Page 45 of Knight of the Sword

As Morgan walked up to the door of Robert’s home, she caught a whiff of magic. Her head snapped up, nostrils flaring, trying to catch its direction. Nothing. Yet she could have sworn she felt the metallic tingle in the air… She narrowed her eyes and looked around. Next door, a yardman clipped a hedge, but she detected no magic from him. Across the street, a young woman, probably a nanny, walked with a small child. No magic there either. Down the street, a dark sedan was parked, and she hesitated. Was there a slight crystalline vibration surrounding it? The air seemed to shimmer like a desert heat wave, but even as she watched, it dissipated to nothing.

Morgan sighed. She wished she were a more experienced witch, but the Sisterhood Circle had not deemed her ready for initiation into truly powerful spells. Damn them. She was getting a little fed up with playing the whore. Sex was a tool—and a powerful one to use with black magic—if she could just learn the spells. She wanted the power to stand up to Adam Baylor. One day she would make him pay for not respecting her.

Not just yet, though. She could sense the evil the exuded from him. It was intoxicating. Every time he came inside her, she captured a little more of its essence. She smiled. The man was a fool if he thought he was using her. But she was wise enough not to test him. Yet.

She rang the doorbell, glad she had called ahead and Robert had arranged for her to meet him here. She hated driving through the mess of Stemmons and Thornton where his office was.

“We’ll take the Hummer,” he said as he stepped out and eyed her small car. “The dragon will never fit in that.” He snapped his fingers and, a few minutes later, a servant brought the big vehicle around.

As Morgan settled into its luxuriously padded leather seat, she hiked up her skirt to mid-thigh and gave Robert a seductive smile. It never hurt to gather a bit of power from wealthy, successful men. Besides, the guy was Sophie’s ex, and there was a certain amount of satisfaction in taking what had belonged to another woman. Especially that bitch who had Michael enthralled.

Robert glanced at her and then away. “I appreciate the invitation,” he said in a dry tone, “but this is strictly business. I want to capture that dragon.”

Morgan thrust her lower lip out, but kept her skirt hiked. “Don’t worry. You will. I explained the plan to you on the phone.” Adam had gone over it with her in detail while he wove dark threads of sorcery into the garrote she had in her purse. “But what’s the harm in a little romp in celebration? You’re a really awesome-looking guy and I’ve never had any complaints about my skills.”

“I’m sure you haven’t,” he said in that same dry voice and then turned up the volume on the CD that had started to play.

They drove in near silence toward Arlington. Morgan studied his profile. He was tense, square jaw clenched, the muscles in his forearms rippling as he gripped the steering wheel, weaving in and out of traffic. An altogether very pleasing specimen. The fact that he had actually denied her piqued her interest as well. Except for Michael, no man turned her down. It might be interesting to wear him down…

“Here we are,” he said, jolting her out of her thoughts as he turned into a quiet side street. Morgan hadn’t even noticed when they’d exited the freeway. “It shouldn’t take long to get Sophie fired up,” he said as he knocked on her door. “You’ve got the rope ready as soon as the dragon charges in?”

“Right here.” She patted her purse. “Just let me get in and a short distance away from you so I can come up behind him.”

“Got it.”

They waited. He knocked again. No answer.

Robert pounded the door. “Hell, where could she be? She’s got a broken leg!”

“She has crutches. Maybe she’s outside in the back.”

As they rounded the house, Morgan crossed the patio and tried the French doors. They swung open. She glanced at Robert and took out the garrote. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

They were met with silence. Ten minutes later, after a thorough search of the house, Robert cursed. “I thought you said they’d be here!”

“They were!” She couldn’t very well tell Robert that the dragon key-ring held a GPS and that there had been no signal that it had moved from here.

“Well, they didn’t disappear into thin air!” he said. “I goddamn want that dragon! It’ll be the leverage I need to get Sophie back.”

Morgan stared at him. The stupid man actually loved that bitch? Like that was an important thing? But she had a bigger concern than that.

Adam wanted the dragon and he had counted on her to get it. She’d managed to elude his finding out about the herbs she’d put in Sophie’s drink that caused the accident. But now, no dragon…

She shuddered, a chill like ice running through her veins. Unfortunately, she knew what happened to people who let Adam Baylor down.

****

“You must know something,” Michael said to Allison the next morning at the clinic. “Has she called you?”

“Why should she? I’d already told her while she was still in the hospital that I’d have one of the other vets who works with us at Palo Pinto come in if I needed more help. The last time I heard from Sophie was just before she was dismissed from the hospital.”

“I thought you took her home,” Janie said.

“I did. I went to get some groceries and when I got back, she was gone.” Michael looked over at Morgan, who was busying herself with files. “Have you seen her or talked to her?”

Morgan shook her head, a little too quickly. “Not me.”