I scowled down at her, a reflex response if ever there was one, "The heating," I barked, "do you want me to turn it up?"
"Oh, no," she blushed, "I just get cold when I'm working, but once I'm done, I'll be fine."
I watched her for a minute longer, the faint blush against her cheeks was endearing, her eyes glassy with excitement. I couldn’t help but track her every movement, it was as if my very body was tuned in to hers. The way her eyes darted, caressing me from head to toe. Her tongue darted out as she licked her lips, finally biting down on her bottom lip as she once more stared down at the cards before me. Her actions were so innocent - so uncalculated that I couldn’t deny that she looked fucking edible, but I was fairly certain that she was an innocent - untouched. Women threw themselves at me constantly, I knew it had nothing to do with my resolve to stay away from her even more steadfast.
"What work have you been doing tonight?" I kept my face void of any expression, even if my question had been barked out more like a command.
Her blush turned to anger, flushing her face, and I waited patiently as she brought her own inner beast to heel. Beneath that cool, collected front she was portraying, her beast raged just as much as mine. I wondered how many people had made it surface - how many men had riled her up to the point where she was so enraged that her beast emerged?
“Well,” she flung the word across the room as if it were a weapon, “I just finished the reading to see what we are dealing with before I begin the spells of protection.”
Her arms gestured wildly as she spoke, as if she couldn’t keep her annoyance tightly bound and tucked away. I hid my smile and I stepped closer in a predator-like fashion.
“What did your reading say?” I asked evenly.
“That depends,” she fumed, “if you are going to storm off again and have me virtually escorted off the premises, or if you’re actually going to stick around to see what the outcome is.”
I gritted my jaw, watching her as she refused to back down. She wasn’t submissive. Not in the least. I wouldn’t allow my mind to linger on her words - to examine them to see if there was any truth in what she said. Instead I stepped closer, taking in the full scene of Corinne and her goddam cards before me.
The vanilla scent seemed to waft towards me with each step I took towards Corinne, their tendrils dragging me closer, encouraging me to taste.
“Your reading?” I ground out, annoyed by the fact that I needed to repeat myself and the fact that around her shivering body and intoxicating scent, it was fucking impossible to think.
I would only offer her this courtesy once.
She glared at me, her eyes blazing with hate and disdain. Good. She should fucking hate me. She should hate everything about me and my world because she did not belong here. Maybe I would get lucky and she would leave. Arlo couldn’t fault me then.
“It looks like the Voodoo Priestess is using Sergei.” When she finally spoke, it was in defiance - not submission, as she continued to glare at me.
Her scowling and glaring only made my cock twitch. I wanted to feed myself between her pouty lips just to shut her up, make her swallow down all that goddamn animosity.
“What does that mean?” I inched closer to look at the cards spread before her. All I could see were images of men and women and swords, all tattooed and wearing luxurious and extravagant outfits. And while the artwork on the cards was magnificent, none of it made sense to me.
“It means that the Voodoo Priestess has her own agenda, and although Sergei thinks that he’s controlling her with money, she’s actually using him for her own endeavours.”
“What might those be?” My question was spoken on an exhale, and I was unsure if she even heard me as she sat staring at the cards.
“A war between Magick users, I think,” she said almost hesitantly, as if she wasn’t even sure she should part with this information. She didn’t even lift her gaze from the cards before and I wondered what she saw that I couldn’t - if she saw anything at all. I still pocketed that fact, willing to pull it out as a weapon at a later stage if I needed to.
“What does that mean for me and my family?” I urged.
She gazed at me as if her vision was stripping me bare, highlighting all my faults and insecurities and said, “It means that you need to be protected. It means that when she does strike, you won’t see it coming - even if it's through Sergei, and it means that Sergei is simply a puppet - and a willing one at that, so we need to tread carefully when dealing with this matter.”
“So, no killing him then?”
She didn’t even flinch as she replied, “No killing him yet, let’s just get the protections in place before you do anything crazy.”
“There are two distinct fights here,” she said softly, “that seem to be wrapped up in one war. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Sergei contacted her, and that she in turn is using him - all within the same timeframe that you have contracted me. So for better or worse, Dimitri, we are going to have to work together on this - even if you think that what I do is utter garbage, you’re going to have to trust me to take care of the Magickal aspects of this war because this isn’t anything you’re used to.”
I turned away from her and walked towards the door.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Bambi,” I called over my shoulder, “you have no idea what I’m used to or capable of.”
I shut the door firmly behind me, my blood roaring in my ears. It was an exercise in control. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I dialled Ravi, he would know who deserved my supervision tonight, and who deserved my punishment. I needed to leave this place, Corinne, her Magick, and the Voodoo bitch be damned.