“It’s only three-thirty. You don’t—”
“See you soon.” She disconnected.
Kaia stared at her phone. With any luck, Macy could find a way out of this mess. Kaia hurried back to her position at the front desk in time to answer questions from a group of MEC trainees on extinct fire drakes.
More trainees from MEC, in addition to some university students from the nearby magir campus, took her time. So that when she glanced up, she spotted Macy sitting at a table reading a periodical on witchcraft.
Her phone showed she had another few minutes until quitting. But a glance through the large, stained-glass windows at the back of the grand building showed she’d have to race the setting sun.
Scared and tired, she yawned while inwardly panicking, not having gotten any sleep last night.
“Kaia?”
She glanced up at her boss. “Hi, Tom.”
The older mage smiled. “Great job today. We had more visitors than we normally do thanks to the new training at MEC.”
“No kidding.”
“I’m going to work with Ava on closing. Don’t worry about staying to the very end.” He laughed. “I’m letting you go a few minutes early. Aren’t I a great boss?”
She chuckled, so relieved she could have cried. “The best.”
“See you tomorrow.”
She grabbed her things and walked toward the back exit with a few stragglers. It took everything she had not to run. Once out of view of the main desk, she circled around, caught Macy closing behind her, and darted into a secret passage that led to a downward stairwell.
Macy rushed with her, both of them light on their feet. Once down in the tunnels, Kaia hurried to the archives room.
“What the hell, Kaia? What’s going on?”
Breathless, Kaia waved her on. “Tell you once we’re inside. Hurry.”
They came to a stop a minute or two later, and Kaia prayed she’d beaten the sunset. But when she pushed the door open and stepped through, a force knocked her into the wall and held her off the floor, hands on her shoulders fixing her in place.
Orion breathed her in. “Ah, my apologies. I’m not quite myself yet.” He gently set her down before wrapping her in a hug.
To her shock, that hug felt so darn good. Warm and safe, like home.
“What the fuck?” Macy growled. “Orion? What are you doing here?”
He growled low before turning and shielding Kaia with his body. Upon spying Macy, he relaxed. “Bloode Witch. How’s Smoky? Did you feed him while I was gone? Is Kraft still alive?”
“Smoky?” Macy blinked. “Kraft? What about...?” At his look, she let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, yes, your kitten is just fine. No doubt curled up with that handsome battle cat that keeps terrorizing everyone but Onvyr. And Kraft was alive just last night, though I haven’t seen him since waking up.” She looked from him to Kaia. “What’s going on here?”
“Orion, let me go,” Kaia muttered, surprised he did so without a fight.
He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “I found a witch, obviously.”
“No, I rescued you last night,” Kaia corrected. “Don’t you remember?”
His expression terrified her. “I remember everything. Don’t worry, I have plans to kill the sea witch. That she took your form to enslave one Of the Bloode is an abomination.” He kissed the top of her head. “But have no fear, she won’t harm you, ever. I’m going to drink her dry and feast on her marrow. Consider it a mating gift.”
Macy’s eyes couldn’t get any wider. She choked. “Did you saymating gift?”
“No,” Kaia said at the same time Orion smiled, showing a fang, and said, “Yes.”
Then Macy acted completely out of character. Instead of defending her little sister or doing her best to gut Orion from stem to sternum, she laughed so hard she cried.
