You have no choice, Sienna, I’m taking you home.”
She raised an eyebrow, refusing to be forced back to a life that frightened her. “You said it yourself, Archer. I’m a powerful witch. You might want to keep that in mind when you threaten to caveman me home.”
“Now who’s threatening?”
Her smile was slow, cheeky, and challenged him in a way that only he would understand. He straightened, readying himself for whatever she was about to throw at him.
“Sienna, don’t you dare,” he warned softly.
Apparently, he knew her well.
Although she loathed using her powers, she also knew that they were the only way she’d get away from Archer. Shoving aside the fear, Sienna drew on them and took a step back. Archer cursed when a wall of fire sprang to life in front of him, cutting him off. His reaction was lightning fast but she was faster and a moment later, a circle of fire surrounded him, a striking glow in the darkness.
Fire. Her central power.
“Sienna, stop this Hocus Pocus crap.” There was no mistaking the fury in his voice.
She raised the flames, quietly chanting a spell to seal the circle. She knew that if he chose to use his powers, she’d have a fair fight on her hands. Her magic topped his, but he was stronger, angrier, and hard-wired to protect her. That alone was a power on its own. The rage that burned in his eyes spelt trouble and when his gaze shifted to the lake behind her, she knew she had to leave. Quickly.
He lurched forward but stumbled back when the heat of the flames hit him. “Sienna!”
“Stop resisting and the flames will die.”
As there was no chance in hell he’d accept his prison of fire, she knew the flames would hold and keep him from following her.
“Don’t ever look for me again, Archer.”
His jaw flexed, and he clenched each fist. Slowly, he pinned her with a heated glare. “I will find you, Sienna. Don’t fool yourself.”
With a shaky smile, she backtracked away from him. “You’re the fool for thinking you could broomstick me back home.”
She turned away, needing to flee before he saw the crack in her powers as her body wasn’t yet strong enough to maintain them.
And the fear of losing control always lingered.
“Sienna.” The change in his tone had her glancing back at him over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into a small smile. “Game on.”
****
It was only later, when Sienna felt the syringe slam into her neck in the darkness of her apartment, that she wished she’d allowed Archer to take off her necklace.
This time, she really was on her own.
BENNETT ESTATE, RAPID FALLS, CANADA
When the cold arm wrapped around his neck with a vicious grip, Archer wasn’t surprised.
Thanks to his heightened senses, alive with warning, he’d heard and smelt the intruder the moment he’d entered his house. Driven by instinct and armed with exceptional reflexes, Archer whirled around and rammed his fingers around his attacker’s neck in a deathly grip. He charged forward, slamming the intruder against the wooden wall of the living room, not caring when the wood splintered beneath the impact, his arm shoved against his neck. The action sparked a series of choking gasps of air.
“Your name.” When silence met his question, Archer added more pressure.
“Hunter,” the intruder gasped between clenched teeth. “My name is Hunter. Now get off me.”
Like hell. “What do you want?” Archer demanded, adding another quick slam against the wall.
“I have a message for you.”
“And you had to deliver it personally.”
Hunter straightened his body in a brief act of bravery. “It’s about your witch.”
The mention of Sienna’s name fuelled Archer’s rage more than the attack itself. Go figure. “Leave Sienna out of this.”
“We know where she is.”
With lightening speed, Archer grabbed Hunter by the shirt and hurled him across the living room. The resounding crash resonated through the room with a sickening crunch of splintering glass. Three long daggers pinned against the wall rattled against the wood. Without flinching, Archer bolted and landed on his attacker with a low growl.
He spotted the branded tattoo on Hunter’s wrist, and his gut clenched. The mark of the one warlock he’d hoped would never return.
Warrick Brogan.
Damn.
“You’re here for Warrick,” he said, reigning in his searing anger.
“He’s issuing a challenge to the Bennett brothers,” Hunter choked, flinching at the weight of the solid man on top of him.
“And what challenge would that be?”
“He dares you to find the witch before he does.”
Archer’s stomach rolled at the mention of Sienna’s name in the same sentence as Warrick’s. The feeling was almost unbearable – blind fury and the instinctive urge to protect shot through his body, fusing together in intense heat.
“Tell Warrick that I have a message for him.” The colour in Hunter’s face had changed to a distressed blue. When his eyes started rolling back in his head, Archer softened his grip. After all, he needed a messenger. “If anyone so much as lifts a finger to Sienna, the Bennett brothers will retaliate with so much wrath that it’ll make hell seem like an attractive place.”
Hunter gave a sly grin. “Warrick wants the Grimoire.”
Of course. “Tell him to get in line.”
“But he wants the witch even more.”
“Like hell.”
“You won’t be able to protect her forever.” His words, said with such malice and confidence, hit Archer straight in the gut.
The Keeper of the Wise. His ancestral duty was to protect the Beckham witches from the evils of men like Warrick Brogan and his minions. So far, he’d already failed dismally where Sienna was concerned.
Two years later and she was still in hiding. Damn her.
He’d also failed his sister, his parents, and Sienna’s parents too, and their deaths had sparked a bitter quest for vengeance.
He
