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Chapter Eighteen

Calyx

I ’m at a loss as to how the berserker found me to begin with, but he tracked me from the warehouse where Delta’s team stores their gear to the witch’s home.

I portaled out before he could confront me. After Rogue’s truth bomb regarding who is he is to her, that was an excellent choice on my part.

Infighting will gain us nothing.

There are perks to having lived for millennium. Having bickering mates who refuse to get along would do nothing but rip Rogue in two different directions.

It would cause her turmoil, making it much easier to play nice… At least, until he makes his alliance known. If he opts to align himself with the wrong side, I will have no trouble educating him on the downsides of making an adversary out of me.

My portal lands us perfectly in the middle of Delta’s home, but I knew it would. I’ve already had a cursory glance around, ensuring it was as safe as possible before making the decision to bring Rogue and Cohen along.

When I first popped in, I had no way of knowing if her protection spells would be limited to the doors and windows, or if she had an all-encompassing mechanism that would alert her to my arrival. My magic sensed nothing, and I stuck around for some time, waiting to see if she would appear.

According to my source, she likes to frequent a particular human dive bar over an hour away. Once her vehicle leaves the parking lot, my revenants will alert me.

I dart a quick look at Cohen, and he nods, letting me know his spell held during our trip through the portal.

“All right, let’s get to work,” I murmur, keeping my voice barely above a whisper.

We’ve already discussed our target locations.

Rogue and Cohen will stick together while checking the witch’s office. I will peek around her bedroom and finish in the kitchen if there’s time.

I’ve got several revenants watching the exterior of the home, and they will also alert me if we need to make a swift exit. The witch may have driven to the bar, but she might know someone who siphons or has the ability to portal.

The difficult part is not even knowing what we hope to find.

“Anything?” I ask as Cohen and Rogue make their way into the kitchen.

“No visions,” Rogue says, shaking her head. “And I poked around, making sure to touch everything.”

“I did pull two receipts from the trash next to her desk.” Cohen drops them onto the counter. “One for Leon’s bar. The other is for a coffee shop just outside the far side of Haven’s ward.”

I grab the one for the coffee shop, checking over the total and the address. It’s likely for one person’s coffee since it’s less than five dollars.

Haven is in the middle of nowhere, with a fifteen- to twenty-minute drive in any direction to get to a human town once you leave the ward.

The exception to that is a small set of businesses around a major intersection about five minutes west of Haven’s ward.

There’s a gas station, a coffee shop, a diner, a small strip of businesses, and not much else.

“Someone should take a picture of those in case they can be helpful.” I toss the receipt next to the other. “It sounds like we’ll need to make a trip to the bar. It’s quite late, but Delta should still be there if my sources are correct.”

Cohen pulls his phone from his pocket, taking the pictures and quickly shoving the device away again.

Rogue turns to Cohen, placing her hand on his arm. “Are you sure your magic will be able to hold with so many people?”

I chuckle, sliding around the counter and behind her. My hands land on her hips, giving her a tender squeeze.

She’s allowed to be fond of Cohen. Seeing the way she cares for him is actually a relief.

I’m not sure I could be with anyone—even my fated mate—if they weren’t accepting of our connection. But that doesn’t mean I’ll happily watch as I’m left behind.

“Remember how I fueled and guided your magic when we healed Ember’s injuries?” I ask, leaning my chin over her shoulder. “I’m like a battery. Well, as long as I have a willing conduit to funnel that energy through.”

Cohen sighs.

I stretch over, patting his shoulder. “Cohen is a gifted warlock. He guides the spell, and as a result of our connection, he’s able to pull magic from my well to ensure he can hold the incantation for longer periods of time.”

“That is convenient.” Rogue hums. “So I know they won’t be able to see us, but could they hear us if we’re not careful?”

“I’ll handle a sound-dampening spell,” Cohen says. “It’ll muffle our voices, but it’s probably best to whisper.”

“And I will ensure they can’t scent you. We know witches have a sense of smell that’s on par with humans. However, it will be safer to assume there could be other supernatural creatures there as well.” I kiss Rogue’s temple and step back to prepare the portal.

The portal puts us out in the forest just behind the bar.

I technically didn’t travel to it, but rather to my revenant.

Once Rogue and Cohen are standing sure-footed, without wobbling, I bend, allowing the chipmunk to run up my arm.

She’s sure the witch hasn’t left, and she passes that information on telepathically. The chipmunk’s mate has been watching the front exit, and he would have relayed the information if Delta had exited via that door.

Running my fingers between the revenant’s ears, I whisper a quick thank you and pull my magic back. She simply melts to ash, blowing away on the wind, but both she and her mate are together and at peace.

And I’ll call for them again.

I always do.

Getting into the building while being invisible is tricky. It would either require slipping in while someone was entering or exiting or creating another portal.

After a quick discussion, we conclude the portal is the safest option. Landing in the men’s room, we immediately funnel out. Luckily, no one is around or watching to question the door opening and closing on its own.

The three of us continue down the hallway, with Cohen in front and me in the rear. I have to hold back a chuckle when I spot Rogue tiptoeing like she doesn’t want to alert anyone with her footsteps.

Gods.

She’s adorable.

Cohen stops at the end of the corridor, and Rogue steps around him. She gasps, pointing across the bar.

I slide up behind her and guide her arm down.

My nose twitches.

It was a good call to block our scents.

I’m surprised she isn’t holed up in a nest with how potent her pheromones are. Then again, I’m the one who forced her from the sithen.

I’d like to believe that I didn’t push for us to investigate tonight out of jealousy over finding her all wrapped up with Cohen when I returned earlier.

Although, if I said the words, I’m not sure they would be true, which bothers me on some deep level. If I spoke and it was a lie, Rogue would be able to sense it. That means I need to get my shit together. The last thing I want to do is to lose trust with my fated mate.

“What is it?” I murmur close to the shell of her ear. It’s very difficult not to nip at her skin with how enticing her scent is. “You can speak—just keep it to a whisper.”

“Delta is dancing with one of the men who followed me and Cohen. The other two are at the bar.” She leans against my chest, and it soothes me greatly to see she’s growing more comfortable with me.

“How about that?” I say, keeping my voice low. “This isn’t a wasted trip, after all. Cohen, why don’t you supervise the ones at the bar? Rogue and I will see if we can listen in on what’s being said between the dancing couple.”

“I’m not a dancer,” Rogue whispers, stretching up on her tiptoes to get close to my ear. “I don’t think I’ve ever danced with anyone.”

I slide my fingers into her hair and brush my thumb over her cheek. “Luckily, I’m an excellent dancer. I could twirl Cohen around this dance floor, and no one would be the wiser.”

Rogue’s big gray eyes sparkle as she licks her pretty pink lips.

Planting my free hand on her lower back, I lift her and pull her close to my chest. Her feet end up on top of my boots, and I love that she’s tall enough to keep our faces reasonably close together as we sway.

Part of what makes it possible is that she gained a few inches from standing on my feet, but she’s as regal as all fae females.

I move closer to Delta, keeping two or three feet of space between us. She and her dancing partner have been speaking in hushed whispers, and they continue, none the wiser to our presence. There are some benefits to being the most powerful being in the room.

Only, they’re not talking about anything of interest, and I’m bored.

Well, having Rogue’s soft body plastered to mine is a nice distraction, but I’d really like to gain possession of my phylactery.

That way, our only focus will be the sithen and soothing Rogue’s nerves enough that she accepts her future position.

It might be a bit self-serving, but I haven’t been able to settle in one place for longer than a few weeks in hundreds of years.

My power brings adversaries I’ve never even heard of, and with the sithen existing between realms, it will give us a safe, impenetrable home base.

Its magic is literally set up to create a safe haven, and I can’t help but think the universe is finally offering me an olive branch.

I don’t use my power in horrible ways like so many of my kind are drawn to do.

I deserve a little good in my never-ending existence.

“This is tedious.” I nod to Delta. “How about you lend me a bit of your truth-seeking magic, princess? Maybe we can speed up this process.”

Rogue’s nose wrinkles. “I don’t have the first clue how to do that.”

I smirk, wiggling my eyebrows. “Just open yourself up to me, and I’ll do the rest.”

“Have at it, but I don’t think my magic works that way,” she whispers.

Lowering my mouth to hers, I capture her lips. The adorable little gasp she lets out as I fuck my tongue into her mouth might be my undoing. It only takes a few seconds of contact, and she releases her mental shields.

Hmm.

I wonder if she even knows that she has them. My sweet fae princess is so uptight, I don’t think she understands even a sliver of what she’s magically capable of. But perhaps there’s a good reason she keeps such a tight hold on herself.

There’s some dark and enticing magic flowing through her system, but I avoid that and seek out the abilities she inherited from her father.

I’m forced to pull back from our kiss to blow the magic at Delta and her dancing partner. As soon as that’s done, I return to tongue-fucking my mate.

Rogue mewls into the kiss, melting against my front. I’ve lived multiple lifetimes and never been this content. My hindbrain starts planning how to make a portal to get us the hell out of here.

“You have to be smarter,” Delta whispers, her tone playful and at odds with her words. “The real payoff will come when we sell the relic. Making a little money here or there isn’t an issue, but we’d all be in deep shit if I hadn’t talked Owen into giving my team the case.”

My mate gasps, and I do my best to muffle it with my lips. I’m not sure when I closed them, but my eyes pop open to better appraise the situation playing out next to us.

Delta must mean the meager earnings they’re making from the Market Heist Crew robberies.

She’s not wrong . A fully functional phylactery could fetch millions on the black market.

If she can find a buyer stupid enough to take the risks involved trying to keep a lich from their most prized possession.

“You sure are taking your sweet time to find a buyer,” the man says, keeping his voice low.

Delta bristles. “This isn’t the kind of piece that can go to just anyone. They’ll need to have a magically reinforced safe room to store it, as well as spells in place to counter anyone attempting to steal it back.”

“Oh yeah, because you’ve got it locked down like that now.” The man chuckles, and the witch’s eyes narrow.

“We have exactly one benefit on our side, and that is that no one knows we have it,” Delta hisses, glancing around frantically.

“Eventually the piece will sell, and everyone who has shown interest in it will be a suspect. You’re all fools if you think the lich won’t slaughter his way through every possible buyer until he locates his jar. ”

I frown.

That makes me sound considerably more vicious than I usually am.

These are special circumstances.

My literal soul is being held prisoner because that witch wants to make a quick buck.

“Once he’s killed and tortured the buyer for information, he’ll follow the trail back to us.

We need to be long gone by the time that happens.

” Delta pats the man’s chest placatingly.

“The type of collectors interested in the piece are one thing, but we can only sell to someone we know will be able to defend it, at least long enough for us to disappear.”

I do love it when the enemy is dumb enough to spill all their secrets in a public place.

Cohen catches my gaze over Rogue’s shoulder, and he points at the nonexistent watch on his wrist to indicate the limits of his spell have been reached.

That’s fine, though.

We gained more information than even I fathomed.