Chapter 14 Aiden
I hated leaving Katarina on the dance floor. It was like she had this hold on me that would snap me back to her side if I got too far away. That probably wasn’t the best way to explain it, but there was a pull…an attraction to each other that I’d never felt with anyone before.
“What’s wrong with you?” Roman asked as I approached him in the corner. He’d carved out a little raised seating area where he could entertain conversations without it interfering with the rest of the event. It also gave him a vantage point that allowed him to see everyone.
“Nothing,” I lied, still feeling like I needed to be back next to Katarina.
“It’s her, isn’t it?”
I followed his gaze toward the dance floor, where Blaise was floating around the space with my woman in his arms. “There’s something going on—”
“Don’t,” Roman quickly said, cutting me off. “Not here and not now.”
I didn’t like the tension rolling off his shoulders, and I certainly didn’t like the way Murielle and her witches kept stealing glances at us from over their shoulders. Roman stepped behind me, just far enough to hide his face.
“Murielle has someone here.”
“Well, yes, Roman. The coven is here.”
“No, I mean someone we can’t see. I can sense them, but I can’t find them.”
Immediately, I understood what he meant. Murielle had set her spies loose in our home. “How many?”
“Two or three,” he said quietly. “I sent Dorian out on the grounds to make sure there aren’t more. But I need you to take care of the ones inside.”
“Any restrictions?” I asked. As in does he care how I handle the situation?
“No, just check in with Pasha first.”
“Got it, boss.” I hesitated a moment before teleporting out of the room—just needing one more glance at my woman to make sure she was safe.
“There is something about her,” Roman said by my side.
“Did you learn anything from Murielle?”
“It’s more about what she didn’t say,” he replied. “Katarina was sent here for a reason but I still don’t know if Murielle fully understands what that woman is capable of.”
I couldn’t hide my laugh. “Oh yeah, she definitely doesn’t know.”
Roman shook his head and hid his smile behind the glass of scotch he raised to his lips. “Just get her spies out of our house, Aiden.”
“You know I will,” I said, as I closed my eyes and pictured Pasha’s security room. A split second later, I popped into the space and scared the shit out of Roman’s boy.
“Holy fuck, Aiden!” Pasha spilled his mug of coffee when he jumped. Swearing and grabbing a napkin to pat his lap, he huffed and puffed as he tried to slow his racing heart.
I hated to admit that it made me laugh. I wasn’t a good person.
“What are you doing here?” Pasha finally asked once he recovered from his scare.
I walked around his desk and looked at the computer screens that showed almost every corner of the abbey in a rotating stream. “Roman sent me.”
“Oh,” he said quietly. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“It will be,” I said as I patted his shoulder. “Have you seen anyone lurking around the hallways?”
“No?”
I smiled down at the human. “Are you sure?”
“Aiden, what’s going on?”
“Roman thinks Murielle released a few spies.” I kept watching the monitors but hadn’t noticed anything suspicious yet.
Pasha scooted his chair back under the desk and started pounding away at his keyboard. “Hang on. I have something new that might help.” The screens suddenly went from black and white to a dark green. Every place there were people, their bodies lit up like fireflies.
“Is that—?”
“Thermo cameras?” Pasha asked smugly. “Yep. Just got them installed a few days ago.”
I clapped him on the back again. “Well, look at that little nerd boy. You actually are a genius.”
“And you’re an ass,” Pasha groaned. He continued to hit the keys are we filtered manually through the screens.
“Wait!” I said. “Go back one.”
Pasha complied and I smiled. “Gotcha.” There was a body lurking around our dining room. Far away from where any guest should be and proof enough for me that it needed to go. I was just about to teleport to the intruder when Pasha grabbed my hand.
“Hold on.” He opened the bottom drawer of his desk and handed me a small earpiece. “Take this and I’ll let you know where I see any more of them.”
“Good thinking, nerd.”
He shook his head and smiled. “You don’t have to call me that.”
“I know. But you are a nerd and we all love you for it.” Brushing my hand over the back of his head, I messed up his hair and disappeared before he could knock it away.
I was still laughing when I popped in next to our stairway and peeked into the dining room.
The man, sent by Murielle, had an invisibility cloak over him.
I knew he was in there, but I couldn’t see a damn thing.
“Hey, Pasha. Going to need your assistance. Where’s the fucker standing?”
A moment later, Pasha shouted into my earpiece almost making me scream. “By the fireplace.”
“Hey, nerd boy. Inside voice. Actually, use your inside spy voice please.”
He laughed and I vowed to pay him back. “Sorry. Still getting used to this equipment. Oh wait, he’s moving toward the door. Where are you?”
“By the stairs.”
“Aiden! He’s almost right on top of you.”
I immediately crouched against the wall hoping I could get some glimpse of his body from underneath the spell.
It had been such a long time since I’d been in the realm of the fae, so my ability to cast magic was shoddy at best. But I looked toward where I thought the man might be and whispered a one-word incantation.
It wasn’t much, but it worked well enough for me to bend the air over his form and give me just a glimmer of his outline.
“Found you,” I whispered a moment before I jumped toward him and tackled the witch to the ground.
He struggled beneath me, but I was a fighter. This is why Roman had taken me in. I was really good at one thing. Well, one thing other than sex.
And that was killing.
I snapped my fingers as I held the man in a chokehold. The tiny flame flickered on my fingertips, and I let the intruder see what I planned to do with him. “Big mistake sneaking around here,” I taunted.
He tried to speak to me, but I’d cut off most of his air.
I didn’t let up as he expelled his last breath and when I pushed him away from me, I let the flames in my hands reach his cotton shirt.
They didn’t catch at first, so I blew on the fire until they danced over all his skin.
However, this wasn’t a regular fire because I wasn’t a regular fae.
And as the flames flickered blue and then green and then faded away entirely when the body disappeared, I was grateful I still had all of my fire magic intact.
“Aiden! Look out!” I heard Pasha shout in my ear a second before something very large and very heavy tackled me to the ground from behind. My cheek slammed into the stone floor, and I swear I heard a tooth crack in my mouth.
“Son of a bitch!” I grumbled as I tried to get my hands beneath me.
But the person on my back had to be as large as Blaise and just as full of muscle.
When I could get out from under him, I closed my eyes and pictured the stairs behind us.
I disappeared and reappeared a few feet away, taking in a large breath of fresh air after having the wind knocked out of me.
I still couldn’t see the man’s form, but I was done dicking around.
With a snap of my fingers, the flames ignited and I blew a stream of fire toward the area where I thought the witch would be standing.
And I was right. As soon as the flames hit him, his cloaking spell vanished and he screamed in pain.
I should have felt bad, but I didn’t. Not when it came to protecting those I loved. And I loved everyone in this house.
The screams didn’t last long as my fire magic cleaned up all remnants of his life and of the crime.
I watched as the last piece of ash dissipated into the air, making me wonder, not for the first time, where all of these bodies went when I burned them.
Roman had a theory that they returned to the fae realm—another world living in parallel to ours.
It wasn’t a bad theory but it also hadn’t been proven.
Then again, I never intended on entering the fae world again, so I would never be able to check.
“Aiden?” Pasha whispered in my earpiece and I smiled.
“There you go, nerd. That’s how you speak into these things.”
“Aiden, there’s someone right outside my office.”
I didn’t miss the fear in his voice and I immediately teleported to the hallway outside of our security room.
When I landed, I must have scared the cloaked witch because she screamed and dropped her invisibility shield.
But instead of losing her composure completely, she immediately pulled a gun from her back and took a shot at me.
The bullet ricocheted off the stone walls and I had a moment of pure idiocy when I stopped and glared at her.
“A gun? Seriously?”
She jeered at me and pointed it at my head.
I disappeared as the shot rang out and then reappeared beside her and kicked the gun from her hand.
She screamed in frustration, whipped around, and slammed her hand against my chest. I thought she shot me—the pain of her magic slamming into me felt like a blast from a shotgun.
Or a stab from a bull elk. Both of which I’d experienced in my life.
I fell backward, tripping over my feet and unable to stop the slow fall to the ground.
Pasha slid into the doorway and shouted my name.
“Get back inside and lock the door!” I screamed back at him.
He managed to click the lock in place a second before the witch threw another one of her spells at him.
When the magic hit the stone wall, it hissed and bubbled with whatever evil had been stirring inside.
“What the fuck?’ I muttered, getting back on my feet, and readying for another fight.
I lit the flames on both hands and sucked in a deep breath.
The witch saw what I was doing and immediately cloaked herself again.
And as I tossed the fire in her direction, something slid on the floor and swiped my legs out from under me.
I yelled in frustration, quickly narrowing my eyes to see where she had gone.
“She’s running toward the dining room,” Pasha said, answering my silent thoughts.
I jumped to my feet and took off after her.
With every few steps, I threw another tendril of fire toward the space in front of me until I finally watched one hit.
The woman slid to a stop and tried to pat out the fire on her arm.
But it was too late. I jumped forward and pushed her body into the stone wall.
Her head smashed against the tunnel, cracking hard enough that even I winced.
And when she finally fell to the ground, I took a moment to catch my breath before cleaning up after myself.
“Is that all of them?” I asked Pasha.
“Hang on.”
As I waited, I suddenly had a thought race into my head that I didn’t invite in. What would Katarina think about me if she knew I was a killer?
“I think that’s it. Roman said Murielle is gathering her coven and making a move to leave. She must know that we killed her spies.”
“Good,” I said, feeling defeated and maybe even a little guilty. “I’m finishing up this one, but I need you to do me a favor.”
“Sure?” he questioned, unaccustomed to me asking him for favors.
“Please erase this footage.”
He paused a moment, still locked in his room and obviously trying to decide if he should go against Roman or not. “I’m not sure—”
“I don’t want her to see me like this, Pasha,” I whispered to him. “Not yet.”
He went quiet again and I worried that he wouldn’t help. I wouldn’t be mad at him, but I would be very disappointed. And I’d have to find another way of erasing the evidence of my killing spree.
“Okay, Aiden. Get rid of this one and I will help you.”
I leaned against the cold, stone wall and let out a deep breath. My head was a little fuzzy from the earlier hit and damn if this witch hadn’t grazed my left arm with her first shot. It would all heal by tomorrow, but still…was I losing my touch.
I slid to the floor and tossed my flames onto the dead witch.
Letting my eyes partially close, I watched the beautiful array of colors as her body burned and went on to…
well to wherever it went. I’d always been proud of the special gift bestowed on me from the fire fae side of my lineage.
But now I wondered if it was really a gift.
Would Katarina think that? Or would she see it as a curse?
I’d started to drift off to sleep when Pasha rushed to my side. His voice was muffled, and as his hands slapped my face, I hardly felt it. Even when he shouted into the air, I could barely hear his words.
It wasn’t until Dorian lifted me off the floor that I let the darkness take me so I could give my body time to heal.