Page 18 of In the Line of Fire
“Her mother ran when her father died, leaving her at a fire station out of fear. She died before Blake could find her, so Opal grew up without having an idea that magic even existed.”
Demi made a tsk-ing sound and shook her head. “An untrained witch is a temptation for dark practitioners. They’re drawn to the untapped power because they can drain it for themselves.”
“She ended up running straight into the arms of her destined consort, Warren,” Damien pointed out another similarity in our stories.
“You saw them recently, didn’t you?” Demi asked.
Damien nodded. “Yes, Blake extended an invitation to a family gathering, and I took him up on the offer since it was a good opportunity to touch base with him and Rowenna.”
“There’s also the fact that you enjoy pushing Warren’s buttons since the boy seems to get all riled up when you’re around.” Dean chuckled.
Damien continued as though his dad hadn’t said anything. “Opal’s mother-in-law is the air witch on the council. She hates dark practitioners with a depth that rivals mine. You have nothing to fear from her.”
I couldn’t imagine that a time would ever come to pass when my parents wouldn‘t loathe dark practitioners. “I can certainly understand why.”
“And Audra, a water witch, serves on the shifter council. She’s mated to Carrick McMahon and took her daughter Selene’s spot on the council when she gave birth to the first baby born to a shifter-witch couple. Selene is Carrick’s son’s mate, so Audra’s grandchildren have shifter blood running through their veins. She won’t betray our hold either,” Demi added. “And she’s close friends with the water witch who serves on the witch’s council, so there won’t be any problems there either.”
“I guess that just leaves the earth witch?” I asked.
Dean shook his head. “He’s been on the council longer than the rest of them. His family is small. There’s only him, his consort, and a daughter. It can’t be his coven that we’re after.”
After the rundown they’d given me of all the witches and warlocks on the council, I felt more comfortable about meeting with them. “I guess you should reach out to them, then. See if anyone can figure out who’s been hunting me.”
“We need to move quickly before the dark practitioners pick up your trail again and follow it either to your parents or me.” I gasped at the reminder of the risk I had taken by going back home, if only for just a little more than an hour. Damien brushed his lips over my temple, combing my hair through his fingers in a soothing gesture. “We’re not going to let it come to that. I’m going to get everyone from both councils together, and we’re going to figure out which coven is behind all of this and come up with a plan to put a stop to them for good.”
“You want the shifter’s and witch’s council to meet...together?” Dean’s question came out sounding choked.
Damien shrugged. “It’s the best way to keep Soleil safe.”
“I’ll leave that particular task to you since you’re better positioned to gain their agreement.” Dean stood and held his hand out to Demi.
“Good luck,” she said as he led her outside.
After the door shut behind them, I asked, “Why did they seem so shocked by your suggestion?”
“Because it’s never happened before.”
* * *
Over the next few days,I had a front-row seat to the inner workings of the shifter and witch councils. Damien pulled a lot of strings to get all the members to agree to meet, calling in markers when a couple of them were particularly resistant to the idea. My mate was darn persuasive when he needed to be, and apparently, a lot of people owed him favors—which he didn’t hesitate to remind them of it, no matter how powerful they were. He was relentless in getting what he wanted, and I quickly came to understand that none of the stories I had heard about him were exaggerated.
But I saw a different side of him when it was just the two of us. He was gentle and patient—unless we were having sex. We still hadn’t reached the stage where either of us were able to hold on to our control for long once we got our hands on each other. Which was often. When Damien wasn’t busy setting up the meeting, we were usually eating, sleeping, or going at it. The creative ways my sexy mate had made me come were mind-boggling.
I really wished that was what he was doing at the moment, instead of guiding me toward the truck parked in his detached garage. Now that the day of the meeting had arrived, I was battling big-time nerves.
“You weren’t thinking about facing down the shifter and witch councils without us, were you?”
I whirled around at the question and found a woman who resembled Damien with her dark hair and green eyes. The man with dark hair and eyes standing next to her was about half a foot taller, but he was still a good six inches shorter than my mate.
“Denica, what are you doing here?” Damien asked as he walked over to give the woman—his newly mated sister who I hadn’t met yet—a hug.
“Mom called me.” She punched her brother in the shoulder. “I hadn’t even realized you were back yet, let alone that you’d found your mate.”
“Sorry, I meant to call, but we’ve had a lot going on,” he apologized for not keeping her updated on what had been going on over the past few days.
“After the little bit that Mom shared with me, I totally understand.” Denica stepped to the side and waved at me. “And I’ll even forgive you if you introduce me to Soleil.”
I walked over, hooking my arm around my mate’s elbow when I got close. Flashing his sister a smile, I said, “It’s so good to meet you. From what Damien said about how he figured out how to find me, it sounds as though I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
