Page 11 of An Unexpected Claim

Nobody despised Sapphire more than he did, but he’d still saved her ass on multiple occasions and every time she ran him in circles. I watched with satisfaction because it served him fucking right for poaching Makayla from me.

“She asked me to pass this along to Makayla. I assume you’re aware of the job she took in your universe.”

Jude gave me a dry look and I grinned because I’d succeeded in getting a reaction from him. Nothing happened in “his city” that he didn’t know about. It was arrogant, but true.

“I’m not your errand boy, Nathan,” he said smoothly. “However, it just so happens that her mate”—my eyebrows shot up at that—“and I have some business, so I’ll be sure to take care of it.”

“Mate?”

“Her story to tell,” he replied.

I wouldn’t get anything out of him that he didn’t want to share, so I let it go. I stood and walked over to hand him the enchanted necklace. “Thanks.”

He nodded, then glanced at the chessboard and snatched up the pawn before replacing it in the square where I’d taken it from to draw him here. He moved one of his knights, captured a rook, then tsked as he shook his head. “Checkmate. So quickly, Nathan? Your game is slipping.”

“I believe it was you who lost the last two games,” I deadpanned.

“Hmmm. But I put up a good fight.”

I didn’t bother replying to his comment and switched subjects. “Let me know if Makayla needs anything.”

We shook, and he disappeared into the portal.

It wasn’t until I sat back at my desk that I noticed I was short a rook. “Asshole,” I muttered, shaking my head. Taking the piece was his way of telling me to come to him next time.

I went back to work and attended my meeting in the afternoon, coming out incredibly frustrated because tensions were growing high between supernats, and when that happened, it risked of exposing us to humans. I also felt something stirring. I had been gaining strength lately, but I didn’t have any clue as to what was causing the unsettling feeling. Perhaps I’d be able to relax while having drinks with Asher and Jax. My mind wandered from there to Peyton, and I wondered if she would be working tonight. Another night in her bed would definitely give me a reprieve from reality.

A knock on my door drew my attention and I called for them to enter.

Willa stuck her head in. “You might want to deal with something in the lobby.”

I frowned. I’d given a directive not to disturb me and to tell anyone who asked, other than Jax or Asher, that I’d left for the day. “Security can’t handle it?”

“Trust my intuition, boss,” Willa stated. It was not a request.

I did trust her instincts, so I tossed my pen onto my desktop before pushing my chair back and standing. Willa’s head disappeared, but she was waiting for me when I reached the elevator. “Want to explain this to me?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” she said with a shake of her head.

When the doors opened to the lobby of the building, I immediately understood Willa’s insistence.

Marley, one of my security guards, was being talked at—not to—by a girl with long silvery lavender hair, her hands moving agitatedly while she spoke. Though I doubted most could see it, she had a faint purple shimmer around her that told me she was a witch, but I sensed her magic was tightly leashed. Her body was small, but her black clothes didn’t hide the fact that she was toned and muscular, or that she was actually a woman, not a girl. A very small woman, particularly to someone as big as me because she had to be at least a foot and a half shorter than my six-foot-five height. However, she carried herself with a confident air and pulsed with power. The combination almost made her petite stature easy to forget. And. my instincts told me she would be deadly in the right circumstances. She practically vibrated with pent-up energy, and if the witch let go of her tightly leashed control, I didn’t want her attention directed at Marley.

As I approached, Marley flinched under the witch’s hard glare. Damn, one of my toughest, most badass employees flinched under the stare of this tiny ball of fire.

Marley’s voice held some hesitancy as she told her, “I’m sorry, but you can’t just demand a meeting with Nathan King. You don’t have an appointment, and even if he were here—”

“Ne pizdi,” the purple-haired witch snapped in an accusatory tone.

Her use of a Russian expletive, with a clearly native accent, intrigued me.

Apparently, Marley’s confused expression clued the woman in to the fact that she’d spoken another language. “Bullshit,” she snapped. “I know he’s here.”

Marley sputtered, and I decided to step in. I stood just behind the witch’s right shoulder and said, “I’ll take care of this, Marley. Just get back to work.”

The pixie-sized woman spun around, and her head dropped back as far as it would go in order for her to see my face. “Nichyevo sebe,” she breathed, her eyes—the same lavender shade as her hair—full of awe.

I raised an eyebrow at her quiet exclamation that was roughly equivalent to “wow.”

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