Kyden added, “Which brings a question to mind about who these witches are and why did they choose Dante to be turned to the darkness? He has authority. It was a risk to take him. Seems odd that whoever is behind this would go after such a powerful wolf.”
“Oh, I know the answer to that,” I said, hastily. “Magnus took Dante to get to me.”
Kyden’s face darkened. “Did he now?”
“You got it. He knew of my relationship to Valor. And because he needed to use my magical abilities to get rid of Pye, he used it to his advantage.”
“Pye?” Hadley looked interested at the mention of his name.
Ryker smiled, and nodded toward me. “She took him out.”
He appeared oddly proud. Once he gave up on annoying the hell out of me, or Kyden, with his charming attempts, we had actually become friends.
Ryker was a lot like Kyden—hence why the two of them had a hard time getting along. They were too much alike, but with my helping hand, their relationship was slowly improving.
Hadley looked stunned, shocked, scared—any of those s words fit the bill.
I waved away her expression before she asked any of the questions I could see were running through her mind. “This is old news and I really don’t want to relive it.”
Zia’s sudden gasp startled me. When I met her gaze, her eyes were wide full of comprehension. “If Magnus gave up Dante’s name,” her words came in rapid speed, “then he knows who is behind this.”
Christ! I hadn’t put two and two together. “You’re right.” I smacked my head. “With all that happened I just never thought about it. Do you think he is involved somehow?”
Zia shook her head. “No. Magnus wouldn’t bother with such things.”
“But his followers would,” Kyden quickly added.
Zia nodded.
“That only leaves us with one option.” I stated.
Kyden slowly met my eyes, and sighed deeper than I had ever heard come from him. “You only just got back from there.”
Chapter Eleven
“I did it,” I exclaimed as I actually landed on my feet. It was a much better way to enter the Underworld. I raised my head to see the demon that I had met on a couple of occasions now. She looked all too happy to see me. “Hello again,” I said in an attempt to play nice.
She smiled brightly. “Magnus is waiting for you at his house.” She began walking away. “I suppose I should introduce myself,” she said, glancing back to me. “I am Misa.”
We started up the hill that led to Magnus’ home. “I’d say it’s a pleasure, but I’m not quite sure it is.”
She laughed softly. “I wish you would get over your prejudice of us. We could be friends.”
I snorted. “I really doubt that.”
“Such horrible things you say.” She appeared wounded by my words.
“Yeah, I know. I’m evil, right?”
She chuckled to herself.
Quickly, we made it up to the house as the conversation between us remained light and meaningless. At the door, Misa wiped her shoes on the mat, which made me laugh. Normally, I would have done the same, but now, I wished I’d run through a mud puddle, just to squish dirt into Magnus’ carpet.
When we stepped into the sitting room, I instantly noticed Magnus where he stood, looking out the window. He immediately spun around and smiled gloriously. “Welcome back, Nexi.” I huffed, which made him laugh. “Please do come in.” He smiled waving to a chair. “I wasn’t expecting another visit so soon.”
I eyed him doubtfully. “Weren’t you?”
His eyes all but twinkled with amusement. “I have to say, I was surprised you didn’t ask me anything when you were here before.” He clucked deeply. “Took you some time to put it all together, did it?”
I shrugged away his implication that I’m slow so I didn’t lash out at him, but felt the need to defend myself. “I think my mind was a little preoccupied at the time.”
He walked toward me, took a seat in front of me. “So, you want to know what I know, is that it?”
“That would be nice, but I’m guessing this information isn’t going to come for free.”
His brow arched. “You think so poorly of me.”
“I have had enough dealings with you to know that you are always after something. So, get to it. What do I have to do to get you to spill?”
He laughed softly, and as much as I hated to admit it, it looked and sounded extremely sexy. “Have dinner with me?”
That was unexpected. “Pardon?”
“Have dinner with me. That will start this little game of ours. I will answer one question, then go from there.”
I sighed deeply, considering.
If Kyden knew what I was about to do, he’d throttle me. And with that thought, it became all too obvious why Supes were tentative to bond. If Kyden knew my emotions, he would sense everything I felt around Magnus, or any other male, for that matter. He would sense that I was hesitant to do this not only because he was the Lord of the Underworld, but for some sick reason I felt a little attraction to him. His dark charms were hard to miss. “So, I have dinner with you, and then you will tell me about this?”
“That’s right.”
This was in every way wrong. Was I betraying Kyden by doing this? If he had dinner with someone else, I’d flip my lid, but what choice did I have? We needed to get to the bottom of this. I finally succumbed. “Fine, dinner, that’s it.”
Magnus laughed, then suddenly, we were no longer in the sitting room.
“Bah,” I screamed as I sat at an intimate table with a candle in the center, looking out to an amazing view of waterfalls.
We sat on a flat portion of rocky ground. The waterfalls were in a huge oval formation with steep cliffs, and lush greenery. Then, I noticed my clothing. Suddenly, I was in a spectacular red dress. Silky, sequins, sexy—a perfect outfit for anywhere but here. “Where are we?” I demanded.
Magnus took the bottle of wine that sat atop the table and poured it into large wine glasses. “Iguazu Falls in Brazil.” Then, he pointed to the u-shaped part of the falls. “That is the Devil’s Throat.”
I snorted. “I see the significance.”
Suddenly, soft music spilled around us. I glanced behind me to see a demon playing a harp. “You really went all out.”
“What can I say, you bring the romantic out in me,” he purred.
Great, just what I wanted to do.
Abruptly, food appeared in front of me, and it smelled amazing. It was a thick cut steak with a creamy wine sauce on top and steamed vegetables on the side.
Magnus nodded toward the food. “Enjoy.”
I grabbed my knife and fork and cut into the thick steak. If I had to be here better get something out of it—besides I was starving. When the steak hit my mouth, it exploded with flavor. It was cooked medium-well, exactly how I liked it. Not bloody, nor overcooked. Instantly, I closed my eyes, my taste buds fully aroused.
“Is it to your liking?” Magnus asked, amused.
I opened my eyes, licked my lips. “It’s good.”
He slowly smiled, and in reaction, butterflies fluttered through my stomach. I froze, confused. I didn’t remember having this reaction to him before. Sure, I thought he was sexy. His masculine features couldn’t be ignored, but tonight there was something more to him that had me shaking in my boots. I was desperate to ignore it.
He picked up his glass of wine, took a sip, then said, “You can ask your question.”
It was important I was very smart here. He made it clear that every question I asked, I’d have to do something for him. I needed to ask a very limited amount of questions. “I need you to tell me the whereabouts of the witches behind this.”
He took a bite of his steak, swallowed, then replied, “I can do that.”
“Yeah, I know you can do it, but will you?”
He grinned sexily, and it actually captured my breath. Why was I reacting like this to him? I gave my head a little shake, forcing myself to release these reactions to him.
“That is two questions,” he retorted.
I took a sip of my wine, hoping the booze would stop my body from acting so silly. “What else do you want then?”
“A kiss,” he purred.
“Next,” I spat.
He laughed and gave me a curious look. “You know, most women want to kiss my delectable lips.”
“Yeah, well, I am not one of them.”
“Yes.” He looked annoyed. “I am discovering this.”
“Okay, let’s move on then.”
“No,” he growled, and a waft of his power came out. “I am enjoying this line of conversation.”
When my breath returned from the little force of power he sent my way, I replied, “I’m sure you enjoy seeing me squirm.”
“I enjoy watching you that is undeniable.”
Now this was just becoming tiresome, I slammed my glass down on the table. “Magnus, what are you after?”
“You know the answer to that question,” he drawled.