Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers, #2)(17)

“No.” Ivan gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk and poured another glass of Scotch, appreciating the loyalty if not the wisdom in such an offer. “The storm will ground everyone, and I assume Vegar took her to shelter to wait it out.” They were both strong and well trained—surviving one arctic storm would be simple. Plus, Ivan had paid the witch twenty million dollars and promised to match it the second he delivered the woman. “Let’s wait for the storm to abate, and then you and I can go looking.” He had two other soldiers and a captain on the yacht, but he didn’t require their help at this point.

Vadim nodded and prowled across the rocking boat to settle his bulk into the seat. “I’ve investigated the money trail further, and so far, I don’t believe her people have any idea she’s looking for you here. In fact, my source in her organization thinks she’s on a luxury cruise right now in the Bahamas. She gave her name as Cee Cee Jones when she hired Vegar to show her your mines.” Vadim swirled the glass around in his massive hand, gaze intense on the spinning liquid.

Ivan smiled. “Her mother called her Cee Cee when she was a young child.”

“’Tis a sweet name for a demon.” Vadim took a healthy drink of the brew, humming in appreciation.

“Female demons are notoriously sweet as well as deadly.” Ivan refilled both glasses. “That one more than most. On both counts.”

Vadim stretched his long legs out and crossed his boots, appearing relaxed yet always on the ready to protect and defend. “And intelligent, considering she’s eluded you for three decades.” Pure fact and no derision echoed in his hoarse tone.

“Three decades? That woman has eluded me for over a century.” Ivan inhaled the scent of the expensive liquor, his blood thrumming at being this close to her. Finally.

“Yet you’re willing to take her back. To make her a partner in your life.”

Of course he was. “She’s stunning, brilliant, and dangerous. Most important, she’s a purebred demon.” Ivan drew out his wallet to remove a photograph. It had been taken at the turn of the current century, in black and white, and had faded almost to white. Yet her outline, the beautiful blond hair and sparkling black eyes, remained in place. But maybe the paper had faded to the point that only he could see her. He frowned and returned the picture to its rightful place before sliding a manila folder across the desk.

Vadim opened the top to reveal a recent picture of her in Seattle. She wore modern jeans that cupped her ass and too-dark glasses that masked her glorious eyes. “She is beautiful—and so rare. A real purebred female demon.”

True. Although she had defects, she was still a purebred and beyond incredible. A mixture of kindness, femininity, and deadliness that formed the sexiest woman he’d ever met, and he’d lived nearly two hundred years. Nobody, not one woman, regardless of species, had ever come close to her.

Vadim lifted his head. “You’re a lucky man.”

Lucky? Hell, no. He’d been chasing her for so long, he had begun to despair that he’d ever catch her. Yet when the war had ended more than a year ago, he figured it was time for her to make a move. So when he’d been approached with an intriguing offer for his planekite resources by an outside partnership, he’d figured the timing was fortuitous as well as perhaps fated. He’d begun mining again, in Norway as well as Russia, to see if he could draw her out. Surely she felt safe enough, settled enough, to pick up the game again. And here she was on his island, just a few miles away, no doubt ready to meet him head-on. “Now here she’s come, trying to find me.”

“Why not just call you up?” Vadim asked. “Why the game of hunting you down through the mines?”

Ivan lifted a shoulder. “I guess it’s because she’s ready to kill me now.”





The smell of cooked meat and freezing snow permeated the small school kitchen, banishing the scents of blood and burned flesh. Daire had caught, skinned, and cooked a rabbit over the fire, and now only a small plate of meat remained in the room.

“Finish eating that bite, Cee Cee,” he rumbled, sitting next to her, the play of firelight dancing over the hard angles of his face and down his ripped torso.

She took another bite, trying not to grimace, and working hard to keep the food on the good side of her mouth before swallowing.

“Don’t like rabbit?” he asked.

“Don’t eat meat usually,” she murmured, eating more to regain strength. Wild rabbit was much greasier than she would’ve thought.

He chuckled, his broad chest moving nicely. “A vegetarian demon.”

She leaned her head back against the wall. “I hope it was really a rabbit and not some shifter.”

He snorted. “No such thing as a bunny shifter.”

She sighed. Shifters were either feline, wolf, or multis. “A multi-shifter could become a rabbit, I think.”

He shook his head. “When was the last time anybody saw a multi-shifter?”

She shrugged. “Bears. All sorts of bears.”

“Yep. Prevailing theory is that all multi-shifters evolved into some sort of bear.”

Maybe. She didn’t really care. “How bad is my face?”

“It’s killing me,” he deadpanned.

Humor bubbled through her, but she kept a smile at bay to avoid more pain. “Hilarious.”