“And I am positive you will survive it.” His voice was deeper than she had expected. With a small jolt, she realized this was the first time she had heard him speak. “We haven’t been properly introduced.”
“I know who you are.” She took a big gulp of the Balvenie. Fruity and smoky, the scotch glided down her throat as smoothly as a hunting knife sliding into a sheath. Warmth suffused her middle, spreading outward like a fresh pool of blood. She had turned unexpectedly morbid. “People call you hot shit, or so I’ve heard.”
That probably shouldn’t have slipped out of her mouth. Day drinking wreaked havoc on impulse control.
As she watched in the mirror, one corner of his long mouth tilted up. He didn’t have yellow eyes so much as amber. They seemed brighter when the light hit them just right.
“I prefer Josiah.” His strong throat muscles worked as he took a swallow of his own drink. It was something clear and bubbly on ice with a slice of lime, probably a gin and tonic, or vodka. Or maybe it was soda water. He didn’t look like the kind of man who would enjoy losing control to outside influences.
“When I walked in here, it looked like you were waiting for someone.” She took another swallow of her scotch. “Josiah.”
His voice turned cold. “Don’t be coy, Molly. It doesn’t suit you.”
Wait, what?
Sudden caution caused her to tense. He couldn’t mean that he had been waiting for her. Could he? If so, that was insane, ridiculous. How could he have known that she was going to walk into the bar on impulse?
A chill ran over her skin. Had he been looking for her? If so, how had he found her? And why?
She realized she knew next to nothing about the man sitting beside her. Matching his tone with her own coldness, she replied, “How can you possibly know what does or does not suit me?”
“I came to apologize.” He leaned his elbows on the bar. “When I cast a spell of finding, I didn’t sense any witches of significant Power in Atlanta, which was one of the reasons why I moved here. If I had known you were here, I would never have intruded into your territory. Now that I’m here, I’m hoping you and I can come to some agreement about coexisting in the same city.”
Spell of finding… What the fuck?
Witch.
The word reverberated in her head, drowning out the music and the sounds of nearby conversation. Carefully, she set her glass of scotch on the bar, reached for her purse, and began to slide off her stool.
“I have no earthly idea what you’re talking about,” she enunciated to the calm, sane-looking lunatic who sat beside her. “You have me confused with someone else. Please excuse me.”
Swiveling with a speed that took her by surprise, he stared at her as if she were the lunatic. The dark slants of his eyebrows rose, and he began to smile, making him look more dangerous than ever.
“You have no idea?” he repeated. “You. Have. No. Idea.”
“Okay, nice talking to you.” She backed away. “You have a good night now.”
He said something swift and unintelligible. The words were strange, perhaps in some foreign language, and the sound sizzled through the air like broiling steak.
A shimmering, transparent barrier sprang up around her and Josiah, separating them from the rest of the bar. All other sounds cut off, and suddenly it was so silent she could hear her own quickened breathing. She stared around her, wild-eyed.
He had created it. She knew he had. She could sense the connection between the strange words and the barrier, and how it had all originated from him.
How could she feel that? How had he created it? Would it hurt her if she touched it? Was she trapped here, unable to leave?
With a smile, Josiah walked up until he stood very close, inside her personal space. The light hit his eyes just right, making them flare with lambent color. Shaking, she stared up at him. His body heat warmed her chilled skin.
Watching her intently, he put his hand on her forearm and slid long fingers down to her hand. Calluses rasped her skin. He closed his hand carefully around hers and lifted it. She tensed to resist yet didn’t.
He took their combined hands and pushed them gently through the barrier. She flinched as her skin came into contact with it. It felt slightly cold, almost like a soap bubble. She stared