Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Cadel listened to the approaching footsteps. He smelled steak. So either he was wrong about the Shadow Board being on their way, or the steak was going to go to waste.

Everest glanced up at him. "It's your move."

Cadel moved without caring that he was losing the game—again. He was pretty sure he couldn't have beaten Everest, even though he only had three pieces on the board, even if he had been concentrating. He was sure Everest found the whole concept amusing and enjoyed the challenge.

But he also expected to win at some point.

Heat pooled Everest's dark eyes. And every time Everest looked at him, Cadel was sure he was about to say something inappropriate. Yet he always did it when Cadel least expected it. He was sure that by the time they finished this job, he'd be begging to lose the game so he could feel more than Everest's lips.

"Stop looking so concerned. It may not happen," Everest whispered.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I was thinking. "

The corner of Everest's lips turned up in the smallest of victory smiles. "I'm just glad that you're thinking about me."

"It's my job to think about you." He made his move, and Everest immediately cleaned the piece off the board.

"Check."

"What the fuck?" The footsteps were right outside the door now. He tilted his head, and Everest nodded, understanding the warning. Then Cadel refilled his cup. "Can you reheat this?"

Everest wrapped his fingers around the cup. It bubbled boiling in only two seconds.

"Try not to kill anyone." His words were a little more than a breath.

Beneath the scent of steak, filtering in under the door, were the scents of three other people. At least one was a shifter. Held out three fingers.

Everest drew in a breath steeling himself for what was to come next.

Keep the prince alive.

He'd been warned about the flirting and the reckless streak, but no one had warned him Everest had been plotting and scheming for three lives and remembered hundreds more. No one had warned him he'd be dealing with an immortal genius with a vendetta.

Or that he was so appealing.

Someone knocked on the door, and Cadel got up. "Coming."

He was wearing his pistol and had a knife strapped to his ankle. He wanted more weapons, but it didn't matter how many he had now; he wouldn't be allowed to carry any when they were walked out of there.

He needed to make it look real without getting injured .

Tension thrummed through his blood. He exhaled and shook out his hands before opening the door.

The waiter from lunchtime stood there with the trolley. He smiled, though it was tight. "Would you like me to bring this in, sir?"

"Sure." Cadel stepped aside, opening the door further. That's when he saw the two Shadow Board operatives. He put his foot in front of the trolley, his hand already reaching for his pistol. "That's far enough."

The waiter backed up, lifting his hands as he didn't know about the threat that had followed him up. One of the men shoved the waiter out of the way, and he stumbled into the wall.

Cadel shoved the trolley at the man who was trying to push his way in. Silverware and steak went flying. A fireball shot past his head and narrowly missed the attacker. Everest had decided to join the fight and was putting on a show.

He leveled his pistol at the man in front of him. "I can't allow you to enter."

"We just want to talk with the prince. Let us in." The other man said with a voice as soft as velvet. Magic rippled over Cadel's skin.

He was a fucking siren.

If he didn't act like he was under the spell, the compulsion would become worse. So he lowered his pistol and let them in.

Everest barked something in French, fire wrapping around his hand as if he was preparing to throw another fireball.

The siren replied, directing all of his magic at Everest.

Everest hesitated acting as though he was battling the command before letting the flames go out and lowering his hand to his side. He looked as meek as a lamb. Another act. Was he even feeling the effect of the magic?

The other man, a shifter, walked past Cadel and took the gun off him, then closed the door.

One witch and one shifter. Another big cat from the smell of him, but not a lion.

The witch sat opposite Everest. "You weren't happy with the way my assistant negotiated."

There was no magic in those words.

Like all the witches, he needed to watch how much magic he used. If he gave too many orders, they'd become ineffective, and he wouldn't be able to hold the binding he thought he'd put on both of them.

"He couldn't give me any answers." Everest glanced at Cadel and the other shifter. "You have broken into my rooms and ruined my dinner plans."

"You're having dinner with us tonight."

"You could have called and invited me."

The witch nodded at the shifter, who patted Cadel down and took his knife. It would've been odd if he was unarmed. At least this part appeared real.

"But then you would've told your people, and we can't have that. You're going to walk out of here with us as if we are old friends. Then you're going to get into the car and sit quietly until we arrive." The magic in those words was for both of them, and the spell tried to suck Cadel under.

He blinked and tried to let it slide over him instead of hooking into him. It wasn't easy to do but was the best way to handle siren magic.

"When the waiter wakes up, he's going to call for help, so let's move," the siren said to his shifter. Was the shifter bound to him? If so, that made the siren more dangerous, but it also gave him a weakness.

Everest stood. "Can I ask where we are going? If I do not check-in, the castle will become suspicious."

"Don't worry, you will check-in."

The witch led the way, and Everest followed with Cadel only a couple of steps behind, his heart thumping against his ribs, worried that the shifter would stop him.

But he wasn't stopped, and the shifter fell to step behind him.

Act as though lulled.

It irked him, and he itched to do something to stop this. He reminded himself that this was the plan and that Everest knew what he was doing. Everest might, but he didn't know what the Shadow Board was doing. How could he?

How could he have set this up?

Were people really that predictable?

But from his own experience dealing with criminals, yes, they were. They were never as smart as they thought they were. And most weren't that smart at all.

The Shadow Board had gotten away with what they did for so long because they had money and power. Without those two things, they were nothing more than common criminals dealing in the trafficking and enslaving shifters.

Cadel didn't care how well the shifters were treated. Being bound was wrong.

It was only when they were both secured in the back of the vehicle that he let himself glance at Everest. Everest slid his hand across the seat and hooked his little finger over Cadel's.

"Close your eyes," the witch commanded.

Cadel obeyed, letting the magic roll over him, but also lowered his chin so he could peek beneath his lashes.

Was Everest okay, or was he about to be taken under by the past?