those emotions. I simply wanted to bask in the idea that there was one person in the world who would put me first.
Oddly, I was calm because Marcus wasn’t.
“Charlie, stay here. I’m putting us in lockdown. I swear I didn’t call the witches in. I was going to make that decision later today. I have no idea how they know she’s here.” Taggart strode toward the door. “Adam?”
“I got your six,” Adam said, opening what appeared to be the armory.
The canines were pacing like they couldn’t stand that sound, the larger of the two attempting to shelter the pup. She paced by the puppy, every line of her body seeming to ooze concern.
Charlotte looked down at her pets. “Don’t worry. He’ll turn off the alarm when he puts us in lockdown. We’ll be okay in here.”
“Will locking the building down stop the witches?” Marcus asked, his voice calm though I knew his heart was racing. I had my hands wound around his chest and my palm on his heart.
If these were the last moments I had with him, I wanted to touch him, wanted to memorize everything I could about him. Suddenly all my worries about why he cared about me didn’t seem to matter. All that mattered was this magnificent feeling of being here with him. Of not facing the world alone.
“We’re warded against magic,” Charlotte yelled.
The blaring alarm went silent and Charlotte breathed a sigh of obvious relief. “Thank the goddess. Don’t worry. My husband will deal with this. Our wards will hold and we’ll have backup soon. My husband has the absolute best security there is, and I assure you he and Adam won’t be alone out there for long. We won’t let them take you. You’re far too important to hand over.”
I wasn’t sure I believed everything she was telling me, but I knew she did and that gave me some power. “I appreciate it, Mrs. Taggart. I wasn’t looking forward to my execution.”
Marcus put his hand over mine, holding it to his heart. “You have my gratitude as well. I am intrigued by your research. If we can agree that my companion isn’t a threat, perhaps we could all sit down and discuss the situation in a civilized fashion.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say she’s not a threat,” Charlotte said, reaching down to pet the dogs. “But I don’t think she’s a conscious one. I think she doesn’t understand what the convergences mean. I don’t either, but my sister and I have some theories I’d like to run by you. Her name is Chelsea. She’s super smart and she and her husband have been running down some leads on a couple of the other planes. We talked about Turi earlier.”
I groaned. “Yes. He’s been chasing me for a long time.”
Charlotte nodded as though I’d confirmed a suspicion. “Ian was contacted by some of his representatives and offered a bounty to bring you in. I think he’s getting desperate. Don’t worry. Ian told him to fuck himself.”
I moved, shifting so I could stand beside Marcus because my calm was rapidly fleeing. “He’s put a bounty on me? How much?”
Charlotte frowned. “They didn’t get that far. But you don’t have to worry. You’re safe here.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” Marcus said, his hand finding mine. He threaded our fingers together as he faced Charlotte. “You might be able to force the witches back, but they won’t stop trying.”
“Then we’ll take you both someplace safe,” Charlotte offered. “We have to figure this out or the world might end. Where the hell is Levi? I’m sorry. I’m going to the conference room to talk to one of our employees. I’ll arrange for transportation out of here as soon as possible.”
She straightened up in time to take a dart to the chest. Charlotte’s stark blue eyes widened and her mouth opened. “Levi? You motherfucker.”
She hit her knees as a man dressed in slacks, a dress shirt, and vest stepped into view. He had longish wavy dark hair and piercing eyes. He was roughly the same height as Marcus but he was leaner. He was also carrying a gun, likely the same kind that had been used when Taggart had collected Marcus and myself.
“Sorry, Charlotte,” the man named Levi said with a smirk on his face. “But Tag doesn’t pay as well as those witches do. They won the bidding war I started when I found out Tag was actually bringing her in. I don’t think we should lose out on a serious bounty