he had met his punishment, surely. He’d seen an opportunity to get out of this flea-ridden spot in the middle of nowhere and had reached for it. Hard to blame him. Though Parnell certainly did.
When his satellite phone rang, he pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the number and answered, saying, “No. We don’t have them.”
While the woman at the other end of the line ranted, Parnell lifted one hand to the men who had arrived with him. He waved them over to the crowd, watching the proceedings as if they were fascinated by a television program. Fools didn’t even realize what was about to happen to them.
When one of his men silently signaled a question, Parnell simply nodded and drew one finger across the base of his neck.
The first volley of machine-gun fire erupted instantly. Bright lights flashed and the sound was a cacophony in the stillness. Yet the woman on the phone was shouting so loudly, Parnell could still hear her.
He paused for a moment and wished the guns were trained on her. But then, she would get what was coming to her eventually. As anyone who crossed him did.
“Witnesses are being taken care of,” he told her when she wound down long enough to take a breath.
“Yes, I can hear that,” she snapped. “Very subtle, Parnell.”
He stiffened at the condemnation in her tone. “You wanted me to handle it? I’m handling it. We’ll find the witch.”
“In time for it to do any good?”
The guns fell silent and the night crowded back in. He glanced over his shoulder at his men, moving through the crowd. Kicking bodies out of the way, they were simply making sure the dead were actually dead. He wanted no survivors slipping away to tell stories about strange men asking questions about witches.
He had enough to deal with as it was.
“Let me do my job,” he told the woman and snapped the phone closed. Holding the offending thing on his palm, he called up the fire and held it until the phone was nothing more than a blackened, melted pile of plastic and wire.
Then he brushed his hands free of both the phone and the woman and headed to his car, calling for his men to follow.
He still had a witch to find.
Chapter 26
R une pulled Teresa close, lowered his head and kissed her until her blood boiled in her veins. She felt as if she had a fever. Her skin was suddenly too tight. She was hot and yet shivering, as if her body couldn’t make up its own mind about what to feel.
Rune’s hands moved up and down her back, cupping her bottom, holding her close to the hard thickness of him. The fever inside her burned hotter until even breathing became a challenge. His mouth took hers, his tongue sliding inside to taste, to claim. She felt the urgency in him and reveled in it. Her hands moved through his long, thick hair, holding his head to hers. She surrendered herself to what only he could make her feel and trembled with the force of what he was doing to her.
Behind her, the hot water rushed from the underground springs, sounding like the roar of a caged animal. Above her, crystals hummed with energy, spilling all that they were into the already charged air. She felt it all, but mostly she felt him.
This was monumental.
This was the moment when the Mating ritual would begin. Once this step was taken, she knew there was no getting out of it. She wanted this to happen and yet a part of her held back. That hesitant part of her would have jumped away from the cliff she was about to leap from with all the judiciousness of a cowardly bunny.
Eternity.
With that word resonating in her mind, Teresa pulled free of his kiss and struggled for air. She was on fire. There were no flames, but she felt the fire, licking at her skin. Burning her so completely that she knew once the Mating began she would surely be nothing but ash.
When she looked up into his eyes, she saw the fire there, too. Swirling in the liquid silver of his eyes. She was caught for a long moment, just looking at him, feeling the power shimmering around them.
“You’re scared?”
His voice was rough, strained, as though he was fighting an inner battle to get control of himself. She knew what he must be feeling.
“A little,” she admitted. “My grandmother didn’t know much about the