“Natasha, can I help you so that you can eat?” he asked, pouring her a lemonade and then one for himself.
“Umm…” She glanced at the glass being set on the counter. “Could you unwrap the sandwich, maybe?”
“Of course.” He did as she said before taking the can of crushed tomatoes from her grip. “I’ll open the cans. Eat something.”
She opened her mouth to argue.
“Eat,” he said in a deep, commanding voice.
Her fingers relaxed, and she gave him the can. A wave of goosebumps coated her flesh. Her gorgeous eyes dilated with desire and her energy sucked at him, coaxing him with what she wanted. Prodding him to take control.
His groin tightened as he reached with a free hand for the sandwich. The kitchen and everyone in it dropped away as he brought the sandwich to her lips. He wasn’t a shifter, who found feeding their mates erotic, and gargoyles didn’t typically have a culture around food, but all the same, he felt a jolt of pure erotism as her teeth sank into the bread, and she took a bite.
Mate,the moment whispered. Her energy tugged at him harder. It would’ve been impossible to refuse her unspoken order, not that he’d ever try. He waited for her to swallow and then he bent and grazed his lips across hers before settling them firmly. She moaned, barely heard, and then her energy was coaxing him away again, wanting him to back off.
“Check that meat,” he murmured against her lips, and then he pulled back and turned to grab the can opener. She wouldn’t struggle to get her bearings if she had something to do, allowingthe hum of their mutual desire to linger, to live inside her until she couldn’t be without it.
He didn’t spare her a glance as he opened the various cans she had set out. When he got back to the table, she had eaten half the sandwich and was adding various herbs and spices to the cooking mixture.
“Okay!” Fred took a gulp of lemonade and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She crumpled up the paper that had held the sandwich. “I’ve found our mage. I have more digging to do, but I have a name, an occupation, and how much she is worth if someone brings her in.”
Sebastian’s chair creaked as he leaned forward in surprise. “She’s got a price on her head?”
“Do they do that often?” Jessie asked.
“Very rarely,” Natasha answered. “Anyone worthy of a price on their head holds a coveted position. They are pampered and treated well and paid handsomely. They usually don’t want to leave.”
“Who is it?” Sebastian asked.
“Tilda Grange,” Fred supplied. “Former head potions engineer for the Mages Guild with a five-million-dollar price on her head.”
“No way,” Sebastian said on a release of breath. “Tilda?”
Natasha spun around. “That was Tilda Grange? You’vegotto be kidding. I thought she was dead!”
“So did I,” Sebastian replied.
“The official standing is that she is presumed dead,” Fred said, “but her files suggest the Guild doesn’t believe that. They are hunting for her. I need to do more research, but she’s got a few flags in her file, and they have the location where three employees have disappeared while searching for her.”
Fred looked up at Jessie, and there were shadows in her eyes.
“Here,” Jessie said.
Fred nodded. “This general area. She was tracked to a small town about forty miles away. This was after she left the Guild—without permission, I am assuming, though that is not evident in her file. I have to do more digging. After that town, she disappeared. Mages have been deployed to look. Some have returned. Those coming to this lonely mountain have not.”
“The lonely mountain dominated by a shifter pack,” Austin said as he turned.
“Yes.” Fred pointed at her screen. “That is noted in her file—not the pack or alpha name or anything, just that there is a shifter pack in this area. Two people came looking and didn’t return. The third was sent as a test.” She made a face. “He passed said test by also not returning. They are wondering if this pack killed her as well and are in process of sending in a team to get answers.”
“They won’t stop until they know for a fact,” Sebastian said. “And the only information you need to look up is why she left. I know all about her and her work. She is an absolute genius. Low in spell casting power, but that woman can dream up potions I never would’ve thought of. I’ve heard, anyway. She’s a legend. I cannotbelieveshe is alive! Andhere!”
“But you didn’t recognize her?” Jessie asked.
“No. I’ve seen her from a distance, and that was in her work attire. Guild members are expected to dress well. Her appearance now, compared to then, is as different as Elliot Graves and…” He looked down at himself.
“But she recognized you,” Jessie pushed.
“And not Nessa,” he replied. “I was being dragged to and from torture sessions. They used me as a fear tactic for some Guild departments and, while they’d usually spare someone in a position as high as hers from the displeasure of seeing a torture subject, she had to work with the grunts. She dreams up the potions, but without the power, she has to instruct others how tomaterialize them. She would’ve seen me looking worse for wear, much like I am now. She clearly remembers.”
