Sam stepped out in the hallway and her head fell into her hands. She didn’t know what to do. What to say.

Something touched her back and she didn’t jump. She’d recognize that touch anywhere. Without thinking, she turned and Derek tucked her in for a tight hug. She hugged him back and allowed her eyes to close. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until right now.

“You holding up?” he asked softly into her ear.

“No. Not at all,” she said honestly. “They think that Claire can stop Abigail.”

“I’m guessing from your tone that’s not a good thing.”

“There’s basically a hundred percent chance it would kill her. That’s why Claudia was shutting us out before. She didn’t want to tell us.”

“We’ll find another way,” said Derek confidently. But hearing him say it made her realize how foolish she sounded. She’d said the same thing in front of Claudia just a few moments before. Where the hell were they going to find another way to beat the darkness? They had no textbooks to read for research. The Internet knew nothing about this.

All they had was Claudia, and she had apparently decided on the one and only option. But she didn’t say anything to Derek. She just hugged him back.

“Well, isn’t this sweet.”

She jumped back from Derek and turned to see her mother. Not her mother, but the darkness using her. Abigail wasn’t alone, though. She was surrounded by a ring of witches.

Sam recognized at least one of them from the party at Abigail’s and knew that all of these witches were infected by the darkness. Which meant each and every one of them was a danger.

Derek pushed her behind him and stood confidently. “Stay back,” he warned.

The corner of Abigail’s mouth twisted up as she considered him. “So pretty. So stupid. Your time hasn’t come yet,” she warned as she started for Claudia’s office.

Sam studied the possessed entourage. There was Susan Collins, Tim Benedict, and a few more she recognized. “Shit,” she muttered as she followed them in. Claire wasn’t there anymore. Claudia and Bastian stood over the desk and were in the middle of an intense conversation, but they dropped what they were doing when they saw the newcomers.

Bastian immediately pulled his sword free and faced the witches as if he were totally sure he could take them on. Sam tried to move closer to Claudia, but Derek held her back and Claudia gave a small shake of her head.

“Get out of here,” warned Claudia in her deep, authoritative voice that would have most witches quaking on their brooms.

But Abigail just put a hand on her hip and stared down Claudia. “The families have voted. You’re no longer required here. Consider this your formal notice.”

Claudia looked at the group and the silence seemed to echo through the room. Then, in a burst, the back window exploded and Derek covered Sam with his body as the bits of glass crashed around them. When Sam looked back, Claudia and Bastian were gone and Abigail was looking out the window.

A second later, she turned and held her arms wide. “Welcome to my new home.” Then she met Sam’s eyes. “You don’t have to go home, hun, but you can’t stay here.”

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“She didn’t kill me,” said Sam for the tenth time since he’d brought her home.

Derek wanted to be happy about the whole not killing thing, but it was pretty obvious what the problem was. Abigail, or whatever was inside her at the moment, wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of them.

He didn’t remember the last time he’d considered backing down from any fight, but this wasn’t just him. This was Sam. This was Claire. Now even Parker was involved.

How much could they really do? How much was he willing to risk when the odds were so against them?

“Come on.” He held a hand out. “Let’s go to bed.” He wasn’t tired. Even though it had been a full day, the adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. But he’d had life-and-death situations before. If he waited until he was tired, he’d never get any sleep. He needed to lie down and wait until the exhaustion finally kicked in.

The fact that Sam would be next to him would be a bonus.

“Claudia ran,” said Sam in the same shocked tone. She’d been in this little daze ever since they’d left Claudia’s. Everyone went their own way to lick their wounds. Dante and Claire had snuck out after hearing the ruckus and were at Sam’s old apartment right below him, so he would hear if they were in trouble, and Parker was with them. So he and Sam had some privacy as they recovered.

Sam hadn’t heard from Claudia, and neither of them knew whether Claudia would even let Sam know she was okay.

Abigail had mentioned her “plan” a few times. From what he could tell, the first phase of this plan had two sections: kill Claire and kill Claudia. Which made sense, if Claire could kill her. Claudia had been the one who had locked the darkness away in the first place, so she would be a threat too.

Sam wasn’t a threat and Derek.... Apparently she had some other ideas for him. He debated telling Sam but had decided against it. She already had enough to deal with. He didn’t want to add any more stress to her plate.

Besides, he was pretty sure Abigail was just saying that to get under his skin. The fact that Heather had said the same thing.... He wasn’t going to think about it.

Sam got to the bedroom and threw herself down without even taking off her shoes. “Think if I go to bed now, I can wake up and realize this was all a dream?” She pushed her head into a pillow.

“Why don’t you try it and let me know how it goes?” He set his jacket and holster over the dresser and kicked off his shoes. Then he lay down on the bed next to Sam.

She turned her head in the pillow to look at him. “You seem very sane.”

“I try,” he said, unsure what the correct response was.

“You should be running for the hills.”

“I’m not a runner.”

She leaned up on her elbows. “Hellhounds, Derek. We faced down hellhounds. Like, I’ve been around magic my entire life and I never thought I’d ever have to face a hellhound.”

“It helps that I had a badass witch next to me,” he said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes. “A lot of good that did. I still needed Claudia to come and save me.”

“But we got them away from Claire. I’d call that a win. And you were able to control your magic the entire time, right? That’s a first.”

“It’s progress, but not fast enough. I feel like Claudia is the only one who can do anything, and I don’t want to sit back and hope she gets her shit together. I want to help or... anything. It’s my mom, you know?”

“It’s not your mother.”

Sam pushed her face back into the pillow. “Something happened.”

The words were muffled by the pillow, but he made them out. “What do you mean?”

Sam looked at him again. “After Heather died, Abigail was still Abigail. That’s the last time I saw her. So what happened between then and now? Heather wasn’t taken over. She let the darkness in. I think Heather’s death was a trigger. What does the darkness want? To kill Claudia. What if Abigail was so mad at Claudia that the darkness got to her? Corrupted her? What if she isn’t completely innocent? What if she allowed this?”

“I think her daughter just died,” said Derek carefully. “I think a lot of things happen after a tragedy like that. But no matter what Abigail would’ve wanted, she loved family. She wouldn’t want you to feel this way,” he said confidently. The high-powered defense attorney he knew didn’t give a damn about a lot of people, but she loved Sam. Even if she wanted Claudia to suffer, she never would’ve wanted Sam to feel this bad.

“You know,” said Sam softly, “I shouldn’t be here.”

He frowned. “Claire is right below us and we don’t know when Abigail will be coming after her.”

“No, I should be with her. But not with you. Or Parker. You two have nothing to do with magic. Dragging you into all this is just a whole other level of evil.”

“No one controls what I do but me.” Derek inched closer. “The only one to blame for you being here is me, understand?”

She pursed her lips together as she looked at him. He tried to get a read on her green eyes, but it was hard. “Everything you’re saying makes sense,” she finally said. “But every time we’re about to die or my family is doing something horrible around you, all I can think is how selfish it is that I keep dragging you into this. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life, but this makes me feel a little wicked.”

Derek nodded as he pushed up and hooked a leg over Sam’s hips until he straddled her. “If you want wicked, I’ll give you wicked.” He rested his weight on his palms on either side of her head.

He saw her catch her breath, but he didn’t want her to know what was coming next. She was so on edge and inside her own mind right now. He wanted to keep her guessing. He wanted to keep her mind as far from her reality as possible.

So he bent down to press a quick kiss to her neck as he adjusted his weight to move a hand beneath the hem of her tank to touch the bare skin of her flat stomach. He could feel her breathing increasing, and then he moved a knee to slide between hers.

She slid open for him and he pressed his thigh tightly against her core, and she immediately arched her back to press against him. As her chest went up, his mouth went down, tracking her collarbone and then toward the valley between her breasts.

The second her shirt got in the way, he started to pull it up. She sat up so they could get the offensive material away from her as quickly as possible, and he immediately hooked a hand behind her and made quick work of her bra clasp.

As soon as her breasts were bared, he didn’t hesitate. He closed his mouth over one taut peak and then she gasped; he could feel the vibrations, and it seemed to echo right down to his cock. He forced himself to focus on her and used his free hand to run the pad of his thumb over the other nipple, working it to a tight little point before he moved his mouth over there.

She let out a little moan as she lifted her hips against his thigh once more, setting her own little rhythm. But he didn’t want her to be setting anything. He reached between their bodies and slid his hand in the waistband of her leggings and panties.

She was so wet already, Derek had to take a calming breath to keep himself from stripping her naked right then and there and taking her as hard and fast as he could. She continued to writhe against his thigh, and he rubbed against her hot sex with increasing pressure. As she started to move faster, her fingers bit into his shoulders, and he worked his thumb over her clit as he slid two fingers inside her wet heat.

She gasped and tensed against him, but that wasn’t enough anymore. He wanted her to come for him. So in a flash, he removed his hand from her, hooked his fingers in her pants and panties and pulled them down in a fast, jerking motion. Before she could get her bearings, he moved down her body and caught her clit in his mouth.

She started to bolt off the bed, but he held her down, refusing to offer her an escape from what he was doing to her body.

“Don’t.... Don’t stop,” she breathed as she reached down to run her fingers through his hair. She gripped the short strands tight and he wasn’t sure whether she was going to pull him away or pull him closer, but it was more as though she just needed to hang onto something. So he continued his assault, driving her higher and higher until he could feel the orgasm rip through her.

She was still trying to catch her breath as he pulled the leggings the rest of the way off. She managed to weakly lift a leg to help him but didn’t move much besides that.

Finally, Sam pushed up on an elbow and ran a hand through her dark-blue hair and bit her lip as she looked at him. “What was that for?” she asked as he climbed back up her body.

His lips brushed over hers in a barely there kiss. “I can’t have you in my bed and not touch you. It’s against the laws of nature.”

A smile tugged at her lips. She ran a hand over his cheek and rested it at the base of his neck. “You’re trying to distract me,” she accused.

“I’m offended at the accusation.” He ducked his head down to nip at her neck.

She jerked in surprise even as she let out a laugh.

Derek smiled against her skin, but when she moved against him, it was a startling reminder to his cock how much he wanted her and exactly how naked she was....

He ran a hand down the curve of her breasts and the dip of her waist until he hit the flesh of her ass.

He ducked his head down and leaned his forehead against her shoulder as he turned her in his arms. There was a slight tangle of limbs before she was on her hands and knees in front of him, which was a sight right out of his X-rated fantasies.

He leaned over her and pressed a quick kiss to the base of her neck where her spine poked out just a bit. When he’d first met Sam, she’d been skinny almost to the point of emaciated, but she’d filled out in all the right places.

He ran his hand along her spine, enjoying the dips and curves, until he ran over the curve of her hip. But he could only look for so long. He unzipped his pants and his erection practically sprang free. Immediately he was happy he’d kept his pants on so long, because the second his cock hit the cool air, he was desperate to be inside her.

But when she lifted her ass up in the air and let out a little, “Please...” he couldn’t stop himself from lining himself up to her entrance and sliding deep in one smooth motion. This time they both caught their breath together, but Derek couldn’t wait long before he started to move.

He rested his weight on one fist on the mattress and reached around with his free hand, traveling over her stomach until he found the nub between her legs. She started to come up again, but he let go of the mattress just long enough to push her back down.

Thoughts of everything they’d been through pounded through his head, and he thrust faster until he could distract even himself.

All he wanted right now was Sam. To be surrounded by the feel of her. The scent of her. Her warmth.

As the tension crept higher, he bent forward, trying to touch her as much as possible. His mind wasn’t there enough to play her body the way he wanted, but with every thrust, she would grind against his hand, and thank fuck that was enough to get her off again.

She let out a scream and threw her head back. He gripped her hips tight and didn’t let himself think at all as the primal rhythm seemed to take over. It was the closest he’d ever felt to Sam. Not just because of how physically close they were, but it was almost like magic as his entire world narrowed down to one single focal point: her.

And when he came, he bit onto her shoulder so he wouldn’t scream loud enough to wake the entire building and she wiggled against him in a way that seemed to make the orgasm go on and on.

But as great as the sex had been, the distraction was only momentary.

Because as soon as he came down from the high, the real world was still waiting.