Feeling anxious and helpless, he said, “You guys should go.”
“You sure you don’t want me to stay?” Hudson asked.
“Thank you, but no,” Briggs said. “We’re good here.”
“And if the witch comes back?” Bishop asked.
“I’ll call Mal again,” Briggs said.
Bishop frowned, but Ronin gave Cece a look of empathy before clapping Bishop on the back. “C’mon, Papa Bear, time to go. Even if we did stay, there isn’t much any of us can do against a witch. Not until we get a protection spell.”
“One o’clock tomorrow at the office,” Mal said as he and the others filed out of the room.
“We’ll be there. Thanks, Mal.” Briggs waited until he heard the front door shut before he said, “Cece? Sit down, okay?”
Her body still trembling, she sank onto the couch, and he draped the blanket from the back of the couch around Cece’s body, making sure not to touch her.
He sat beside her. “You okay?”
“I’m so embarrassed,” she said in a voice clogged with tears. “I told them all you were my conduit and that we should f-f-fuck, and I… oh God, I sexually assaulted you.”
Tears streamed down her face, and his polar bear whined with misery at not being allowed to comfort his mate. Briggs wanted to hold her just as much as his bear, but he kept his hands in a tight fist in his lap.
“Baby, no,” he said firmly. “You did not sexually assault me. Get that out of your head right now.”
She stared at him, the scent of her misery dripping from her body. “You wouldn’t have done any of that with me if I hadn’t touched you. You’re only attracted to me because you’re my conduit. You’re not consenting, Briggs, okay? The magic is tricking you into thinking you are.”
“That’s not true,” he said.
“It is,” she insisted. “The attraction between us is because of magic, nothing more.”
Her words cut deeper than he expected. He’d suspected she only wanted him for the extra magic, but to hear her say it out loud was a cruel reality check.
She is our mate, his polar bear insisted, but Briggs could feel his confusion and uncertainty. With a soft whimper, he retreated until Briggs could barely feel him.
“I’m so sorry,” Cece whispered.
“It’s not your fault,” he said.
She stared at her hands. “I woke up, and the plants were carrying me down the hall. I thought I was dreaming until…”
She sighed, her body shuddering again. “I think we should ask Mal to assign someone else to stay with me.”
“No,” he said. His polar bear immediately resurfaced, angry and upset at even the thought of leaving Cece.
“You’re right,” she said, defeat in her tone. “I shouldn’t let anyone stay here. It’s too dangerous. If I hadn’t come downstairs, you’d be paralyzed right now, and I’d probably be dead.”
“Cece -”
“Tomorrow I’ll let Mal know I don’t need the firm’s help,” Cece said. Her voice was soft but steady, and she gave Briggs a faint smile. “You should go home, Briggs. There isn’t anything you can do here.”
“I’m not leaving,” he said. “And you’re not stopping the security detail.”
“I’m a grown woman who can make her own choices,” Cece snapped.
He didn’t have the words to describe the relief he felt at her spark of defiance.
“Mal has a warlock coming to the office tomorrow afternoon to do protection spells,” he said.
