Page 19 of The Lawgiver's Firebrand
After Ari swallowed a large bite of the egg dish, she said, “So, how long do I have to keep you safe?”
He rested a fork on his plate. “Having terminated your employment, I am no longer your responsibility. But it would be my pleasure if you’d stick around for a while,” he said with a grin. “And yours.”
“Until you’re tired of your new toy?” She bit off a corner of toast, studying him as she waited for an answer.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. You are not a plaything.”
Ari cocked a brow but drew it down when she observed no deception. He wanted her to hang around. Did she want the same thing?Yes. She did. “Hmm. I’ll need clothes.”
“My assistant will deliver them today. Until then, perhaps you should go naked.”
She allowed the fact that he had an assistant to slide right over her. Cook and housekeeper. Assistant. Who else was part of the incubus’s entourage? “Or wear your T-shirts.”
“I prefer naked.”
Screek! Screek! Screek!
With alarms blasting, they bolted off the stools, eating utensils clanging on the floor.
****
“Followme,” Daire shouted above the loud screech, charging out of the kitchen.
In the office, he approached a cabinet where he kept a cache of weapons. Once he flung the doors open, Ari made a fast decision, grabbing a short-bladed sword. He selected a battle axe.
“Really?” she asked.
“It is big, and I can hardly miss.”
He felt a zing of power transfer from him to Ari. Like all mages, she fed by channeling energy from others. Without it, she could not cast spells. “Topping off?” he asked.
“Yes. Just in case.”
After the night with Ari, Daire was stocked up and well-fed. He had plenty of strength to draw the enemy to him with his pheromones. Once there, his touch could extract all lifeforce, killing his opponent, leaving nothing but a withered husk. Pheromones, however, were tricky, impossible to direct toward a single individual. Their release would be dangerous for anyone nearby, including Ari. So, he had to get close enough to the intruder to touchsanspheromones or to swing his ax and lob off the guy’s head.
Having disarmed the alarm, he and the witch Firebrand strode side-by-side into the large living room to face the enemy.
As they entered, the door burst open. In rushed a mage, his chin sharp, a sneer twisting his lips, eyes like a rattlesnake, and his nose hooked.
Ari gasped. Instantly, she threw up a shield around Daire and herself. The warlock countered with a spell that crashed into the walls of the protective barrier, trying to rupture it.
“What are you doing?” Daire whispered. “We can’t fight behind a shield.”
Ari grasped his forearm. “It’s my cousin, Rubeus.”
Daire’s brows knitted in a frown. “I don’t understand. What is his problem with lawgivers?”
“He has none. His beef is with me.”
That announcement worried him. “Keep your cousin occupied with spells. I’ll get close enough to take his head or his lifeforce. But the shield has to go.”
With a short sword in one hand, Rubeus flicked his unoccupied wrist, arrowing shards of broken glass toward the barrier. It held.
“You’ve got to drop the bubble. We can’t fight,” Daire said, his voice a harsh whisper.
“I know, but he’s powerful. I’ve seen him work. He specializes in projectiles. When I remove the shield, we need to split far apart. We’ll be harder to hit.” She turned a severe glare toward Daire. “But he’s mine.”
Not defending Ari went against Daire’s beliefs, but she was a proud, capable Firebrand. He had to allow her to be who she was. Still, nothing said he couldn’t back her up if the situation became hairy.
