Page 123 of The Demon's Fire
Slapping his hand away, she gasped. “You can’t touch my you-know-what in a restaurant.”
Chuckling, Rein pressed her hand to his crotch. “You can touch my you-know-what anywhere, anytime.”
Braelyn felt the bulge in his pants. She had to admit it was tempting. “You’ve got a hard-on,” she whispered.
“Yeah, you have to help me get rid of it.”
“I already got rid of it once this morning. Or was it twice? What would you like me to do now?”
Rein nuzzled into her neck, whispering his desires. Braelyn raised her brows as the waitress brought their food to the table. When she licked her lips, it wasn’t because she was hungry for salad.
****
Millerwatched from a stool at the counter.
Holy shit. The guy she’s with is as big as a two-decker bus. She wasn’t kidding.
Miller had scoped out the front of the diner where he spotted another big-ass guy guarding the main entrance. Patrolling in the rear was a long-haired bloke, unsuccessfully trying to hide his menacing presence with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
Leaving money on the counter, Miller grabbed his coffee cup. He sauntered over to Braelyn and Rein, sliding into the booth across from them. “Braelyn. Braelyn. Tsk. Tsk. I told you to bring only your husband.”
Rein put his hand on her arm. “My fault. My female goes nowhere without a shitload of muscle. She told you she’d been kidnapped. Not an attempt like with you. They got her. Never happening again.”
Miller stared a while. He understood paranoia, being riddled with it himself. “Why did they want you?”
Braelyn leaned across the table so she could speak softly. “A vampire named Silas rounded up human descendants of witches and warlocks. He kept us in cells until he took a blood sample to test for another relationship.”
“Yeah. What relationship?”
She looked at Rein, who nodded. “He was testing to see if we were descendants of the Blood Coven. He sold those who weren’t. We don’t know if he found any. He’s dead.”
“Why was he looking for Blood Coven offspring?”
Rein tapped his fingers on the table. “We think he was working for a male called Cerberus, but we don’t grasp this psycho’s real identity. You say your ancestor is Masoud?”
“Yeah. He was one of the thirteen mages of the Blood Coven who created the Schism during which Scath and Darque emerged.”
Braelyn and Rein exchanged glances. Miller propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands, debating how much information to give these two strangers. Could he trust them? Did he believe them? Maybe, but right now, he needed the money. Later he would investigate this couple a little more. “I think I met the criteria for proof. Hand over the $50,000 from the paper.”
Braelyn nodded, passing Miller a large envelope. He opened it, examining the contents before he slipped it into an oversized pocket inside his jacket.
“What do you have to do with all this?” he asked Rein.
“In addition to being Braelyn’s … uh … husband, I’m a Scion Firebrand.”
“What’s that, mate?”
“You can spout off about the Schism, but you’re unaware of the Firebrands?”
“Aeternals went to Scath. Wildings to Darque. After the Schism, I’m ignorant of any history in your realms. The coven along with its kin remained on Earth.”
“Your family must have kept excellent records if you’re on a first-name basis with Masoud. Do you know the others in the famous coven?” asked Rein.
Back to the dilemma. How much intel should he share with these two? The name Cerberus was not a good sign. It was linked to the Prophecy of Karma.
Braelyn leaned across the table. “Miller, for your own safety, come with us to Scath. We can protect you at the Firebrand stronghold. We’re gathering the descendants of the Blood Coven there as we find them. We must locate them before Cerberus does. While Cerberus’s purpose remains a secret, we know it can’t be good. The guys he hires are dangerous.”
“How many descendants have you found so far?”
