The butler gestured to the terrace doors on the other side of the room. He stepped discreetly back into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
Zane took a deep breath, and then walked between the fluttering sheer curtains out onto the terrace. He caught a glimpse of an expanse of starry sky before he turned to meet the woman whose house he'd broken into the night before. The woman from his dream visions.
“Hello,” he said, extending his hand. “Thank you for meeting me. I—”
That was as far as he got. Two silken ropes twined around his wrists and yanked, as if held by invisible hands. Before he could react, he was suspended a few inches off the ground, his arms spread over his head in a Y-shape.
She’d outsmarted him. He was trapped.
Before he could say a word, Blaze made a swift movement with her hands. His shirt ripped open down the front and spread wide, exposing his heart.
Oh, hell, Zane thought. This can’t be good. She must have recognized him from last night.
And she was clearly holding a grudge.
Blaze walked right up to him, ignoring his struggles, and ran her hands over his chest. The heat from her fingers seemed to strike all the way down into his bones.
His exclamation turned into a murmured exhale. “What the hell are you doing to me?”
“Where’s your tattoo?” she demanded.
“My what?”
He had no idea what she was talking about. ‘Thorne?’ he called mentally to his brother. ‘Little help here? I’m on the terrace outside the study.’ He projected a picture of its location. ‘Come from outside. Cloak yourself. We’re having an issue with the lovely Ms. McKenna.’
His brother replied, ‘Saw you leave. Already on my way.’
“Your coven tattoo. Where is it?” Blaze jerked her hand back, walked around behind him, and magically ripped the back of his shirt and jacket as well. He shivered at the sudden touch of the night air on his bare skin.
Or maybe it was her making him shiver.
He felt her fingers on his left shoulder blade, and sucked in his breath involuntarily. Just that small contact sent electricity shooting through his body.
She thought he was a sorcerer. An evil one, if the way he was hanging from his wrists like laundry on a clothesline was anything to go by.
“I’m not in a coven,” he told her.
She came around to face him again. “You must be. You’re too powerful to be solo, and I felt power in the others, too. Stop lying.”
There was a sudden gust of wind, and Zane felt Thorne’s dragon presence just above the terrace. Then his brother shifted mid-air, uncloaked and landed on the terrace behind Blaze, in human form.
‘Watch out, bro.’ he cautioned silently. ‘She has a spell—’
Too late.
The minute Thorne’s feet hit the balcony, more silken ropes sprang to life and he was strung up the same way Zane was. Blaze whipped around and tore Thorne’s shirt open with her magic.
Damn. Beautiful witch: 2, Dragons: 0
Not the heroic first impression he’d intended to make.
Blaze backed up, looking from one to the other. “All right,” she said. “No tattoos, no coven. So spill it. Who are you people, why were you after my artifact, and how much pain do I have to put you through to get it back?”
