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.It had been a while since he’d enjoyed himself with a witch.He was looking forward to slitting her throat or piercing her black heart with her own athame.He raised the glasses again to his eyes and watched with a surge of rage as the blonde woman crawled onto the man’s lap and straddled him as his hands reached into her blouse and cupped her braless breasts.His groin tingled and he smiled viciously.“Enjoy it, you fucking bitch,” he muttered darkly, leading two old ladies passing by to tut-tut in consternation and hurry on.“Enjoy the last little screw session you’re going to have with that bastard because tomorrow night you’re both going to be dead.”Chapter 34Sophie Mercurio gasped as Andrew de Vere gave one final thrust inside her, groaned loudly and collapsed satiated against the couch.She leaned forward on his lap.He tipped his head back in satisfaction, his hands tightly gripping her hips.“Not bad my love.I feel less tense than I was before.You always know how to make me feel better.”He motioned to her with an impatient wave to get off him.She moved to the side quietly and he stood up and pulled up the trousers that had been halfway down his legs, zipping them.He made his way over to the cocktail cabinet and poured a large shot of whisky before coming back and sitting down next to her.“So, what news have you on Quinn Fairmont and the Consortium? He still suspects nothing about you then?”Sophie shook her head as she fastened her blouse and picked up her underwear and skirt off the floor as she got dressed.“No.I’m still in the clear.He trusts me.His boyfriend even seems to be warming to me more and believe me, that’s a feat in itself.He’s a suspicious, nosy bastard and I wouldn’t mind doing some magyck on him myself when Fairmont is out of the way and you have his Withinner.”Andrew reached out lazily and gripped Sophie’s wrist tightly, his fingernails drawing blood.“That man is mine and you will do nothing at all to jeopardise that or I’ll kill you myself.I owe myself the pleasure of cutting that snarky son of a bitch into pieces whilst Fairmont watches.I fully intend doing that as soon as I can.”Sophie nodded.He released her and smiled grimly.“He escaped me once and he won’t do it again.I just need to bide my time and surprise them.Fairmont has so much protection around them both it’s difficult to get close.And you can unfortunately only do so much for me inside their circle.” He frowned.“Why did the Fey blood transfusion not work? And the hex?”Sophie cleared her throat before answering.“He says he’s noticed changes since he did Unity with his Withinner.I suppose there could have been some physical difference that renders him less susceptible to the Fey blood now.No one really knows the after-effects of a Unity as hardly anyone has ever done it.” She spoke spitefully.“Perhaps you should try it with Algarde, Andrew.See how it works firsthand.”Andrew smiled lazily, drew back his hand and slapped her across the face.She reeled back, blood trickling from her split lip.He gazed at her flatly.“Pettiness doesn’t become you so don’t make me privy to it.I don’t like it.” He turned to look at the twinkling lights of the jetties and yachts beyond then turned back to her.“What about the hex? Could that have been the same thing?”She nodded as she wiped the blood away from her mouth.“He did seem a little pale and not quite himself a while ago.He said it was due to the nosebleeds and headaches he’d been having.” She shrugged.“I can’t say for sure why it didn’t work.”Andrew nodded thoughtfully.“It’s a little disconcerting having everything I throw at him countermanded by something we’d don’t know too much about.Find me a Warlock willing to perform a Unity.Promise them something they need, that they can’t refuse.I need to find out more about this process, watch it for myself and see the results.Then perhaps we might be able to understand it and the after-effects.”He turned to her with a faint snarl on his face.“I need to kill him.I want Taliesin for my own, and this time make no mistake, I will take him.The time just has to be right and I can feel that it will be soon.The Witchfinder has agreed to help me.”Sophie’s eyes grew darker as she listened to his words.Andrew wondered why her lips thinned and she looked down at the floor, as if she had a secret.For a fleeting moment he entertained getting whatever it was out of her.Then de Vere decided he didn’t really care.He was satiated with the afterglow of sex and simply wanted a drink then to retire to bed.“Everything all right Sophie?” he asked with mock tenderness.She looked up at him.“How do you know you can trust the Witchfinder? That he’s not planning to betray you or hurt you?” There was a note of tension in her voice.Andrew waved a hand airily.“He can’t defeat me, Sophie.He’s no threat.Quinn is out looking for him but I doubt he’ll find him unless someone tells him where he is.And that’s not going to happen is it? No, the Witchfinder will do as he’s told.”Sophie looked down at the ground.“What if you’re wrong? I don’t want anyone to hurt you, Andrew.I couldn’t bear if anything happened to you.You know I would protect you—that I truly love you and would do anything to keep you safe no matter what?”Andrew chuckled throatily.“My darling, I know you would.And I’m never wrong, you know that.Now come on over me and give me a kiss.Then perhaps we can go to bed.”***Some days later, Quinn got home from a Consortium gathering at one in the morning.He was bone tired, disgruntled, feeling the weight of his Warlock nation on his shoulders.He walked into the drawing room, heading straight for the liquor cabinet and poured a large whisky.He ran a hand over his eyes, sitting down in the large armchair, closing his eyes in relief at being home.It had been a difficult meeting.Whilst most of his Marshalls and Elects were firmly rooted on his side, there were those who coveted his title and thought they deserved it.James Barton Sinclair was one such man.A Marshall in the West Country, in his fifties, experienced, popular, he was very radical in his views as to how the Consortium should be run.Quinn was not in favour of an all-out war against the Witchhunters, preferring to wield power from within and slowly erode at their ranks.Barton Sinclair thought differently [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]