One Fell Sweep

He shook his head. “But I do know something about Michael.”

The memory of Michael’s corruption-ravaged body flickered before me. “What?”

“He was an ad-hal,” Tony said quietly.

I took a step back. “Michael?”

He nodded.

“The corruption took him, killed him, and when it fled his body, it focused on you.”

“I know,” he said. “Michael isn’t the only ad-hal who disappeared in the past several years. Something is hunting us.”

The ad-hal served as our protectors. Without them, we would be defenseless.

“This is for you.” Tony handed me a small card. “I was going to wait until tomorrow, but since we started talking, let’s do this now.”

I opened the card. Three words in black ink. You are summoned. The Assembly was summoning me. My actions would be scrutinized. I would have to answer hard questions.

“Don’t worry,” Tony said. “The rallying point is at my father’s inn. I’ll be there to testify. You can bring Sean, too. You’ll need to introduce him to the Assembly.”

“Um…”

“You know you have to do it sooner or later,” Tony said. “It will be okay, Dina. You’re not the only innkeeper to survive the death of an inn, but you joined a very exclusive club today. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

“Yes, in the morning.” I forced a smile. “Today is Christmas Eve for us. I served some very old wine.”

Tony rubbed his hands. “Then I’m going to help myself.”

“You totally should.”

He hurried to the tables.

I turned and walked away. I had two hours before the feast. I needed to take a shower and think.

* * *

I had just finished my shower when my magic told me Sean was coming up the stairs. I wrapped a towel around myself and opened the door. He was holding a bottle of wine and a tray with some delicious-looking pastries.

He saw me, in a towel, with wet hair on my shoulders. A wolf looked at me from inside his eyes, a wild wolf, hungry, feral, scarred, and every inch mine.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

“Can I come in?”

“Yes.”

He stepped inside and set the platter and wine on the bed. A quick dash of anticipation mixed with anxiety rushed through me.

“I put my house on the market,” he said.

“When?”

“Three days ago.”

I was still lost three days ago. He sold his house while I was still out, not knowing if I would come back.

“I have an offer. I accepted it.”

“What if I hadn’t come out of it?”

“I knew you would,” he said.

“How?”

“You don’t give up. And…” He raised his hand and touched my cheek. His rough fingers grazed my skin, caressing. The breath caught in my throat. “You wouldn’t leave me.”

We stood next to each other. Suddenly I was very aware that I was wearing nothing but a towel. The wolf was looking at me through Sean’s eyes, so close, if I reached out, I could touch him.

“This is the part where I should probably do that thing Arland does,” Sean said quietly. “Where he announces that he isn’t a poet, but a humble awkward soldier, and then composes a sonnet on the spot.”

“But you come from the planet of warrior poets. It shouldn’t be a challenge for you.”

“So I’m told.” His amber eyes shone, catching the light of the lamp. His gaze snagged on my lips. He was thinking of kissing me. The realization sent electric shivers through me. I bit my lip. His breathing quickened.

“About that sonnet,” he said.

“Yes?” It felt like my whole life depended on what he would say next.

“I love you.”

That was all I wanted to hear. I didn’t even know until now how much I wanted him to say these words to me. He’d said it before, when I was under, but it was different then. Now it was everything.

“I’ll never leave you,” Sean said. “If you want to stay an innkeeper, I will be one with you. If you want to do something else, I will do that with you. Whatever comes next, I’ll be there, because I want you more than anything I've ever wanted. That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.”

I took a step and closed the distance between us. His strong arms closed around me. He bent down and kissed me. He’d kissed me before, but those times paled before this one. He didn’t just touch his lips to mine. He drank me in, seducing, compelling, conquering my mouth. It was an full-out assault, all or nothing. He was offering himself to me and he wanted to know if I was his. I melted into it. I had never wanted anything more.

His hands tightened around me. A shiver ran down my back. His fingers slipped into my hair. I put my arms around him, trying to get closer to the heat of his body. He made a low masculine noise that drove me wild. I fumbled with his T-shirt. He pulled it off, revealing a hard chest corded with muscle, and then he caught me into his arms. My towel slid to my hips. My cold nipples pressed against the heated wall of his chest. I felt so hot, like I was on fire. His hands roamed my body. He made that noise again, that hungry male noise that made me lose my head.

My towel slipped to the floor. He let me go for a breath and then he was naked. We stared at each other in the moonlight slipping through the small window of my bedroom. The silver light slid over him, playing on his broad shoulders, his powerful chest, the ridges of his stomach, and lower, where his hard length made it obvious just how much he wanted me. His eyes glowed like liquid amber, heated from within by intense need. There was no softness in him, just dangerous, lethal strength. He was my wolf, half in the light, half in the shadow. I loved him so much.