One Night With a Witch (Keepers of the Veil #5)

Chapter 1

1

C rashing parties and drinking too much? No problem. Saving an undercover MI6 agent with secret druid powers from assassination? This was a first.

Avery Donovan estimated fifteen minutes remained to inspire Eli to exit the swanky Boulonge-Billancourt Hotel bar before he might die. Might. Nothing definitive about information obtained from the precognitive vision of fellow Pleiades witch, Nicole. The nineteen-year-old s foresights came in short spurts. Although most predicted the future with accuracy, there d been a few doozies that panned out to be misleading mumbo jumbo.

With Eli s life she preferred to err on the side of truth. She rushed to Paris, dumped her druid bodyguard in the parking lot of the hotel, and waltzed into the social party after a long day of talks at the International Climate Conference.

Sure, Eli could take care of himself. He was a super spy who d been in the field for years. He d survived at least one episode of kidnap and torture, maybe more, not that he confessed his life s traumas to her. After one too many times of putting his neck on the line for her or one of her witchy sisters, she owed him. But, but, but being honest with herself, her here was about far more than a debt of gratitude. Years ago, he d been her high school megacrush right up until fate-or at least her mother s Tarot-dictated he wasn t the man for her. Her mother had channeled guidance from the spirits of their Pleiades goddess ancestors to divine the future and advice on life decisions through cards with eerie accuracy.

But she was over Eli.

Avery s phone buzzed against her chest. Don t answer it.

The buzzing continued, insistent. It could be an emergency, or updated information about Eli.

She retrieved the phone from her cocktail dress s cleavage. Shannon? Anything new?

Please, don t do this, honey, Shannon drawled in her thick Southern accent. I m worried about you. Eli can take care of himself, like I said twenty minutes ago. He s a big boy who doesn t need your help. Nicole s been known to misinterpret her visions from time to time.

I m already in the hotel, almost to the bar. At this point I might as well give Eli a heads-up. Avery scanned the throng clustered around bar-height tables. The crystal chandeliers in here are bigger than my car, and these paintings are incredible. I think my inner geek just died and went to heaven. These are genuine Roman classical paintings on plaster. How d they even get these? They reminded her of her barely begun master s thesis on early Greek paintings due in a few weeks. A due-date extension might be in the works, but she excelled at working under pressure.

A loud sigh came through the phone.

Shannon hadn t called to warn her off.

Why re you really calling me?

Shannon whooshed out, We might ve done something to help you get Eli s attention. We hoped it d make him more compliant to you getting him out of there. Now I feel bad we did it.

Oh, no. What kind of help ?

I found a charmed crystal in Merck s stuff. He mentioned something about its ability to boost spells. Shannon cleared her throat. The girls and I might ve invoked the crystal s magic and cast a spell to make Eli attracted to you.

You did what ? she screamed. Merck confiscated objects from evil black magic practitioners who murdered people for pleasure. Few, if any, of those items were benign.

A middle-aged man in a boxy, ill-fitting suit passed by. His gaze dropped to her chest. Avery whirled away from him and the bar s entrance so fast she knocked over a gaudy Christmas wreath on a stand.

Shannon said, I thought you needed an advantage. The girls agreed it was a good idea, but I wanted you to know before you saw him. You ve always had a thing for Eli, which means you might misinterpret what he does as being the real deal.

I do not have a thing for him. She tried fixing the wreath, but it refused to hang on its hook. Giving up, she rested it against the stand. Glitter from the wreath coated her hand; it wouldn t shake off. A few swipes against her black dress helped, but now her dress glittered.

Honey, that man is hotter than a stolen tamale. You always go a little mush brain around him. I think you suppressed how much you like him over the last few years, or maybe since your mom s reading. What a crappy sweet sixteen gift. I think the reading was total hooey, by the way.

Her heart hurt for her dead parents and sister, but in addition to grief, her emotional mash-up served a huge dollop of humiliation. Shannon fully expected her to fall into Eli s arms if he gave her a sexy smile. Okay, she might. In her defense, the man had a killer grin. And arms to die for.

Crap, she might not be as over Eli as she should be.

Avery gripped the phone so tight her hand cramped. I can t believe you guys did this to me.

I m sorry. Shannon hung up on her.

Her finger hovered over Shannon s number. No use returning the call. Even if all the girls got together to rescind the spell, it wouldn t happen in the next ten minutes.

A spell. Not good. Eli despised being the target of any sort of magic from she or one of her six fellow Pleiades witches. As a Sentry druid, Eli was one of the Greek gods-chosen protectors of Pleiades witches like her, even though he d taken a voluntary hiatus and run back to his position at MI6 after he almost died in the line of protection duty twice last year. Thank the gods he d been given super healing ability, and the ability to heal others, since it saved his own life both of those times.

Nope, not telling him about the spell.

She shoved the phone back into her dress. Not a lot of room in the top, but she had enough bust to make it work. With a fortifying flip of her long auburn hair, she prepared to face a bespelled Eli. One step and she almost fell over when her heel caught on the carpet. This outfit was a far cry from her normal jeans, a loose shirt, and flip-flops. Eli better appreciate that she d curled her hair and stuffed her feet into these four-inch death traps.

A slithery sensation tickled the back of her neck, one she knew only too well. A yellow-hued specter hovered twenty feet away. Don t stare. Seeing ghosts wasn t anything new. Nothing scary about this particular one. The last thing she needed right now was a friendly ghost chatting her ear off while she tried to save Eli.

Oh, no. Accidental eye contact with the ghost. Ugh. Why did this one have to be one with easy-to-see eyes? On most their eyes were hazy. A visual connection attracted lost spirits like a cat to a freshly opened can of stinky tuna.

The small orange-hued entity glided beside her, jabbering in a language that might be French.

She lifted a glass of champagne from a waiter s tray when he offered and chugged while careful to avoid any indication she saw or heard the ghost.

A delicate Asian woman hanging off the arm of a man at a nearby table raised her eyebrows at her. The ladylike thing would ve been to sip. Well, she wasn t a lady. And, aside from attempting to rescue Eli by herself being the stupidest thing she d ever done, the ghost s belligerent tone hurt her ears.

Jabber on, ghost. Ignoring them was a talent she d mastered by third grade. She traded the empty glass for a full one from another passing tray, toasted the Asian lady, and swallowed half the glass of bubbly in two gulps. The rest she sipped as she scanned around for Eli.

If anyone would die tonight, it wouldn t be him.

Time ticked. Laughter blared from a crowded table as glasses clinked together.

Her gaze drifted to the back of the bar. She scanned the four tables until bingo. Target acquired. A jumble of complex emotion hit her square in the chest like it did whenever she first saw Eli after a long time apart.

An hour ago, the idea of using seduction to lure Eli into leaving the bar seemed ludicrous. With the attraction spell in place, it became a serious option. Nah, who was she kidding? Spell or no spell, he d fight her if she attempted to seduce him into leaving. Getting it on with a Pleiades was a huge no-no for him unless he was her soulmate. And, that was a no.

To an outsider, being a witch sounded like she should have some serious life advantages. As a Pleiades goddess descendant, a human with a bit of magical skills whose ancestors had been labeled witches by uncreative, superstitious people, she wasn t a stereotypical witch. No eye blinks to grant wishes. No broomstick riding. No green-colored skin. But there were spells. And seeing ghosts.

The ghost, still vomiting words a mile a minute next to her, swiped a hand at her. She flinched. Aw, crap. Its gleeful laugh attracted a second ghost. Most ghosts, like these, were lost entities desperate to be recognized by a human. Evil spirits did exist, although neither of these were dangerous.

On a deep breath she stepped through the ghosts. Her touch would immobilize them for a few minutes. She never understood why but theorized she transmitted to them her command they leave her alone, even if the effect was temporary.

She d forgotten how hot she found the dangerous edge Eli emitted, a consequence of his lifestyle. Good Lordy, those forearms he d exposed by rolling up his white button-down caused her sex drive-which had been shriveled up like a dried chili that not even a good Chris Hemsworth movie could rehydrate-to explode to life.

Whew. She caught herself before fanning the front of her dress. Inappropriate. She wanted to step into Eli s fire and burn tonight. Burn, burn, burn to a crisp.

Wait a second. Had the ladies cast a two-way spell? The way Avery s body and mind demanded Eli be the one to sate some of her darker and dirtier sex fantasies right now suggested something otherworldly going on. This sucked.

Eli sipped brown liquid from a small tumbler while deep in conversation with a medium-height man of Mediterranean descent and a fifties-ish man with red hair. Since Eli was undercover or infiltrated or whatever he called it when working as an MI6 agent she had no clue what name he currently used. That would ve been useful information, but it wasn t as if she d been sent by his handler to do the personal, magical business that brought her here.

Come on, Eli. Look up.

Eli kept his full concentration on the conversation. Avery glided toward the table, taking time to absorb every detail of his powerful form. He wasn t cute or handsome like the Eli she d been briefly infatuated with in high school before the fateful Tarot reading. Now in his early thirties rugged described him best. His medium length dark hair had grown long enough to show a hint of wave at the back but not long enough to seem sloppy. The sharp angular lines of his face stubbled with beard shadow was an almost perfect mirror image of his twin brother.

The ghosts were back. They resorted to singing, loud and annoying. If alone, she d cast a protection spell to halt their intrusive behavior. But spells required chanting. Chanting in public got noticed. Rule number one as a person with magical abilities: Don t get caught doing weird stuff in public.

Eli s focus didn t deviate from the redheaded man who had his back to her. His lips tilted upward. Not a real smile, but an upturn of the mouth that was both polite and harsh.

Her heart pounded inside her ribcage. Look at me. Clock s ticking.

Less than eight minutes remained to make his exit happen. Nicole s vision told her something or someone would try to kill him at nine thirty p.m.

His gaze slid sideways. To a druid, her witchy magic emitted an energy he d detect on a subconscious level.

Deep blue eyes landed on her.

Her heart gave a few thrashes and then plummeted to her stomach. Awareness raced down her spine and through her limbs, tingling even her fingers. Yep, the spell definitely swung her way, too.

Eli s gaze widened for a moment before he masked his expression. Cool. Aloof. In perfect control. All of which equaled pissed off.

Time to get him out of here before the assassin hit his target.

Boom. The ghosts desperation for attention from her caused a chair to topple into the table next to her and wineglasses on the table to shatter. She jumped as did many around her. The crowd s reaction distracted the ghosts. She slid next to Eli and wrapped her arm around his waist, more out of desperation to feel safe from what had multiplied to four ghosts than the move being a part of her evacuation plan.

She leaned in to whisper, Please help me get out of here.

Although unplanned and partially true, her plea should play well on his fierce protective nature.

His gaze bounced around the room. When his eyes returned to her, they dropped to the low dip of the dress. His pupils dilated.

The images in her brain of every way to kiss his sensuous lips didn t help the sweat dampening her back. She shouldn t be interested in Eli. Couldn t be. Her non-bespelled body would only respond to one man. Her gods-chosen mate. That man shouldn t be Eli.

In his faultless British accent Eli said out loud to her, I ll take you up on that offer. He picked up the suit jacket he d draped over a chair and announced to the other men, If you gentlemen would excuse me

An eerie sense of warning slithered through her shoulders as she heard the rattle of ice cubes. She met the gaze of the Mediterranean man across the table who swirled his tumbler. The man hadn t shaved in at least a day. His dark widow s peek gave him a rakish machismo, but his soulless stare warned he cared little for fellow life and everything about remaining at the top of the power pyramid.

His gaze dropped to her chest. Care to share?

Nausea shot straight to her gut.

Eli s grip around her waist tightened. Not tonight.

The ghosts stopped making noise to flank the man across the table, crowding him close enough they touched him. Odd. They usually avoided touching humans since it elicited a shiver sensation in the unsuspecting person. She never experienced the shivers, probably because she saw them. Were they protecting her? The man cast a glare to his side. His eyes narrowed in threat. A fellow ghost-seer?

The ghosts fled.

Someone powerful enough to both see and scare ghosts wasn t a person she or Eli needed to be near. Maybe this man was the threat to Eli.

Eli clasped her hand tighter than necessary to lead her out of the bar toward the elevator. A stoic, suit-clad muscled giant trailed behind them.

Going up? Eli asked the gladiator when they arrived at the metal doors. He released her hand to put on his suit jacket.

Deep in her gut she identified the gladiator as a someone ordered to follow them. She d labeled this gut feeling long ago as instinct, but could more aptly be labeled intuition or perception. It was almost always right.

Yes. Up. The accent sounded Eastern European or Russian. His dark gaze slid over her then back to staring at the closed elevator doors. He emitted no discernible magical aura.

You ve entered a dangerous game. Show s not over, Eli whispered into her ear. Louder he asked, Your room or mine?

Yours. She focused on his blue eyes to keep from looking down at his lips. Don t look. Don t look.

Are you drunk? he asked.

Drunk on magic-induced lust. She shook her head. Oh, those lips. Beautiful lips. Sensuous. Probably talented or at least well-experienced. Far more experienced than she, no doubt. A taste tempted her beyond sanity.

You okay? he asked softly, his gaze penetrating hers. He looked deep, and he looked hard.

Her breath caught, and the universe stopped moving. Why was it so difficult to breathe all of a sudden? If he didn t look away she d humiliate herself and press her lips against his. It d be such a freaking relief to quench her desperation to touch him.

Nope. A kiss with Eli, spell or no spell, was a step into a forbidden zone. As a deterrent to random hookups, even the subtlest of lip locks between a Pleiades witch and a non-fated druid was magically guaranteed to be so revolting that it was hard not to vomit. She wondered if the spell might counteract it. Oh dear, she shouldn t have considered that. It freed the brakes holding her lust in check.

He pretended to kiss near her ear. Don t know what s wrong, but I ve got you.

She leaned into his body. I m better now.

Ding. Elevator arrived. Reluctantly, she stepped away from him. All three of them scooted inside. Eli pushed the second to top floor button. He wrapped his arm around her waist as if sensing her need to be close to him, probably thinking her insecure when that was nowhere near the case.

One furtive glance to their follower proved he might act like he wasn t paying attention to them, but he watched. This provided a great excuse to get closer to Eli. She draped her arms around Eli s neck and pushed him into the corner. She liked the fact he was almost a half-foot taller than her. At five eleven that didn t happen often.

Eli s gaze met hers, reticent. She wondered if he, too, feared this might induce nausea. His guard dropped for a moment. Shadows lurked in the depths of his eyes, squeezing her heart. So much history rested between them. The shadows fled in the wake of something smoldering. Her breath caught.

What s your fantasy? She cringed at her lame line.

Wouldn t you like to know? His lips compressed, but his eyes crinkled with humor.

Her heart jumped as a sharp, almost painful, desire tore through her. One deep inhale didn t do much to prepare her stomach for a possible nausea attack. She cupped the back of his head and pulled him down to her. Their lips met in the middle. No queasy stomach.

Thank you, spell.

Electricity streaked straight to her breasts and abdomen. His lips moved over hers, at first tentative with the lightest of touch, as if he, too, expected the worst. Then he pressed in for a real kiss.

He was so much bigger than he d been when she d been sixteen and he d been twenty-one, now filled out with roped muscle. That more skilled question? Emphatic yes. His expert lips drew out every ounce of pleasure possible from her mouth.

Eli shifted them around so her back was to the wall. He pulled away from her.

She bit back a moan of complaint and, without opening her eyes, tugged at his head to bring him back to her lips.

He whispered, How d you make this good?

Not discussing it right now. She smiled and encouraged him back to her mouth. When his tongue tickled the seam of her lips she gasped, shocked by the level of need swamping her. He took advantage, pressing his tongue inside. He didn t kiss her like she was just another girl. He kissed her like she was necessary to his existence.

Her toes curled inside the high heels as she stood on tippy-toe to get as close as possible to him, and everything around them dropped away.

There was only his large, warm body pressing into her, surrounding her. His mouth on hers seduced and teased, his hands sliding from her waist to lower.

He touched her ass, snapping her mind out of the haze. What was she doing? This was Eli, the man she was saving from assassination. They weren t it for each other, which made this wrong no matter how freaking fantastic the spell made it feel. His lips were back on hers.

Screw ethics. She d take this one for the team. Making out was in the name of saving Eli, right?