “Then the lives he takes, even if one day it’s mine, are on your hands too. You could have helped and did nothing.”

  “Get out,” Helix said, situating himself between me and Melinda.

  I nodded and headed toward the door.

  “Don’t forget to take your fae with you when you leave. He’s been pounding on the shields outside for an hour.”

  Not looking back, I opened the door and took pleasure in letting it slam behind me. Once outside, I dragged
in a lung full of the cool night air, letting it wash away some of the anger still burning inside me.

  Fin stood at the end of the stairs, his hands clenched, his hair mussed and windswept around his face.

  When I bounded toward him, he looked up and rushed forward to what I assumed was the edge of the barrier. I waved him away as I reached the edge of the bubble and slipped outside the barrier.

  “Holy shit, Zoey, I’ve been worried sick.” He caught me up in his arms, squeezing me so tight he constricted my airflow.

  “I’m fine. Sorry. Something about the barrier cut off the bond or whatever. It’s how they protect themselves. Can we get out of here?”

  He nodded but didn’t move as if he were reluctant to release me.

  “Can’t breathe here,” I said, voice strained.

  “Oh, sorry.” He gently set me on my feet, and I let him head to the driver’s side of the car.

  We pulled away before he started a barrage of questions, most of which I didn’t have the brain power to answer, not with the headache blooming above my eyebrows.

  “Did he agree to help? Was Sol in there?”

  I knew this was a really important question, but I couldn’t even think straight anymore.

  I pressed my forehead to the cold passenger side window, hoping the chill would take the edge off. “Give me a minute. My head is suddenly killing me.”

  He threaded his hands into my hair from the nape of my neck. It felt good as he flexed his fingers against my scalp. I leaned back into him. Then I felt the healing touch he sent through the bond.

  The brain fog lifted. “That bastard did something to me when I left? Why else would I get all foggy and groggy the second I left? Maybe he hoped it would keep me from remembering the location, or them for that matter.”

  Fin stiffened, his fingers freezing. “He mentally attacked you?”

  I shook my head. “It was probably built into whatever magic is protecting their house. I don’t think he actively did anything, but I have no doubt he was responsible for that shield you couldn’t crack.”

  He brought both hands to the wheel. “I could have broken it, but it would have taken a lot of magic, and I didn’t want to force my way in if you were negotiating. I would have known you were dead so at the very least I knew you were alive in there.”

  I glared. “That’s not super comforting. You can be in all kinds of pain while still alive, need I remind you?”

  “Now you want me to be worried and take steps to help you?”

  I lay my head against the window again and flipped him the bird. We drove through town back toward our safe house, after a good ten minutes of back roads and turn arounds to lose any possible tails.

  “Was she there?” he asked on a whisper. As if he dared not hope.

  I turned to look at him fully. “I can’t be sure. I think it was her but she’s not the same as you remember, or how I saw her in those sendings from Esteban. If that was her, and I emphasise the if, then she’s a changed woman, so be ready for that.”

  He tugged my hand into his. “I don’t care what she looks like or how she acts. If I can see her alive, it would be enough. Will they let me talk to her, see her?”

  I locked our hands together and wrapped my other one on top of his. “I’m sorry, they were scared and didn’t even want to help. On the way out, they directed me to take you with me. I don’t think she’ll see you. When she first appeared, I had to talk her into showing her face to me. They’re scared.”

  “Of what?” he asked, shifting his gaze between the road and me.

  “Of the same thing we are.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Once inside the safehouse, Fin’s shoulders finally fell away from his ears as he threw himself on the couch with a long-suffering sigh.

  “I don’t know why you seem worn out. You’re not the one who went in there to face them. Helix is powerful, although I don’t know what his abilities are. He just feels strong.”

  Fin patted the couch next to him. “It can be that way sometimes. If they don’t give you a clear show of power, you can still feel the danger present.”

  I took the seat beside him and lay back in the cushions, but he tugged me under his arm to cradle my head against his chest. “Please, tell me what happened, from the beginning.”

  Before I could even inhale, he added, “What really happened, not one of your colorful explanations that glosses over the pertinent details.”

  This guy seemed to be reading the same damn book as Hawk and the Chief.

  I huffed. “Fine. I got out of the car and went to the door. Helix let me in, and we made stupid small talk while we sipped on whiskey. Once we established he didn’t want me anywhere near his boss, she called and ordered him to take me to the basement.”

  He jerked beside me. “And you followed him to the basement, didn’t you?”

  I shrugged. “If it helps, I didn’t actually want to, but it seemed like they weren’t going to talk to me until his boss was comfortable.”

  My explanation didn’t seem to placate him because his mouth opened and closed a few times, wordlessly.

  I continued on, regardless. “I waited in a tiny room for a while, then she came in, but she wore a disguise. We chatted about the weapon and eventually we reached an agreement and she dropped the disguise and we spoke normally. But she still refused to help us, citing that she knew who owned the weapon and doesn’t want to get in Esteban’s crosshairs.”

  He met my eyes, his jaw tight. “Is that it?”

  “Yeah, I tried to convince her but she’s too scared and refused. So, then I came outside and there you were, the end.”

  A wave of exhaustion washed over me, the headache surging back into the front of my head. “I’m going to go to sleep. This headache is back. I probably just need to sleep it off.”

  He ran his hand down my back as I levered to my feet and went into the bedroom. I was already in my pajamas and under the covers before he entered.

  While he undressed, I didn’t bother to hide my interest. I might not be in good shape to do anything about my desire for him, but I could definitely look. He gave me a little grin as he stripped his shirt over his head, baring his long lean muscles.

  After he left all his clothes in a pile, he treated me to a view of his tight ass on the way into the bathroom.

  I sighed and closed my eyes, snuggling into the pillow with that image in my head. The bastard was beautiful, even with me angry at him.

  When he exited the bathroom, still naked, he flipped off the lights and climbed into bed beside me.

  It was weird sleeping next to someone, but I didn’t hate it. There was something comforting about reaching out in the middle of the night and someone being there no matter what.

  His hand met my back over my camisole and when he curved his palm around to my belly, I stopped him. “As pretty as you are, if you aren’t willing to discuss this whole mating thing then we aren’t going there again.”

  He stiffened behind me; his thighs aligned behind mine. “You’re going to keep me out of your bed because I haven’t explained everything to you yet?”

  I didn’t bother turning to look at him. “You’re clearly in my bed right now. I’m just not going to open my legs to someone keeping secrets. How the hell am I supposed to know these things?”

  He tugged his hand free and rolled over onto his back. “I’m sorry.”

  He didn’t offer anything else, and it was enough to cement my decision. The other night had been fun, but it was more about taking the edge off. Anything more would be a choice made, and I didn’t want him to think I’d be letting him off that easily.

  I resettled into the pillow, shoving my hand underneath in a way I’d done since childhood. It was a comforting position as I used to hide my secrets there, little rocks and treasures I’d found, and when I was older, my diary with its tiny silver lock.

  My chest felt tight, not in a way that meant I couldn’t draw a full breath, but in an aching sort of
way. It took me another moment to realize it was Fin’s pain I felt. He must have loosened some of his shields, or me mine, to allow this much through.

  If I wasn’t so fucking hard-headed, I would have rolled over to him, offered him the comfort I’d originally denied. But I couldn’t. If we were going to have a relationship, I needed him to understand we had to be equals. And right now, he wasn’t playing that way.

  After a fitful night of rest, I woke to morning sunlight streaming in the window and an empty bed.

  The sound of movement through the open doorway caught my attention and I found Fin going through some kind of Tai Chi warm up with a nasty looking sword he’d obviously found in the safe house. Still naked, of course. Which made me wonder how many times he’d put on pants for my benefit when he needn’t have bothered.

  I crossed around the outside of the room to head to the kitchen and pour a cup of coffee. Mug in hand, I faced him and watched. He moved with a grace that spoke of how many years he’d trained as a fighter. With the Captain at his side for a lot of it, I didn’t doubt he’d been kept in peak shape for most of that time. The Captain wouldn’t accept anything less.

  A sharp pang hit my chest at the thought of him and I rubbed the ache that I knew would never go away. Fin glanced over at me, never missing a beat in his routine, and I just hoped he hadn’t felt that the same way I’d felt him last night.

  I grabbed my phone I’d left on the counter the previous night and hit the speed dial for Hawk’s number. He answered with a groggy hello.

  “We need another route for the metalsmithing. The contact is too afraid to help.”

  He coughed and a rustle cut through the line. “You want me to go convince her?”

  Seeing Hawk go head-to-head with Helix might be fun to watch.

  Except, Hawk would probably get flayed open, and I didn’t want that.

  “No, I promised I meant them no harm and it’s the truth. Besides, I doubt anyone could force her to help them if she didn’t want to. So, I need a new metalsmith or a new option to negate the blade.”

  “I’ll see what I can do on my end. Maybe you should head back to the night market? Turn over a few more rocks.”