Page 2

When Soleil wiped her brow with her sleeve, leaving behind a smear of dirt, he cringed. Barely suppressing the desire to teleport in and scrub her face clean, he sighed his irritation. He should abandon his post. The woman rarely left her property unless she went to her nonsensical potion store,The Elemental Shop,to sell unsuspecting mortals her useless witchy wares. It wasn’t like he needed to be here, right?

Why Trev had to stick to a timeline for this particular Death Dealer mission was a mystery. If he was going to eventually be tasked with taking her life, he might as well get it over with. He doubted he’d alter Fate’s design by killing her early. The woman didn’t appear to contribute to society in any worthwhile way.

A mouthwatering memory of cherry pie teased his brain.

Okay, maybe her baked delicacies were the exception. For another slice, he’d tell the Authority to go fuck themselves and protect her until his own dying day. Those delicious creations had transported him back to when his mother used to make him the best apple desserts known to man. Goddess, how he missed his mother. All these years of endless aching in his chest.

Soleil’s squeal drew his attention, and he grimaced at the sight of the spilled potting soil. The poor woman was on the klutzy side, too. Why the hell had he drawn the short straw? The other Authority veterans had laughed at him when they heard of this assignment. Most were sent after the worst-of-the-worst criminals.

Not Trevor, though.

He was forced to babysit an earth elemental witch until the deities determined her time was up.

Who really knew why? He’d stopped questioning the Fates twenty-seven years ago. Going against the Authority would get you dead or, at the very least, punished. And who wanted banishment? Not him. The last time he’d braved going against his employer for the Aether and his daughter, it had earned him and his teammates shit jobs. Similar to this one.

And he hated it.

Trev appreciated the finer things in life. Wine, women, and fast cars. Not necessarily in that order. The witch in the greenhouse was another means to that end.

Like a startled deer, Soleil’s head came up, and her eyes scanned the tree line where he was hidden. His inclination was to duck backward into the brush, but he was confident she couldn’t see him behind his cloaking wall. She frowned her confusion and spun in a slow circle, looking for the source of her unease.

It appeared Soleil Stephens had finely tuned instincts. Finally! Something Trev could admire about her. Not that he wanted to, because liking her wasn’t conducive to carrying out her assassination.

Again, the Aether came to mind. Trev prayed the man wasn’t close to his sister-in-law. That was one fucker he didn’t need on his ass. They’d met and worked together to end evil in the past, and he’d seen what Damian was capable of. Hopefully, he would understand that orders were orders when they came from on high. Likely not, though. Trev would need to do some fast talking.

A black-haired child chose that moment to run into the greenhouse. Cradled within the circle of her arms was a small cream-colored animal. “Aunt Soleil! Look what Summer gave me!”

“Summer? Who’s Summer, Sabrina dear?”

“Cousin Alastair’s daughter.”

Trev straightened as his stomach dropped to his feet.

No one had told him a child would be hanging about. Especially notDethridge’schild. This situation just grew too sticky for his taste. If Sabrina was here, her protective father wouldn’t be far behind. Not to mention, the kid scared the bejesus out of him on a regular basis. Her predictions were freaky accurate, and her abilities were like none he’d ever witnessed. At ten years old, she shouldn’t be stronger than everyone he’d ever met. It wasn’t natural.

The air around him crackled and snapped a mere second before the Aether appeared. The barrier created by his invisibility ring disintegrated, exposing him to Damian’s steely obsidian stare.

Oh shit.

“You have one extremely short window of opportunity to tell me why you’re spying on my daughter, Blane. And it had better be good.”

The Aether wasn’t tall or overly muscular. Damian Dethridge leaned on the side of a pretty boy. Although, at well over two hundred years old, the man wouldneverbe considered a boy. No one would dare call him one, either. He was the most powerful force on the planet, minus a god or goddess, and Trev would gamble he’d give any of them a run for their money if it came down to it. All in all, not a man to piss off.

“Not your daughter, Dethridge. You know I’d never hurt her. My mission is the earth witch.”

“Mission? What possiblemissioncould a Death Dealer have with my sister-in-law?”

Trev was sure his face turned a pukey shade of green, but he manned up and answered all the same. “The Authority sent me.”

“Well, the Authority can unsend you. My extended family is off-limits.”

“I can’t go back until my work is completed, Dethridge. I’m already on probation. They’ll kill me if I disobey.”

“I’llkill you if you don’t. So I suppose you need to decide which way is preferable for you to leave this world.”

Frustration welled inside Trev, and he wanted to kick the tree he’d been lounging against. He needn’t have shown restraint, because the Aether possessed the ability to read minds if he cared to. Still, Trev held back. Barely.

“Look, my orders are to watch her. For now. I’m not to harm her unless a command comes down from Councilwoman Vector.”