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Chapter Nine
Tamsin
I’ve just sat down to dinner after a long day of continuous testing in my makeshift lab when a loud knocking comes from the back door. Ainsley and Nessa both look over at me.
I get up from the table and they follow, past the sitting room and through the kitchen to the hall beyond. The back door is a bit closer to the dining room than I’m comfortable with. If you stand at the right angle, you can see across the hall and into that room. Where, of course, I have four demons stretched out on hospital gurneys.
When I reach the oaken door, I pause a moment. But before I can call out to see who it is, a gruff voice booms out, loud even through the thick wood.
“Tamsin, it’s Blake. Open up!”
I hesitate a moment, casting the other two women a look, and then I slide back the iron bolt and open the door, only about a quarter of the way. Nessa stands behind me, blocking the view beyond.
“Blake. What’s going on?” I ask.
“I need to borrow Ainsley,” he says, his eyes moving past me to the redhead. Blake’s old friend Colin is there, too, standing behind him.
That wasn’t what I was expecting at all. “We’re having dinner. What’s this about?”
He crosses his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes. “It’s about the man my warlocks found snooping around the nearby village asking about you.”
My mouth falls open and my heart skids to a stop. “What?”
“You told me you took care of things with the Night Guild… but it doesn’t seem you did as well as you thought you did.” He locks gazes with me.
“You want me to wipe his memories?” Ainsley asks, raising a brow.
“Modify. Not wipe.” Heat washes off Blake’s body, and his eyes flash. “We can’t have him disappearing and giving his employer a reason to come looking for him.”
“I set up misdirection spells around this place years ago,” Nessa calls from behind me. “Any outsider trying to set foot within a mile of this place will get very confused and forget all about what they were looking for.”
“You’re a good witch,” Blake says to Nessa, “But the people we’re dealing with aren’t going to be deterred by something so simple.”
Nessa makes a small huffing sound behind me.
“Well,” I say firmly, “Provided Ainsley is willing to help you, we’ll come over after we finish dinner.” I look over to Ainsley and she nods.
“We’ll wait,” Blake says, nodding his head toward Colin. He takes a step forward, clearly inviting himself inside.
Ainsley darts me a glance, then says, “I can go now. It’s fine.”
Blake’s brow wrinkles and he looks back and forth between the two of us. Then he looks over my head, which isn’t hard since he’s a good six inches taller than I am, his eyes sweeping the hall. I catch the moment his eyes land on something, and his mouth tightens.
Ainsley slips out through the partially open door and shoots Colin a smile. He offers her an arm, and they turn to head back to Blake’s.
But Blake’s gaze slides down to mine. “What’s in your dining room?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I say.
“Blake,” Colin calls from a few feet away, “Are you coming?”
“Go ahead,” Blake says, never taking his eyes from mine. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Behind Blake, Colin shoots me a look that seems to say I tried. Then there’s a swirl of magic, and he disappears with Ainsley.
Blake takes another step closer. “I’m doing everything I can to protect you, Tamsin,” he says, his voice low and vibrating with emotion. “And you’re still keeping things from me?”
I grind my teeth together and stare back at him, eyes blazing. “The things happening in my life right now aren’t things I can run around broadcasting. I can’t just tell everyone.”
