morning, but he said he had to leave. I thought he was leaving town, but I guess not.”
“He was at your house this morning!” Natie forgot to whisper.
Like a laser beam locking onto a target, Royce turned his head in their direction; his eyes zeroed in on the pair.
“Oh, hell no,” Royce muttered before clinching his teeth. He saw not one but two sets of eyes peeking out from behind one of the large oak trees scattered in the garden. He would know those chocolate eyes anywhere; they were eyes a man could get lost in.
This should have been a simple assignment, a simple search and seizure operation: grab the first coin, return it to the council, move on to the next. It was, in fact, turning out to be anything but simple, more like the-mission-that-never-ends.
Of course, no one had mentioned Witches in the initial briefing; obviously there were questions that he would now demand answers to. Why were Witches interested in the coins? Royce had instructed Joanna to stay completely away from the coins at all costs. One detail that had been shared by the council was the fact that the coins could be deadly to any Witch who came into direct contact with them.
He had contacted Arimus, the Council leader, and requested a video conference first thing in the morning. Until he had answers to all of his questions and felt assured that nothing had been overlooked, he had to stay especially alert. He was dealing with unknown danger at this point.
Eyes locked onto his prey, Royce stalked toward the oak tree with angry strides. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was making a huge mistake. He, however, was unable to stop himself.
“Shit,” Becki muttered, knowing she was in big trouble without having been told. It was time to make a hasty exit.
“What’s up boss? Did you find it?” Sean asked as he loped over and fell in behind Royce.
Royce did not slow his pace, did not acknowledge Sean, but kept moving forward with one purpose in mind. When he was finished with her, Becki would understand. She simply had to stay away from him.
Sean had arrived a few hours ago, insisting that he could track the coin more easily if he were on location. He had continued to tweak the software each time a signal was received from one of the coins. Unfortunately, the signals were still very random and infrequent. They had set up base camp in the condo at Fort Sumter House. The last known coordinates of this particular coin were somewhere east of the gazebo. Royce had been searching the area in hopes of finding a clue to what might have happened to the coin after the Witches “zapped” him.
He felt a “zap” of an entirely different kind when saw Becki. He hadn’t planned on seeing her again-- ever. If his life had been “normal” he could have--, make that would have, acted on these feelings, and found out where they would have taken him. Unfortunately, his life was far from normal. His life was downright complicated, and so were the lives of his team. They dealt with forces of good and evil, the stuff of dreams and nightmares. His world did not have room for an innocent, and her world was far too innocent to have room for him.
Royce might have mumbled, but Becki had heard him loud and clear; “hell no”. Grabbing Natie’s arm, she started walking in the opposite direction as quickly as her long legs would carry her. Becki was not up to being publicly rejected. This day just kept getting better and better.
“You’re hurting my arm,” Natie complained.
“The only thing hurting is your nibby nose,” Becki said, calling her out on the lie. “Hurry up! I promise I will explain it all, but we have to get out of here.”
“Becki,” Royce roared.
“Keep moving,” Becki urged Natie.
“Becki, I’m calling Uncle Kurt. This guy is pissed, and he could be crazy as well,” Natie said reaching for the cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans.
“He’s not crazy, but I think he is pissed,” Becki acknowledged. “Please don’t call Kurt. They’ve already met, and I don’t think they like each other.”
“Becki, damn it--” Royce had caught up with the two girls without ever altering his pace or stride.
Becki had no intention of acknowledging him; her heart was pounding with humiliation and rage. Royce reached out to catch her arm in his grasp; she jerked away from him