Page 5 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

It took me a second to realize that he was talking to Cecil.

And that he’d just called mehis. Which seemed like a very bad sign, though not one I could actually do something about.

I was completely at the mountain of a man’s mercy.

And he was still steaming.

Also not a great sign.

Cecil’s nostrils flared, but he jerked his head in a nod and took another step back. “Bailey and Harv should be on their way. The bitch says she’s a blood witch.”

The steam coming off Liam’s skin intensified.

“She definitely doesn’t smell like a wolf, Cecil,” a woman drawled. “And I know you’re not stupid enough to insult a witch in front of our fearless leader.”

My head jerked toward the voice, and I saw a gigantic man walking in with a tall, strong-looking woman at his side. He had dark skin and a shaved head, and she was pale with a reddish-orange bun that was almost as messy as my own sitting on top of her head.

Their auras labeled him a werewolf, and her a vampire.

Their rumpled clothes made me think they had just rolled out of bed. And the way their arms brushed as they moved made me wonder if they’d rolled out of bedtogether.

“This is your last chance to leave here in one piece, Cecil,” the werewolf guy said flatly. “If I were you, I’d take it.”

Cecil’s jaw clenched, and he strode out of the room.

“Are you sure you’re a blood witch?” the woman asked me.

“She is.” Liam answered for me, looking my way again. “How far behind you is your coven?”

I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. There aren’t many places I could go. Even if they can’t track me, they’ll come looking here sooner rather than later.”

He nodded.

“Is she strong enough to fix the wards?” the vampire woman checked.

Liam studied me for a long moment.

I wasn’t going to let them decide my fate, though.

“If you can guarantee me a safe place to live for the rest of my life, I can fix them,” I confirmed, trying to sound much more confident than I felt. If I had to guess, I’d assume that the Resort’s wards were crazy intricate and would require a shit ton of magic. They were also probably spells, which definitely wasn’t my specialty. “It’s going to take a while to figure out exactly what the first witch did, and it’ll need to be maintained frequently, but I can handle it.”

Probably.

I wasn’t going to bring up the possibility that I might not actually be able to do it. Not until I made every effort, and established that it really wasn’t possible.

I was obviously hoping to avoid that outcome, because it could cost me my life.

“If she can—” the vampire woman began, but Liam cut her off.

His intense gaze was fixed on my face. “If you want to stay, you have to mate with me.”

I blinked, and looked at the vampire woman.

He had to be talking to her, right?

But she was gawking at me.

The werewolf next to her was too.