“Do me a favor and quit referring to my ass in any way,” I said.
He pushed around me as we reached the door.
“Damon, damn it.”
He paused and shot a look at me. “Wow. You did remember my name.”
The door blew open before he could knock.
The woman there was almost as tall as he was, nearly as wide, and her hair blood-red, streaked with pink and blue. Her eyes were greener than mine and her lips were black.
Just looking at her made my eyes hurt.
She stood there, glaring at Damon.
This could get ugly, I decided. I saw the magic dancing over her like a bird mantling its wings. Damon hadn’t been wrong. Green Road was full of powerful witches and most of them were pacifists. But their warriors were mad-powerful and they took their job of protecting the non-fighters very, very seriously.
This was one of the warriors, I could see it on her.
It could be amusing…a talented witch was a match for a strong shifter. Maybe even an even match. Hell, in the right situation, a warrior witch was almost an army. Of course, this wasn’t one of those situations. Still, it would be one hell of a fight.
But damn it all.
I cleared my throat. “Hi. Colleen Antrim was supposed to send word about me. My name is Kit Colbana.”
Her green eyes cut my way and I felt the weight of her gaze like an anvil dropping down in my head. She studied me and I could feel the pressure of her magic riffling through me, tasting me, taking me in. “You went after Mandy,” she said quietly.
“Yes.” I bit my tongue on the rest of the words. I went after her when you all wouldn’t. Colleen had broken away from the witches when her daughter was born without magic. The witch who had headed the Green Road at the time had been a bigoted piece of work and Colleen hadn’t wanted that around her daughter. When she’d reached out to them for help, none of them had responded.
A few more seconds ticked away and then she nodded. “You’re good people. Shame the kid died.” She stood aside and said, “Come on in, Kit. You’re welcome here.”
I edged around Damon and headed inside.
He made to follow, only to freeze at the door. I’d felt the magic ripple and accept me, but it had closed immediately after. Sighing, I turned and looked at the witch. She was still studying him.
“Who is he?” she asked.
He glared at her. “Damon Lee. Cat clan of Florida.”
The witch acted as though he hadn’t spoken, still watching me. I realized it was up to me whether he came in or not. And since we were in a house of witches, they could rebuild any ward he might try to power through. Sweet, sweet justice, I thought…
But, shit. I’d told him we were at a truce. And whether or not he intended to hold to it, I didn’t give my word easily.
“He’s kinda sorta my bodyguard,” I said tiredly. “And I kinda sorta agreed to work with him on the job I’m doing.” I looked at him through the weight of wards I couldn’t see. “I can’t ask you to do anything you’re not comfortable with, but he’s not going to hurt anybody who doesn’t threaten him or me, and I’d rather not listen to him bitch at me—if you’d let him in, I’d appreciate it.”
“Hmmmm.” She continued to study me and then she shrugged, flicked her wrist. I felt the wards shift, saw the faint flicker in his eyes. As he came through, I turned my back on him.
“Some of the girls don’t get out much. They can use the eye candy.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Well, he’s pretty to look at, but tell them to keep their distance. He’s kind of toxic up close.”
“Not an issue. Shapeshifters are a pain in the ass and the males are even worse, especially when they are in rut.” She headed into the gloom of the house and I followed along, frowning over that last statement. “I’m Kori, by the way. Colleen and I were trained together. She’s good people. Thanks for…well, Mandy. Some of us should have been there. We weren’t.”
I kept my mouth shut.
The only thing that would come out wasn’t going to endear me to her and I didn’t want to see if Damon could fight his way out of a house of angry witches if I pissed enough of them off.