Page 15 of Stolen Magic
No one apart from Dimitri and now two humans who used to be mages knew my secret. Not even Char saw me do the unthinkable, thank the stars. What was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking, and that was the biggest problem I had. And if Dimitri’s face was anything to go by, I’d be paying the price.
“Here.” Lips folded inward, I had to bite hard so I could stop myself from smiling.
Dimitri took the blue silky sarong with fringe I handed him, and with a glare that dared me to laugh, wrapped it around his narrow waist. I picked the blue one, like that would make it look more masculine. He walked the entire stretch from the pier to my store in his birthday suit without blinking an eye, while everyone gawked at him, most of them drooling. The Alpha appeared very comfortable showing off the merchandise, but I blushed for him hard enough I could’ve sworn the tips of my ears were on fire.
The silky wrap should’ve looked dumb on the muscular man, but he pulled it off better than a freaking runway model. His tanned skin glowed under the lights of the store like he’d oiled it, and the dips and bumps of his muscles cast shadows over the expanse of exposed skin. A tingle started low in my belly as I watched him, something that I strangled into submission momentarily. I had bigger problems than a naked, mouthwatering shifter dressed in a silky sarong standing in the middle of my store with his hands propped on his hips. I caught Char tilting her head and almost toppling off the chair behind the register when she tried to check out his behind. My glare made her jerk upright with a bashful expression on her face. I forced her to sit there since she was too rattled by the whole drowning attempt and her skin had a pale tint instead of its usual olive complexion.
“I can give you a t-shirt too if you’d like, but I doubt any of them will fit you,” I told the Alpha, staring at the tip of his nose because I had no guts to meet his gaze. Between my fingers, I had one of the said shirts pinched to hold it up for him. It had “I went to bitch school” written on it in bright red.
Dimitri glared at me.
My shrug was twitchy and nervous, although I did try to appear nonchalant. Offering the t-shirt was more for my sake than his if we got technical, but I failed to convince him to cover himself. With all that skin showing, he was too distracting to have a serious conversation with. If I didn’t know for a fact that he couldn’t talk to me in his wolf form, I would’ve asked him to shift.
“Here is what we are going to do.” The Alpha spoke between his teeth. I should’ve been grateful he was keeping tight control of his anger, but I bristled, nonetheless.
“And what may that be?” With a saccharine smile plastered on my face, I blinked at him innocently.
“You will bring the book to me, along with the name of who hired you to steal it, by midnight tomorrow.” His silver blue gaze was hard and unyielding on me. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can escape me, Miss McCullagh.” He glanced pointedly at Char, who was staring at the register while it was obvious she was straining her ears to hear every word we exchanged.
And we were back to formalities now that we were no longer in danger of dying. I shouldn’t have missed him addressing me by name, yet it stabbed me like a poker at the center of my chest. I knew I was being dumb, but I couldn’t help it. Dimitri Bell was every woman’s dream, and I was a hot-blooded woman, after all.
It rubbed me all sorts of wrong.
He threatened you, idiot. And he is engaged.No matter how sternly I repeated it in my head, it didn’t help. I found my eyes lingering on him like a moth to a flame. So stupid.
“I have no intention of running from anyone, Mr. Bell,” I lied slyly. I had every intention of hightailing it the second he turned his back on the store. “As I told you, I never ask the names of my clients. That is something I’m not going to be able to help you with. As for the book, if you give me five minutes, you can have it.”
From the corner of my eye, I watched Char reach her hand inside the tote under the counter at her knees, something the Alpha didn’t miss either. My friend might’ve been petrified by the attack and rattled from the brush with death, but I had no doubt she would attack Dimitri if he so much as twitched in my direction. How her too-large bag survived the attack by the water mage was a mystery to me.
Dimitri opened his mouth but thought better of it. A line formed between his brows, and he turned his calculating stare from me to Char for a few moments before centering the full weight of it on my face. Apprehension spiked my heartbeat, and cold sweat beaded around my hairline and on my upper lip. I offered to give him back the book. Why wouldn’t he just take it and leave?
“By tomorrow midnight, Miss McCullagh. The book and the name. If you are not there with both, I’ll make sure every agent of MPO is on your tail. It’ll be a witch hunt.” The grin tilting his lips sent a chill through me and turned my blood to ice. “Ladies.” He dipped his head in a short nod and turned to leave.
A million protests sprung to my tongue, but none of them passed my lips. Numb, I watched him saunter out of the store like he owned the place, his shoulders swinging with each step he took. For the first time, I noticed the tattoo stretching his back, inked with full color. A large black wolf was baying at the full moon, and tendrils of red magic swirled around it. Next to the howling animal was a woman with her right hand tangled in the wolf’s fur and her left hand raised toward the moon. The heart shriveled in my chest when I saw strands of red hair dancing around her face and dark green eyes intently locked on the wolf.
Goosebumps pebbled my body, and I jumped a foot off the floor when the bell chimed shrilly before the door closed with a resounding thump.
“Did you—” Char started, but I cut her off harshly.
“Don’t.” My snap was angry, but all my apprehension and fear was misplaced. It wasn’t her fault that my life was about to end. And what in the world was that tattoo? As far as I was aware, Dimitri Bell didn’t know I existed until a week ago. What the hell was the likes of me doing permanently etched on his skin?
“What are we going to do?” Char spoke from right next to me, and I didn’t notice her move.
“Me. You mean what am I going to do, right? Not we. This is my mess, and I’ll clean it up.” To soften my words, I squeezed her forearm gently. My friend needed to stay as far away from me as possible. Didn’t she learn her lesson when she almost drowned because of my stupidity?
“Oh, you better believe it’s we. They attacked me today, too. It’s personal now.” Char narrowed her gaze on me, her lips pressed so hard they turned white at the edges.
“Char, please. I’m begging you,” I pleaded with my friend, although I knew it was useless. When she made up her mind, there was no convincing her otherwise. “This is my problem, and I’ll never forgive myself is something happens to you. Please.”
“And what? I should just go on with my life while they are threatening you and trying to kill you?” Huffing in indignation, she shoved my shoulder jokingly. “I think not. They want to play it that way, I say we bring out the big guns.”
“What are you talking about?” I was honestly confused.
“You really are daft sometimes. Think, Allie.” Taking hold of my shoulders with both hands, she turned me to fully face her. “They hired you because whoever it is couldn’t take that book by themselves. Which means you are more powerful than them. And if Dimitri was stronger, he could’ve prevented you from stealing it, too. Which means all they have is threats and hired thugs to come after us.”
I blinked at her.
“And you know what we have?” My eyebrows raised in question because I couldn’t breathe, little less talk. Char grinned wickedly at me. “A badass witch and a badass sorceress.”
