them behind wasn’t an option.” Hartt sounded strained and tired as he straightened and a flicker of worry lit Rosalind’s blue eyes and made Mackenzie want to growl and claw them out. He waved the witch away, sparing her. “I am fine. Just a teleport drain. It is passing.”
“You should have left the wretches behind,” Vail growled in the direction of the vampires, his eyes never straying from them.
Rosalind sighed dramatically, stepped up to her mate and wrapped her arms around his right one. She looked up at him, an adoring expression on her face, bright silver stars sparkling in her eyes, as if she was snuggling up to a teddy bear rather than a dark, dangerous and deadly elf who apparently despised vampires.
Mackenzie marvelled as Vail became just that as his gaze dropped to Rosalind and lifted to the vampires, only to immediately return to his mate and soften. His hard expression melted away, all the darkness lifting from it as he stared down at her. The power of a mate. Did Mackenzie have such power over Hartt? Having a kick-ass and powerful assassin for a mate might have its advantages.
Like, maybe she could convince him to ditch his guild and join hers.
They would make a killer team. Quite literally.
It only took one look at him to know that while she might have the power to wrap him around her little finger, there would be no convincing him to leave his guild. Fuery lived there, and the times he had spoken of other assassins under his command, there had been a warmth in his eyes that had revealed what those people meant to him. His guild was his family, just as her guild was her family.
Maybe she could settle on the guilds teaming up, forming a sort of super-guild with two offices. Sometimes she could help Hartt out with a job, and sometimes he could help her. Both guilds would prosper and if hers just happened to surpass his in reputation and popularity, so be it.
“It turns out you were right and a witch is behind everything.” Hartt’s deep voice rolled over her, made her want to purr as heat suffused every inch of her. She eased closer to him, wanting to hold his arm as Rosalind held Vail’s, but didn’t want to look like some moon-eyed girl. Hartt took hold of her hand as soon as she was within reach, interlinked their fingers and held it tightly, showing her that she was the only one with a problem where public displays of affection were concerned. “Mackenzie here lost her family to his kind and retaliated by taking out most of his family during her escape. Grave was hired by one of her remaining kin to find her and kill whoever was holding her, only she had escaped by the time he reached the mansion where she had been held.”
Her heart melted a little as he left out the fact she was a phoenix shifter, skilfully avoided revealing it to the witch and her mate, keeping her secret for her.
“I took out some witches who returned to find the building in ruins,” Grave added, earning a black snarl from the elf prince. The vampire met it with one of his own, baring his fangs at Vail, and Night stepped closer to his brother, forming a formidable wall with him. If Vail lost it and decided to fight Grave, he was going to have to take on both vampires at once.
Something Mackenzie doubted would be a problem for him.
Rosalind smoothed her palm down her mate’s arm, regaining his attention, causing that miraculous transformation that fascinated Mackenzie. Savage wolf to sappy puppy in the blink of an eye.
“It is the same witch I fought in the mortal realm, one who was working for an Archangel huntress.” Hartt held his free hand up when Rosalind looked alarmed. “Not the one you’re thinking of. This one had targeted Harbin, a snow leopard shifter in my employment, ruining his life and coming close to destroying his pride a few decades ago. She went after him again, and we were able to eradicate her, but the witch escaped. Harbin took his mate to Underworld, where his brother works, to protect her… sure the witch would come after him. Only he didn’t.”
“Because he was too busy putting together an amazeballs plot to bring all three of you down.” Rosalind beamed at Hartt, as if she was proud of this witch for pulling together a plan that