Page 31 of Touched By Darkness

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I bite on her bottom lip, tugging on it before letting it go with a pop. “Hold that thought,” I tell her, my voice rough with lust, before I pick up the call.

“What the fuck are you doing in Hiram, Apollo?” My boss hisses at me. I step away from Cassandra and amble to the windows.

“Following a lead.”

“On the Chosen One murder case, I hope, and not on the Collector. You know that case’s doomed, man.”

“On the murder case, of course.” My spine tingles with irritation, and I grind my teeth. Never understood why people are so uninterested in capturing the fucking Collector. He’s a kidnapper. How doesn’t that blow some minds?

“Good. You disappeared yesterday, where did you go? And what took you down there? I’m surprised they let you in.”

“I think she’s got a vampire with her, so it’s natural they would come here.”

Grinding my teeth together, I look over my shoulder at Cassandra. Donatello runs his fingers through her hair, but her eyes are on me, brows lowered. Fuck, I can’t let her think I’m betraying her, but I can’t ghost my boss, or he’ll send people after me.

“Alright. Keep me posted, Apollo. And don’t go down that rabbit hole.”

I cancel the call and turn my phone off. Fuck, I never expected my boss would use the GPS to find me. I may have put Cassandra in danger. Whirling around, I meet her eyes, and Donatello lets her go, making his way to the stove.

“Who was it?” she asks with a steady, uninterested voice, but I can tell she’s judging how much she can trust me.

“My boss. He tracked me through the phone and saw I was here in Hiram, wanted to know why.” There’s no way I’m lying to her. At first, I did what I thought was the best approach and tried to convince her to surrender. It wasn’t what she needed, and it wasn’t the safest option either. I’m not making any other mistakes from now on.

Cassandra’s eyes widen. Donatello freezes as he puts a baking pan down on the island. His dark eyebrows lower on his face, contrasting with the gold of his hair. For a moment, I catch myself wondering if he’s a natural blond or if he bleached his hair and forgot the brows.

“Is he coming here?” Cassandra voices, her hands closing in fists.

I shake my head, raising my hands to touch her shoulders. “No, and you don’t need to worry about that. I told him I was following a clue, but the tracker isn’t that precise. They can’t pinpoint us.”

“Want me to destroy the phone?” Donatello offers with a smirk. I ignore him.

“We just need to get to this mage and then out of town.” My hands run down her arms to intertwine our fingers together. The fact she doesn’t pull back is a good sign. “I was thinking of driving to my place.”

Cassandra cocks her head, dark hair spilling down her arm. “But wouldn’t your house be an obvious spot?”

I shake my head. “No one gets in clan lands without permission.”

She chews on her bottom lip for a moment, then nods. Donatello places a large plate filled with freshly baked cupcakes next to us on the island, then pushes the eggs and bacon closer.

“We better get moving,” he points out with a knowing smile, and I can’t quite read his expression. With a shrug, I guide Cassandra to the seats with a hand on the small of her back, my attention back to her, entirely on her. My animal stretches, contented to have his mate next to him.

What he doesn’t know, and doesn’t care about, is that this problem may ruin us all.

CHAPTER15

CASSANDRA

Donatello drives, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows. Society has a crazy obsession with six-packs, and I’ll agree they’re very nice to look at, but I don’t get why people don’t admire arms more often. Donatello’s forearms are sexy as shit. I sit on his passenger seat and drool all the way to the mage’s place.

“Here we are,” he says, parking like a pro. I bet he’s been driving ever since cars were invented. Our eyes connect, and the corner of his lips tug into a smile. “Anxious?”

“So much,” I reply, releasing a sigh and half-turning to face him. “I’m wondering if she could find my mother.”

Donatello nods. “She definitely can.” And he reaches out and takes my hand in his. His fingertips are cold against my skin, and they cause a shiver to race up my arms. With a look over my shoulder at Apollo, I exit the car.

This building is not what I expected. When Donatello said this mage could see the future, I thought of some battered down neighborhood, an old woman in a dark purple tent and a crystal ball. Silly, of course. I don’t think there are battered corners in Hiram.

I have to crane my neck to stare at the top of the building, and it’s not even one of the big ones. This one is a commercial building, with a high ceiling on the first floor, fancy columns, and a silver board pinned to the marble wall pointing out who occupies each office. The names don’t tell me anything about the businesses, so I just follow Donatello to the elevator, Apollo closing our rear.

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