Chapter 31
Cece’s magic flooded Briggs’s system like a flash fire, bringing visions of towering moss-covered trees and rolling green hills.
He groaned, his hands clamping onto Cece’s hips as she took the kiss deep, her tongue sliding against his with a frantic need. He forgot about the dark witch and the danger, as hot need erupted inside him like a volcano.
He growled into her mouth, his hands spearing into her hair to hold her steady as he kissed her with all of the pent-up desire he’d felt for weeks now. Cece moaned, and the sound went straight to his hard and aching dick.
He ground her against him, growling again at her gasp and the way she rubbed her pussy against his cock.
“Need to give you my cock, little witch,” he growled into her ear before cupping one full breast. He teased her nipple into a hard point, and another flash of her magic through him sent a jolt of pure need straight to his dick.
They kissed again, mouths mashed against each other with no finesse but plenty of need and desire. Briggs sucked hard on her tongue before dropping one hand to her ass. He squeezed one full cheek and pressed her against his cock.
She moaned his name, and he kissed her again. “I need to fuck you, my mate.”
“Soon,” she whispered before wrenching herself free of his grip.
She was up and running out from behind the truck, her body glowing with bright green light, before Briggs could even react.
He jumped to his feet and went after her, his bear roaring in pure fury when hands grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He glared at Hudson. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
“No,” Hudson growled. “You’ll just get yourself killed.”
“She’s my mate,” he snarled, climbing to his feet. His body swelled, and he watched white hair sprout across Hudson’s jaw as his friend started to shift as well. “I won’t let her do this alone.”
“She’s not alone,” Ronin said. “She has Monroe, and I know you don’t want to hear this, but he’s a bigger help to her right now than you are, big guy.”
Briggs turned and growled at the phoenix shifter, and Ronin held his hands up. “Look at them.”
He whipped around again, fear and pride surging through him when he saw Cece standing beside Monroe.
Green light radiated from her hands, and she stared unblinkingly at the witch as she recited incantations.
The beams of teal and green weaved together, pulsing brighter, and the witch shrieked as the red light surrounding her dimmed.
Bishop was yanking off his gloves and handing them to Clay. He pulled them on as Mal tossed him his car keys. “Third car on the left, do you see it?”
“I see it,” Clay said.
“Don’t touch the rock with any part of your skin,” Kat said.
He nodded, and before he could teleport, she said, “And don’t fucking die.”
Clay grinned at her. “Afraid Em will kick your ass if I do?”
She growled at him as he disappeared, kicking up a small swirl of snow.
His stomach roiling and his bear growling at him as he tried to force Briggs to shift, Briggs gripped Bishop’s truck, the metal creaking under his hands as he watched his mate battle the dark witch.
The wind picked up, bringing the faint sound of sirens with it.
“How will we know when the barrier spell is broken?” Bishop asked.
There was a bright flash of teal and green light that had them all throwing their hands up to shield their eyes. The witch shrieked again, a long, drawn-out sound of agony that made Briggs’s balls want to crawl up into his body.
He lowered his hand, squinting in the light, a “holy fuck” falling from his lips when a sound as loud as a crack of thunder split the air, and the red light surrounding the dark witch blinked out of existence.
“Now!” Cece shouted as hers and Monroe’s lights disappeared.
Clay appeared before the witch, the rock held in one gloved hand. Despite the wind and the growing wail of sirens, Briggs heard him perfectly when he grinned at her and said, “Hey, sweetheart.”
He smashed the rock against the witch’s chest, and her body immediately stiffened. Clay pushed lightly on her forehead, and she fell over, her body slamming into the frozen ground like a plank of wood.
“Fuck me, it worked!” Ronin crowed with delight as Cece staggered on her feet, and Monroe slipped his arm around her waist.
“Cece!” Briggs raced for his mate, his bear whining unhappily when Cece held up her hand as he reached for her.
“No,” she said.
“My mate.”
“I’m okay,” she said.
She didn’t look okay. She was pale and trembling, and while a faint teal light still surrounded Monroe, there wasn’t even a hint of green light around Cece.
“Please,” Briggs said.
“You can’t touch me, not here, not now,” she said. “I’m okay, honey. It just took a lot of my magic.” Briggs’s bear whined as Monroe helped Cece over to a car, and they leaned against it.
Mal crouched next to the paralyzed witch. She glared at him, her eyes rolling in her sockets, but her body remained perfectly still as Bishop joined him. “Christ, now what do we do?”
“The police are on their way,” Monroe said. “They’ll call the WWC crime division when they get here and realize it’s magic.”
“You should go,” Kat said to Clay. “Tell the others we’re safe and we’ll see them soon.”
He nodded and disappeared in a puff of wind.
“Fuck,” Monroe said. “Teleportation or magic?”
“Wait, you can use magic to teleport?” Ronin asked.
“If a witch is powerful enough, yes,” Monroe said.
“Holy fuckballs. Kitten, are you hearing this?” Ronin said.
Three police cars, their sirens wailing and their lights flashing in the cold night air, turned into the parking lot.
Ronin immediately raised his hands before glancing at the others. “Hands up, kiddos. No one wants to survive a witch fight just to get accidentally shot.”
His bear still roaring at him to touch his mate, Briggs raised his hands, keeping his gaze on Cece as she gave him a weary smile and did the same.
“Christ, I feel like I’ve been through the damn wringer.” Kat rubbed the back of her neck, groaning in appreciation when Ronin immediately pushed aside her hands and gently kneaded her neck. “Thank you, honey.”
They were back at the office, and while it had only been five hours since the battle with the witch, the exhaustion running through Briggs’s body tried to convince him it had been years.
After the police arrived, they were taken to the closest precinct with a WWC division.
They’d spent the next few hours in separate interview rooms being grilled about what happened.
Being separated from Cece had sent his bear into a tailspin, and he’d had to work hard not to shift.
The witch was taken into custody by the WWC, and, to Briggs’s surprise, the rest of them were released without any charges.
He suspected that had to do with Monroe, and despite his personal feelings for the warlock, he was beyond thankful to have someone with a connection to the WWC in their corner.
He eyed Cece anxiously. She was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with Ava on one side and Rosalie on the other. Her eyes were closed, and she looked exhausted and unwell. His bear whined, and Briggs did his best to soothe it as Emerson joined them and hugged Kat.
“Clay and I are gonna go, Kat, unless you need us to stay?”
“No, we’re good. Thank you, Emmy.” Kat returned her hug before hugging Clay. “Thanks for saving our asses, big guy.”
“Any time,” Clay said.
Mal held out his hand, and Clay shook it. “I’m in your debt for saving my mate and cub.”
“We all are,” Hudson said.
Willow joined them, slipping her arm around Mal’s waist. Despite it being two in the morning, she looked surprisingly perky as she smiled at Clay. “Thank you for my first teleporting experience. Sorry about the puking.”
Clay grinned. “Everyone pukes the first time.”
“Ava didn’t,” Willow said. “She didn’t even feel nauseous, and poor Rosalie and I were barfing everywhere. Thank God you teleported us outside the office building, not right here in reception. I don’t have it in me to clean up that much puke from the carpet.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t that much,” Emerson said.
“It was like that pea soup vomit scene from The Exorcist,” Willow said solemnly.
“It was.” Ava joined them, and she leaned against Bishop as he kissed her forehead.
“What about the warlock?” Clay asked.
“I spoke to him,” Mal said. “He’ll keep your secret.”
“Will he?” Clay’s voice was deceptively light, but he had a look on his face that made Briggs and his bear uneasy.
“He will,” Mal said firmly. “He’s not a danger to you, Clay.”
“We’ll see,” Clay said before he wrapped his arm around Emerson’s waist, and they disappeared in a puff of wind.
“Shit. How sure are we that Clay won’t kill Monroe now that he knows what Clay is?” Bishop asked.
“He won’t,” Kat said.
“You’re willing to bet Monroe’s life on that?” Bishop asked.
“I am,” Kat said. “Trust me, Bishop. Clay won’t harm Monroe.”
They all looked up when Monroe came out of Mal’s office, tucking his phone into his pocket.
“Anything?” Mal asked.
Monroe shook his head. “They’ve reversed the paralyzing spell, but she’s not telling them why she’s after Cece. She’s…” he hesitated, “mostly insane and talking nonsense.”
“Shocking,” Kat said.
“The dark magic drove her to insanity,” Monroe said. “I doubt she was like this before she started using it.”
“Do we know who she is?” Bishop asked.
“The WWC are working on it,” Monroe said before glancing at Cece. “They are confused, though, as to how Cece could help me defeat her when she’s registered with the WWC as just an apprentice witch.”
“What did you tell them?” Briggs’s voice was sharp.
“The truth,” Monroe said evenly. “That Cece recently had an increase in her magic abilities and discovered that her father was a blood witch. They’ve changed her WWC registration to half-blood.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t mention the conduit thing, Briggs. I told you and Cece I wouldn’t, and I meant it.”
“Thank you,” Briggs said. He was being an asshole, and Monroe didn’t deserve that. “I’m being a dick, and I apologize. We all would have died tonight if it weren’t for you.”
“You totally saved our asses tonight. Which means you’re part of the Scooby gang now. Welcome to the club. New members bring cookies to their first meeting.” Ronin clapped him on the back, and Monroe grunted, pushing his glasses back up his nose when they slid down.
“Thanks. I think?” He rubbed his neck again. “Christ, am I tired. I need to speak to Cece, and then I’m gonna go.”
He joined Cece and Rosalie on the couch, and when he took Cece’s hand, Briggs reminded himself that Monroe had saved all their goddamn lives tonight. His bear, though, was ruled by instinct, and the urge to go over there and stop Monroe from touching their mate was a steady drumbeat in his head.
“Mal, can we talk in your office for a minute?” Briggs asked.
Mal nodded, and with one last glance at Cece, Briggs followed him into the room. He shut the door, and Mal said, “It’s been one hell of a night, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m handing in my resignation on Monday.”
“Why?” Mal asked calmly.
“Cecelia is my mate, and tonight has proved that the best way to keep her safe is by letting her use me to increase her magic. I won’t be separated from her on days off or be denied the chance to mate with her.
I know there are rules about how we interact with clients, and I respect that. Which is why I’m quitting.”
Mal studied him for a moment. “Eh, they’re more like guidelines than rules.”
“What?” Briggs said.
“There is no actual rule that says employees can’t sleep with clients,” Mal said.
“And even if there were, obviously, we wouldn’t keep you from your mate.
Kat, Bishop, and I appreciate the work you do for us.
You’re a good employee, and we’d hate to lose you.
I feel safe in speaking for them when I tell you that we’re perfectly fine with you having a relationship with Cece. ”
Relief swept through him. “I appreciate that. More than you know.”
“So no more talk of quitting, yeah?” Mal clapped him on the shoulder and changed the subject. “The witch tonight is the same one you saw at Cece’s house, right?”
“She is.”
“Okay, so do you think Cece’s family will send someone else to go after her?”
“I don’t know.” Briggs ran a hand through his hair. “Cece’s grandfather contacted us yesterday.”
“What?”
“Sorry, I should have told you sooner, but with everything that happened… anyway, he approached Cece and was… nice.”
“Nice?”
“It’s a long story which I’m happy to explain tomorrow or Monday, but basically, he says he didn’t know anything about Cece even before the amnesia spell was put on them.
He found out about her by accident a week or so ago, and despite his wife and son asking him not to, he secretly reached out to Cece.
We had coffee with him, and he assured her multiple times that it isn’t his family who is after her. ”
“Do you believe him?” Mal asked.
“I don’t know. He seemed sincere, but it could be for show. He gave Cece his number and told her to call him when she was ready. He flat-out refused to believe that his wife or son killed Cece’s father, which is a red flag to me.”
“Sure,” Mal said thoughtfully, “but we never want to think the people we love are capable of something like that.”
“True,” Briggs said.
“I think for now, we continue with the security detail for Cece. At least until we know for sure it isn’t her family. Maybe the WWC will have some luck in getting the witch to confess, or at least find out who she is and if she’s connected with Cece’s family.”
“Maybe,” Briggs said. He glanced at the door, itching to see Cece, to confirm that she was okay. His bear didn’t like having her out of his sight, and, honestly, Briggs didn’t either.
Mal squeezed his shoulder. “Take your mate home, Briggs. We’ll talk more on Monday.”