Page 36 of A Match Made in Coven
With a wave of her hand, she turned to the exit. “I have to go alone. It’s protocol.”
He opened his mouth to protest further, but the sudden bang of the office door slamming open cut him off.
Two goons appeared in the doorway, their weapons drawn and aimed at them. They noted the stunner gun in Sarah’s hand, and without hesitation, they turned their guns on her and fired. A bullet and a stunner ray hurtled through the air, aimed at her chest.
They collided with the invisible shimmering barrier of her stunner-proof jacket, bouncing off. Relief flooded through Lorcan, but it was short-lived. Anger surged within him, white-hot and all-consuming. He had had enough of people trying to harm her.
Lorcan’s composure shattered, overpowered by the need to protect Sarah Michelle. His magic flared at his fingertips in a dazzling display of raw power. A pulse of unchecked energy rippled outward, distorting the air and sending a shudder through the walls.
Distantly, he heard her shouting, “Noooo!” but it was too late. Lorcan released a blast of magic so powerful that it engulfed the entire bar, the parking lot, and every single patron within its reach. The freezing spell swept through the area, immobilizing everything and everyone in its path—except for her, as if his magic could already recognize Sarah Michelle as part of him.
The wave passed quickly, leaving behind only an acrid bite of ozone. As the power dissipated, Lorcan lowered his hands, his chest heaving with exertion. Satisfaction mingled with exhaustion as he surveyed the scene before him. The goons stood frozen, their expressions trapped in a mixture of shock and fear. Beyond the office, the bar had fallen silent, its patrons and staff alike caught in the same immobilizing spell.
Lorcan turned to Sarah Michelle, a triumphant grin tugging at his lips. “No one will shoot at you now.”
But as he met her gaze, his smile faltered. Sarah Michelle stared at him, her expression a mix of shock, dismay, and maybe a tiny bit of impressed awe. She shook her head dejectedly as she asked, “What have you done?”
Chapter Twenty
Glamours and Glowers
SARAH MICHELLE
Sarah Michelle surveyed the chaos in The Backroom’s parking lot. The aftermath of Lorcan’s freezing spell was a complete disaster. Magimedic teams swarmed the area, their midnight blue uniforms a dizzying whirl of activity as they tended to the afflicted humans. Many patrons still trembled uncontrollably, their eyes round with lingering fear and confusion, even after being released from the enchantment.
Nearby, Obliviators moved through the crowd with relentless efficiency, placing their hands on the temples of those who had stopped shaking. They worked swiftly to erase the traumatic memories, their indistinct murmurs blending with the general commotion. For a seedy dive bar frequented by the dregs of society, the patrons had proven not-so-tough in the face of Lorcan’s magic. So much for being thugs.
As if the situation weren’t hexed enough already, a massive glamour had been cast over the entire establishment and surrounding lot. Shimmering in the late afternoon sun, the spell pulsed with dissuasive energy to prevent any new customers from approaching the building and witnessing the unprecedented open display of magic.
Sarah Michelle’s stomach twisted into a pentagram of dread and frustration. She was in so much trouble for this colossal hexstorm. Royally screwed didn’t even begin to cover it. Her boss was going to have an apoplectic fit, and she’d be lucky to still have a job by sundown.
She startled as a sleek raven-black sedan pulled into the parking lot and purred to a stop near the epicenter of the magical disaster zone. The certainty of impending doom solidified into a dark pit in her gut as the driver’s door swung open.
Chief Inquisitor Riley King unfolded his tall, muscular frame from the vehicle, his imposing silhouette cut against the burned sienna sky. He whipped off his dark sunglasses to take in the wrecked scene, his expression darkening with each sweeping glance. Disapproval and anger rolled off him in nearly tangible waves.
Sarah Michelle swallowed hard. Looking at Riley now, it was clear that not even his dreamy newlywed bliss would grant her a shred of mercy today. His old signature scowl was back with a vengeance.
When his obsidian glare finally lasered in on her, she fought the desperate urge to sprout her wings and rocket into the stratosphere to escape his incoming wrath. A hasty invisibility spell was tempting, too, but he’d seen her. It was too late for that. Time to face the music.
Riley strode toward her, each step laced with barely leashed fury. He was fuming so hard, she half-expected tongues of dragonfire to come shooting from his flared nostrils. Sarah Michelle steeled herself as he closed the remaining distance between them, certain she was about to get verbally scorched within an inch of her badge.
“Callidora,” Riley greeted her curtly, dispensing with any pretense of pleasantries. “You’re off the Preston case, effective immediately.”
The statement landed like a gavel strike, final and unquestionable. That had never stopped Sarah before. She was about to protest when Riley cut her off with a raised hand.
“You entered a volatile situation without backup,” he hissed. “Worse, you brought a civilian with you, who blew off a spell in a human establishment, affectingover thirty bystanders. What in the seven hells were you thinking?”
“I didn’t bring him!” Sarah Michelle objected, her own temper flaring. “I specifically told Black not to come. But he showed up anyway. What was I supposed to do? Shackle him in the back of my car? His otter attorney would’ve materialized quicker than a witch can mount her broom.”
Riley’s jaw flexed, the muscles in his face drawn taut. “And how did Black know where to go and when?” He fixed her with a penetrating stare that threatened to bore a hole straight through her skull.
Sarah Michelle pressed her lips together, saying nothing.
“You’ve been working with him,” Riley accused, his tone scathing. “Sharing confidential information about an active investigation with a civilian.”
She flinched at that, the truth of it stinging like salt in a wound.
Riley exhaled, some of the fury leaching from his expression. “The only reason you’re not suspended is because your little unsanctioned operation uncovered a trafficking ring. Silas and his goons are singing like a flock of cursed canaries. They’re spilling everything about the magic weapons black market they’ve been running under the Intermixing Department’s oblivious noses.”
