“Fuck off, Austin. I’m healing her whether you agree or not.” I glared at him, making sure he damn well understood how stubborn I was prepared to be on this. I’d been given the ability to heal people, and I wasn’t about to just ignore it when someone needed me, just in case it made me a bit dizzy.
Okay, that was an understatement. As the magic poured from me and into her, forcing the water out of her lungs and bubbling from her mouth, I could already feel the heavy, lead-like feeling setting into my bones.
“That’s enough,” Austin growled, as the woman rolled slightly and began coughing up mouthfuls of pool water. This time when he yanked on my wrists, I no longer had the strength to fight him on it, and my hands fell away from the coughing woman.
With a hand like a steel band, Austin dragged me to my feet and away from the pool area so fast I had to run to keep up. I glanced back a couple of times, but the nearly drowned woman was sitting up, so I was confident she’d be okay.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Austin snarled, shoving me into a study off the main hallway and slamming the door behind us. “Look at yourself! You’re so weak you’re practically shaking! How the fuck do you plan on making a sleight-of-hand theft when you are trembling like a goddamn shaved cat in winter?”
“Oh, quit with the dramatics, Austin,” I sighed, not really having the energy necessary to argue with him effectively. “The auction isn’t for half an hour yet. I’ll just go find one of the guys and get a quick recharge, and I’ll be fine.”
“Right, so you’re going to, what? Grab Caleb or Cole and go let them fuck you quick and dirty in the closet or something? Is that how this goes?” His lip curled in what seemed like disgust, and my blood boiled with rage.
“Is that a fucking problem for you, Austin?” I seethed. “Is it really so deplorable that I need a few minutes of sexual contact with my guardians in exchange for saving a damn human’s life?”
“Oh sure, like there’s nothing in it for you? I think you’re addicted to using the magic. You can’t seem to stop, even when you know you shouldn’t be doing it! I mean, how fucking dense can you be not to suspect there is something fishy going on with all these ‘accidents’ around you lately?” He was firing up now in response and crowding me against the desk. “So go on then, Princess. Prove me wrong.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I spat back. “How the hell am I supposed to prove something that is a figment of your imagination? Fucking crazy person.”
“I’m one of your guardians, too. Use me.” He poked me in the chest, and my brows shot up.
“No.” I recovered from my shock quickly and glared death at him.
“No? Why? You scared you’ll like it?” he taunted, boxing me against the desk with a dripping wet arm on either side of my huge skirt.
“Not even close,” I lied like a big old liar. “Get out of my face, Austin. I’m not fucking you when you so clearly find me repulsive.”
“Oh, Princess,” he chuckled, a dark sound, deep in his throat. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
For a tense moment, neither one of us spoke. Our gazes were locked, our faces only inches apart, as close as lovers and yet not touching at all. From behind Austin, the study door opened and a woman stepped through.
“Do you mind?” Austin snapped, not looking away from my startled stare. “We’re in the middle of something.”
“Austin.” The woman spoke, and the blood drained from his face. “I thought that was you I saw come in here. Well, either you or Caleb, but he isn’t so rude.”
“You,” Austin breathed, stepping back from me and spinning to face the speaker who, I could now see, was a small, delicate young woman with short red hair.
“Uh, let me guess,” I smirked without amusement. “Peyton?”
“Who the hell are you?” The nasty bitch sneered, eyeing me up and down like something the cat just dragged in. I glanced to Austin, but he still seemed gobsmacked.
“No one.” I slipped out from behind Austin and brushed past the petite woman. “Absolutely no one. See you at the auction in thirty minutes, Austin.”
I didn’t wait for his response before sweeping out of the room and shutting the door firmly behind me with shaking hands. Fuck, maybe I was more drained than anticipated.
Chewing my lip nervously, I debated going back into the study and throwing that poisonous bitch out so I could take Austin up on his offer. But I knew he had been bluffing, and whatever was happening between him and Peyton was probably going to be brutal. Nope, I’d be fine. Caleb, Cole, and River were all out in the main party somewhere, so I just needed to find one of them. Easy, right? I was armed to the teeth with weapons too, so I should be just fine alone for a few moments.
Of course, all the weapons in the world weren’t going to help me if I was too weak to use them. Stupid, Kit.
24
One of these days, I would learn to listen to my instincts rather than let my stupid, stubborn pride rule my actions. Would it really have been so damn hard to take Austin up on his offer? It wasn’t like we hadn’t kissed before, and fuck knows I was attracted to him despite my better judgement.
Nonetheless, my pride held me back from returning to that office and demanding that bitch Peyton leave so I could balance out my magic drain. Oh yeah, that’s what I was calling it. Because to admit to myself that I really just wanted to rip that soaking wet tuxedo from his body and let him do me on the desk was just too much for my exhausted brain to process.
Picking up the front of my ball gown, I descended the few steps into the main room and scanned the crowd for my guys. Stupidly, I no longer had my comms receiver, so I couldn’t even ask Wesley where they were.
Just as I thought I’d spotted the back of River’s head across the far side of the room, a commotion broke out, and I was bumped sharply from behind. Exhausted as I was, I lost my footing and hit the floor hard in a puddle of dress.
“So sorry,” a man apologized. “Here, let me help you up.” His hand wrapped around my upper arm like a band of steel and hauled me to my feet like I weighed no more than a wet kitten.
“Do you quite mind?” I snarled, pushing weakly at the heavyset man to try and dislodge his hand, but sadly it seemed I also had the strength of a wet kitten too.
You raging idiot, Kit. My eyes darted from the hard-faced man holding my arm and past him to the shadowy figure lurking in a doorway with a grin on his slimy fucking face.
“You’re supposed to be in Miami tonight,” I snapped, not wanting to believe what I was seeing.
“Amazing what a few well placed bribes will achieve, isn’t it?” My old nemesis Mr Gray sneered at me.
My gaze darted around the room, looking for my backup, but whatever was happening on the far side of the ballroom had caused a crowd of people to block me from view. The coincidence was too great to be believable.