Page 92 of The Phoenix

Celene twisted around to give him a peck on the cheek. “Now back off, handsome. I work alone.”

When he stepped away, she shook out her hands, inhaled and exhaled a few times, and rolled her shoulders. She kicked out one leg, wiggled it, and repeated with the other side. “Okay. What I do is kinda like fishing. I drop a psychokinetic line, letting it go down until it reaches the object. Then I reel it in to see if I caught anything. It may take a few tries because I’ve never gone this deep. Nor have I tried to snag two treasures at once.”

“You can do it, Celene.” Nace bobbed his chin in encouragement.

The blonde female who bled inheritance money let a smile tip the corners of her mouth. She smoothed the fabric of her black silk pants, adjusted the neckline of her white linen blouse, and tugged on one of her many diamond earrings. “Ready.”

As she closed her eyes, she stuck her palms out, facing the ground.

While they waited, Indy swung her arms above her head, wiggling her hips, keeping rhythm with music only she heard through ear buds. Unashamed, Roark stared while her feet slid through sand and her enticing breasts jiggled.

The jaguar commander stood alert, hands at his side, looking all around as if he expected an attack.

Roark glanced at his watch. Twenty-five minutes had passed. The only change in Celene were her palms. They now faced the sky.

Another five minutes passed before the Blood Coven witch dropped her arms. “Sorry. I can’t latch onto both of the items. I’ll bring them up one at a time. Let’s go again.”

“Are you sure?” Nace, his eyes dark with worry, folded her in his arms, his lips on her neck.

“Yes. Now give me a kiss for luck before you step away. I’ve got this.”

“I know you do.”

Kudos to the jaguar. The guy was learning how to be smooth. Could he teach Roark a few things? Nah. He had Indy just where he wanted. Close but not too close. In bed but not engrained in his heart.

The Blood Coven descendant repeated her routine. This time, thirty minutes passed before Roark checked his watch.

Damn.

Indigo removed a bottle of water from her backpack, unscrewing the lid. She offered it to Roark. He shook his head. Nace also refused. She took two big swigs as Celene flipped her palms upward.

The descendant held still for a long time, long enough for Indigo to finish the bottle and return the empty to her backpack.

A smile tugged at Celene’s lips as an object broke the surface with a loud pop, dust swirling around it. Wobbling, it rose until she snatched it from the air. With the gem gripped in her fist, she nearly crumpled to the ground before Nace swept her into his arms. He grabbed the ruby from her hands, tossing it to Indy. “Here. I’m taking Celene to the car. Return us to the portal. She’s done. There’ll be no scabbard brought up. Get me?”

Indigo clutched the stone until her knuckles turned white. Roark eyed her. “What’s wrong, Indy?”

“The ruby’s dancing the Irish jig. It’s like a part seeking the whole. A lost soul in a hurry to run home. This is how I hunt for missing objects, shifter. And I am fan-fucking-tastic at my job. I second the jag’s motion. Get us to the hotel so I can do my thing. No need for the scabbard.”

Roark, still sensing they were being watched, broke the speed limit on the return trip.

****

The ruby crackled with energy. Indigo pinched it between her thumb and forefinger, holding it up to the car window to study the fiery, blood-colored light glinting off the surface.

“Sizing it up for a tiara?” Roark glanced off the road.

Fingering her favorite necklace, she said, “Nah. I prefer amethyst. When we get to the hotel, I’ll earn my money, show you why I’m the incomparable finder of lost objects.”

He reached across the seat to kiss Indigo’s cheek. “It’s coming together.”

“What’s coming together?”

“Our plans to find Blood’s Kiss, of course.”

The smile on the kinda-shifter’s face was all too cat-munching-on-canary. Too bad it was also sexy as hell.

Through Alexandria’s crowded streets, Roark drove like a berserker with his nuts in a Darque toxcrab’s pincers. After dropping Nace and an exhausted Celene at the portal, he valet parked at their expensive hotel and escorted Indigo into the lobby, a warm arm curling around her waist. It was a possessive gesture, but she didn’t mind. It felt right.

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