X Marks The O’s (Season’s Readings #2)

Chapter 13

A morette kicked and yelled and bit, but the man would not release her as he dragged her deeper into the mansion. Her heart beat so viciously, she feared it would rip free from her chest. Where was Valentin? Was he hurt? Was he alive? She screamed against the man’s meaty fingers, thrashing wildly. She needed to escape, to help Valentin.

“Shut up,” the man growled, his spit hitting her ear as he spoke, and Amorette recoiled. A flash of gold caught her vision at her movement, and she froze in her captor’s grip. The arrow. She still had it. How had her guard not noticed? Amorette waved the projectile experimentally, but he was blind to it. Her hope surged anew. Cupid could conceal both his true form and his weapon from human eyes. His glamour must extend to the arrows parted from his presence, and if the brute manhandling her couldn’t see it, then Valentin was still alive. Amorette took a steadying breath. Her captor was undoubtedly taking her to Cavitto… with a golden arrow of Cupid clutched in her fist.

Amorette stopped fighting, her mind silently begging Valentin to hurry. He would break free and come for her. He promised. She just needed to survive until he did.

After endless turns through the garish mansion, the man dragged her to the lower levels and into a cleanly styled office. Its sleek and tasteful design didn’t match the flamboyance of the rest of the house, and she knew. This was where Cavitto ran his empire from. This was where he hid from the world, not one person thinking of searching a philanthropist’s basement.

“Back already?” a male voice asked, its malice coating her skin with dread. “Did you bring my money? Or must I take the payment from your flesh?”

Her captor shoved her into the room, locking the door behind them as Amorette came face to face with Cavitto. An involuntary shudder raced up her spine as she stared down at him, his cruel eyes eating her alive as if she was nothing. Her gaze flicked behind him where a barely recognizable Doug sat tied up and unconscious, and she fought down the bile burning her throat at the gruesome sight. He was alive; she reminded herself. She may hate him, but at least he wasn’t dead.

“Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to stand there like a stupid girl?” Cavitto asked, his calmness a threat. “Because that’s what you are. A stupid little girl. You didn’t have the money. I knew that this morning, but it was fun to watch you squirm. Although now that you have not only killed Derrick but many of my men, I’m done with this game. You should have let me shoot you because what I’ll do to you now will be so much worse than death.”

His calmness pricked her skin with terror, hands sweating as her heart panicked. She twisted her slick palms around the golden arrow and was once again surprised when neither Cavitto nor her guard batted an eye at it. Its shaft was as long as her torso, more spear than arrow in her fist. He should be able to see it, but his blindness meant one thing. She took a steadying breath. Cupid was still alive. He was coming for her, but she wasn’t the same woman she’d been this morning. Valentin had shown her that. He believed his power clouded her judgment, but she was more herself than ever. She finally felt comfortable in her own skin, confident in her purpose. He encouraged her bravery, her inner warrior, and while she knew he would rescue her, she would help save herself.

“I would be careful what you threaten me with,” Amorette said smugly, slowly shifting her weight into position. “Vengeance is coming for you, and his wrath won’t be satisfied until all who harmed me pay their debts.” She smiled at Cavitto’s confused expression. “Your words sealed your fate. I would refrain from saying anything to anger him further.”

Cavitto laughed, unconcerned by her threats. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

“As will I.” And with that, Amorette swung the arrow backward. The sharpened arrowhead slammed into her captor’s temple, knocking him into the wall with a spray of blood. For a split second, Amorette stood confused by the power emanating from her arm, but her focus turned on Cavitto before she lost the element of surprise. With a feral roar, she charged the desk and leaped onto it, crawling across the wood until she knelt face-to-face with the mafia boss.

His eyes stared up at her in shock as she pressed the arrow into his throat. He paused for a fraction of a second before reaching for his gun, but Amorette shoved the sharpened tip further into his neck until a trickle of blood trailed down his skin. Cavitto paled, and she grinned wickedly as he finally registered the ruthless weapon in her hands. Her lips parted to speak, but a sudden commotion outside silenced her. She froze, arrowhead digging into his soft flesh as they listened to the war being waged. When the fighting grew closer, Amorette smiled. Cupid had come for her.

A second later the door flung open, its hinges warping at the force, and Valentin lunged into the office, bow aimed and at the ready until he saw her crouched on the desk, Cavitto at her mercy.

“I see you didn’t need me, Amor.” He strode forward, his aim never leaving Cavitto as he rounded the desk.

“I’ll always need you,” she said, triumph bubbling over in her chest. “I’ll always want you to come for me.”

“And I always will.” He settled before Cavitto, and the softness his features reserved for her vanished. “Mr. Cavitto, you threatened my Amorette. Your men put their hands on her. No one touches what’s mine and escapes unpunished. By the time Valentine’s Day end, you’ll regret ever laying eyes on my beautiful Amor.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Valentin draped a muscled arm over Amorette’s shoulder as they surveyed his handy work. Police sirens sounded in the distance, drawing ever closer, but they lingered, enjoying the sight before them for a few more minutes.

“This is a better gift than roses,” she said, her arm slipping around his waist.

“Better than chocolate?” he teased.

“That’s pushing it.” She rose onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was soft and romantic. Anyone watching would see a couple on a date, not two vigilantes desecrating a millionaire’s home, purging the head of the mafia from its well-defended walls.

After Valentin found her in Cavitto’s office, a golden arrow pressed against his throat, he had hunted down every man in the building, including the pompous owner, and hauled them out onto the grass. He left most of them alive, only killing the men who pinned him down while Amorette was dragged into the basement. But she could live with their deaths.

She had helped him as best she could after they transported the criminals outside, and using his golden arrows, Cupid strung up every man, Cavitto and Gaynes hanging in the middle for all to witness. If the police required probable cause to breach the property line, they would give it to them, and what a sight it was. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the fact that he kept edging her without relief, but this Valentine’s Day gift of her enemies stacked like human décor along the walls of the mansion turned her on. Valentin hadn’t needed to protect her. He didn’t owe her anything, yet he had stepped up to bat to save her, and heavens how he swung.

Their kiss turned searing, hunger and excitement electrocuting the surrounding air, but the suddenly loud sirens broke them apart.

“We should go.” Valentin pulled his arm off her shoulders and extended his palm. She threaded their fingers together, and he led her into the shadows just as the first police car raced down the drive.

They walked in silence until they reached his hidden motorcycle. The street was teaming with a sudden army of cops and paramedics, and Amorette studied the flashing lights with a critical eye.

“Your magic? How does it work?” She pulled her hand from his as she strolled backward toward the bike. “It conceals your ears and tactical gear. Does it make only your weapons invisible, or can you disappear too?”

“It’s a glamour,” Valentin answered, crossing his arms across his broad chest as he watched her. “It isn’t invisibility, but rather I make people see what I want them to. My friend Nick is the reigning Santa Claus. The guy is a huge muscled brunette, but on Christmas Eve, his glamour shows him as the jolly man in red.”

“You know Santa?” Amorette gawked. “He’s real?”

“Very.”

“I…” She shook her head with an infectious smile. “I’m tucking that away for later because I want the full story.”

“I’ll tell you as much as I’m allowed to.”

“Deal.” Her grin turned wicked. “The arrow in my hand was glamoured before so no one noticed it. It’s how I cornered Cavitto. If your glamour works on your weapons in my control, can it work on me?” He nodded, eyes stalking her as she seductively leaned against his bike. “So, if the police or a nosy neighbor walk by, they won’t see me do this, right?” She grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head. Valentin made a strangled noise at the sight, and she fingered the buttons of her jeans. “And they won’t see me do this either?” She peeled her pants and shoes off until she stood in nothing but her bra, her panties still safely tucked away in his pocket. “And they definitely won’t see me do this?” Her eyes burned electric as she reached behind her and undid her bra.