Page 1020 of One More Kiss

Chapter6

“How much longer are yougoing to take?” Abercrombie’s voice echoed from inside as if he were calling from one end of the barn to the other.

“This process takes time,” the woman answered, her tone irritated. I wondered if this was the tea sommelier Connor had mentioned earlier—and if so, how much she knew about what was looking like a scam of massive proportions.

Even ten years ago, this scheme would have seemed ridiculous. But these days, good tea leaves were more valuable than diamonds.

We slipped along the side of the barn, Connor following close behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder at the shifter and mouthed, Ready?

He gave a nod, and I inhaled deeply, drawing in magic from around me—the air, the soil under my feet, the plants growing nearby. I wrapped my power around me like a cloak, feeling it crackle against my skin like tiny shocks of static electricity.

When I was certain I could wield it at a moment's notice, I stepped out from beside the barn and strode toward the large, double door hanging slightly askew on its hinges.

I barely touched the handles, and the doors flew open, power sparking around me.

“What is going on?” a beautiful, dark-haired Hispanic woman demanded, moving away from a table stacked with trays full of tea leaves, sorted by color—and possibly some other characteristics I had no knowledge of.

“What the—” Abercrombie looked up from the table he stood over, his white hair flopping down into one eye. In my office, I had found that charming. Here, now, his good looks simply angered me more.

The man had everything—good looks, wealth, and the power that came with it. That he would try to steal even more infuriated me.

“I think I found your stolen tea shipment,” I announced, my voice booming through the largely empty space.

“Indeed, it seems you have.” Abercrombie raised one hand and twirled it in a circle. To my absolute shock, he flicked his fingers outward, and a stream of lightning-like power shot across the space between us.

Wait. Abercrombie was a mage? How had I missed that in our opening interview?

The only thing that saved me was the fact that I already had my own power spooled up and ready to go. I thrust out my arm and sent up a magical shield. Abercrombie’s magic crashed against mine, sending shockwaves up my arms.

The clash of our spells sent up sparks, and an arcane wind began to swirl around us, looping around our bodies in a figure 8.

Throughout the barn, trays began to empty their contents, carefully sorted dried tea leaves picked up by the wind and swirling into the air in a flurry.

“No!” the sommelier shouted. “You’ll ruin everything!”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t find you?” I asked Abercrombie, ignoring the woman helping him. “It took us less than a day. How did you think you were going to get away with this?”

His cold laughter sent a chill up my spine. “You might have found me, but no one’s going to find you. Not by the time I’m done with you.”

I hadn’t drawn on my full power in more than five years. Not since that college party. Even now, I barely touched my true capabilities.

But Abercrombie was stronger than I had anticipated. He added more power to his attack, and his blue-white lightning strikes snapped against the purple glow of the defensive shield I had set up. A single tendril got through, snapping against my palm with a burning pain. I yelped, and for an instant, the shield dropped.

I flipped a spell through the fingers of my other hand, barely getting a second shield up in time to stop his renewed attack.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, giving me a chance to glance around. In the background, sommelier scurried around, covering trays of tea leaves as she tried to salvage what she could. The magical wind lifted my hair off my neck until it floated in a halo around me. Abercrombie’s blue eyes glowed from within as he redoubled his strikes.

Somewhere deep inside me, my power hovered, waiting for me to use it. I could feel it, like a deep pool at my very center, the spells I’d cast so far merely skating across the surface.

The last time I had dipped into that pool of power—the only time—I had almost killed someone.

The knowledge that I could erase someone with a mere gesture terrified me.

No matter how irritated I was by Abercrombie’s attempt to draw me into his scheme, he didn’t deserve to die for it.

Holding his magical barrage at bay, I began weaving another spell, this one designed to hold him in place. I could keep him immobilized and call the police, let them deal with his illegal activities.

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