Page 36 of The Bookseller and the Alpha (Witch Twins #1)

Luc

It took me much longer than I’d hoped to get back to Calypso.

After the warehouse, Billy and I headed to the Palace to review the security footage.

The manager had been right. There wasn’t much to see.

It was the same as at Caly’s shop. No sign of the intruder.

Another cloaking spell and they hadn’t gone in through the warded doors.

Then I had a holo-meeting scheduled with Bas to discuss the security arrangements for the upcoming Summit. As usual, Electra was with him, listening intently to my briefing.

“Any more details?” I asked her, once I was done.

Electra had a hunch that something was going to go haywire at the Summit so we had put additional security in place.

As far as I could tell, there would be no way for terrorists to get within ten miles of the building, but her paranoia was infectious.

I drummed my fingers on the conference table.

“Nothing specific yet,” she said, frowning. “Something feels wrong but I can’t pinpoint it. The threat is still too vague.”

Her pre-cog skills were off the charts but gave her only a few seconds’ warning of specific threats.

The danger had to be immediate and real for her talent to lock on.

But a hunch that something was wrong was normally an indicator that something more specific would eventuate.

The how and when wasn’t something she could identify in advance.

Caly had told me that Electra had called her just before the attack last night.

Her ability to sense danger to Calypso from a distance was a side-effect of the twin bond that had formed in utero.

For anyone else, Electra had to be in close proximity to her client to feel their future.

Which meant that for the last five years, she’d been my brother’s shadow.

“Don’t worry,” Bas said. “You’ve always been in time. I trust you to keep me safe.” Bas gave her his most charming smile, but, as always, it had no effect.

“Sir,” she said simply, inclining her head, not meeting his eyes.

Physically, I could see the resemblance to Caly.

It lay in the shape of their faces, the colour of their eyes, but there was no mistaking one twin for the other.

Electra was a fitter, leaner… harder … version of Caly.

She lacked the generous curves of my mate.

Caly was soft and gentle. Electra was not.

In the Palace uniform of solid black, she looked like the dangerous Witch that she was.

And in personality she was totally the opposite of her sister.

Caly was sweet. She smiled and laughed and teased.

When she was annoyed, she scrunched up her cute little nose and you could almost see her wanting to stamp her foot.

It was adorable. Electra, on the other hand, lacked any warmth in her usual expression.

Her emotions were locked down so tightly that it was impossible to read her.

It had prompted some joker on the Palace staff to give her the nickname ‘Ice Queen’ not long after she had first been appointed his bodyguard.

Bas had used it once and the rest of the staff took it as their cue to adopt the name.

It had been unkind, and unlike him. He was far better than me at managing difficult personalities, well-versed in negotiations with ambassadors and politicians vying for favour.

Getting his employees to like him was child’s play for him and yet the person with whom he spent much of his time had never softened towards him, and he had been needlessly cruel to her.

I had long suspected that something had happened between them, something that caused a rift that had festered.

Bas had refused to talk about it when I had tried to broach the topic.

But I was sure I was right. Once, I caught her eyes on him, when he wasn’t looking, and she was definitely not cold towards him.

She was not an Ice Queen. Her eyes burned.

Several hours after I had initially planned, I was finally driving through the light traffic, as Beast and I planned our next steps to win our mate. I had texted Caly to let her know I was running late, but she hadn’t replied. Perhaps she was still angry with me from this morning.

YOU WILL APOLOGISE , Beast demanded.

Yes, we’ve established that.

Bring her to our den. Beast and I were in complete agreement on that. We needed to have our mate safe, in our den.

Mate her tonight. Bite her. Make her ours .

I just about ground my teeth together in frustration.

I wanted to do just that. I wanted her in my bed, underneath me, screaming my name as I came deep inside her.

As I bit her, solidifying the bond that would mate us forever. My cock hardened on the thought.

Ahead of me the light turned orange. I accelerated, speeding through the intersection, the need to be with her making me reckless.

Not yet. She will be angry at me if we bond her now.

She won’t be angry after you have pleasured her as a mate should .

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I had to think of something else or I was going to crash the car.