Page 12 of An Unexpected Claim

She shook her head, breaking from the trance-like state and clearing her throat, all business. “Nathan King, I presume?”

“Da, eto ya. Shto ya mogu cdyelat dlya vas?” I responded in my native tongue, informing her that she was correct and asking what I could do for her.

Her expression turned serene in an attempt to hide her thoughts and emotions, but I could see that her smile was forced. “Can we speak in private, please?”

She attempted to keep her tone pleasant, but the demanding undercurrent had my wolf bristling, and her carefully composed mask slipped for a half-second when she saw him through my eyes. Alphas did not respond well to commands; however, I had more control than my wolf.

I studied her in calm silence, working things out in my mind, not unaware that it was making her feel awkward and restless.

“It’s incredibly important. Life or death,” she insisted.

Finally, I ceased my contemplation of her and glanced over her shoulder, where Willa was patiently waiting. I lifted my chin at her, and she started toward us. “Willa, please show Ms.—” I broke off and raised my brow at her in question.

“Rowan.”

I waited a beat for her to divulge her last name, but when it was clear she didn’t intend to share it, I sighed and glanced at Willa once more.“Escort Rowan to my office, please.”

After the pair walked away, I stepped up to the counter and Marley ducked her head, clearly embarrassed at having been intimidated by Rowan. “Calling me to come deal with this situation was the right move,” I told her. “Next time, don’t wait for Willa to step in.”

Marley turned a little green and stared at me as if I were about to sentence her to death.

“Relax, Marley. I’m not disciplining or firing you. I’m telling you this to help your decisions the next time you find yourself in a situation like this. That witch is incredibly powerful, and I suspect a little unstable. Not someone I want my staff trying to handle. I expect you to learn from this and take the correct steps in the future.” My tone wasn’t hard, but it was firm. I understood that people made mistakes, but I had no tolerance if they didn’t learn from them.

Marley’s muscles seemed to uncoil, and she nodded, her face awash with relief. “Thank you, sir.”

“Jax should be here in a few minutes. Tell him I’m running late.” I rapped my knuckles on the counter and nodded before striding to the elevator to face the newest she-devil in my life. What was it with tiny witches? They all seemed to be missing a few links in their chain.

Once I was back in my office, I sat in my chair while Rowan paced around the office. She launched into an explanation of a vampire she was hunting. It seemed this Dorian had been targeting witches in search of something or someone, only they could give him.

She shocked me when she claimed to work for E.V.I.E., but I remained quiet and gave nothing away in my demeanor or expression.

Then she brought up the subject of the amulets and—assuming I had no knowledge of the bespelled stones—gave me a summary of their abilities. She glossed over a lot, but with what I already knew, I filled in the blanks. Then she mentioned Dorian being connected to a Russian slayer bloodline, confirming my suspicions about her.

The way this little witch danced around her history, the slight Russian accent, and her knowledge of the amulets hinted that she might possess the power to create them.

Until the latter half of this century, these amulets had been nearly impossible to possess. They’d been created only for vampire slayers—ones who’d been born from the right bloodlines. Not all witches possessed the ability to create them, and the ones who could came from certain bloodlines, just like the slayers.

Recently, the witches who created them had found ways to make them for most anyone, adding in new spells and enchantments to suit their situation, even turning them into jewelry other than amulets, such as Makayla’s ring.

Although, from Rowan’s explanation, it sounded as though she was unaware that they had evolved. While they didn’t give the wearer all the abilities it would for a slayer, they could be used by anyone to travel through portals, and they gave the wearer immortality.

Something about her was rolling around in the back of my brain, but I couldn’t place it, and until I could, I decided to play things close to the vest. I kept my knowledge of portals and amulets to myself, wanting to speak with Jude about her before divulging anything.

However, E.V.I.E. slayer or not, she needed help tracking down her target and trying to figure out how he’d been able to evade her for so long.

I was willing to do so, but she hadn’t yet explained exactly what she needed from the ISC.

I waited until she appeared to be finished, then rested my elbows on the arms of my chair and steepled my fingers. “And how exactly were you hoping we could help?”

“I’m assuming you have contacts all over within the supernatural world.”

I nodded but stayed silent as I waited for her to make her point.

She stopped pacing and stood in front of my desk with her hands on her hips as she glared at me in exasperation.

I almost smiled. She certainly had a big presence for such a small thing.

“I would think you’d be just as interested in ridding the world of this psycho as I am,” she huffed. “I mean, it could be shifters next. And I happened to notice you own a worldwide security company. You could tap into those resources as well.”

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