Page 17 of The Death Dealer (Sentinels of Magic Book 2)

As Trevor sat down the length of the table from Soleil, he tried his best to concentrate on what Lily Stockton wasjabberingabout. Yet his mind returned again and again to Soleil’s scathing retort.

“I’m falling hard for a guy who is a complete coward when it comes to love.”

He snuck a glance her way.

She’d refused to drop the glamour entirely.Onlygoingso far as to return her body to its original form, but her makeupleantto her supermodel good looks.Had he first seen her this way, he’d have never thought her plain, and he’d likely have tried to get her into bed within minutes of meeting her, believing she would know the score. Gorgeous, full-of-themselves women usually did. Hell, his last lover wrote the book on manipulating men with her beauty.

Deni.

She’d disappeared without a trace, and the best Trackers had been unable to locate her. Seven glorious months they’d spent together, making love and plans.Laughingover the most ridiculous things. But she’d left him. No explanation. No note. Only the diamond ring he’d bought, intending to propose to her.There itsat, seemingly gaudyinits black velvet box placed strategically at the center of the kitchen island, with nothing around it. Not even a fucking fruit bowl.

She’d discovered it in his sock drawer, and the message was clear. Trevor would always be alone. Anisland unto himself, with no one and nothing to cling to. Two years later, her defection still stung. Closure would’ve helped. That and not laying his fucking heart at her feet for her to stomp on after he’d told her all his deepest, darkest secrets. Was one damned discussion to say why she was leaving too much to ask?

“Trevor.”

Soleil’s worried voice echoedin his mind, dragging him from the past.Her flawless brows were drawn togetherin her concern.

“Who’s Deni?” she asked.

“No one I intend to discuss with you.”

Her frown dropped away, and her eyes cooled. The milk chocolate color darkened, telling of her unhappy state, and she gave a slight nod, acknowledging his rudeness.

“Understood. Sorry for the intrusion. It won’t happen again.”

Her tone was one he didn’t recognizefrom her, and it grated on his last nerve.Trevor also wanted to rip off the fucking fake mask she wore.

Soleil wasn’t that person.

She wasn’t Deni.

But she looked like her, or rather, this made-up version of her did.

His fingers went numb, and when his soup spoon clattered to the bowl, Soleil flinched. From his oddball reaction or the loud sound, he couldn’t tell, but it stoodto reasonshe’d be jumpy from the shooting earlier. He should be considerate of her PTSD, but he was suffering a shock of his own.

How had he not recognized their resemblance before?There had beenmany times he’d seen Deni’s chestnut hair pulled up in a messy knot, high on her head, setting off her graceful neck.Many times, he’dseen her tinkering in the kitchen as she whipped up one of her delicious creations, looking for all the world just as delectable.

Cherry pie.

It had been Deni’s favorite.

Trevor stared at Soleil in horror, and she stared right back, equally as horrified.

Were his burgeoning feelings for her an echo of the past?

“Mr. Blane?”

Lily’s concerned voice penetrated the chaos of his mind, and he inched his head in her direction, though his gaze remained locked with Soleil’s.

Without a doubt, she’d been privy to his thought dump, and she was hurt by what she’d seen.

“I’m sorry, Dalli,” he whispered through their connection.

Her eyes dropped to her bowl, and with a dignity he would never have associated with her, she placed her spoon beside the dish and picked up the napkin to dab her lips. Finally, she glanced up, and there was pity in the look she gave him.

“For what, Trevor? Being in love with another provincial earth elemental? That’s what she was, wasn’t she? That’s why you hold witches like me in such contempt.”

“I don’t!”

“Maybe not as much anymore, but you did when you first met me. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit it.”

But he couldn’t be honest with himself. Not in a room with six other people, all looking between them with varying degrees of curiosity or amusement.

“Mr. Blane, are you okay?” Lily asked.

“Trevor,” he corrected, his focus locked on Soleil. “And I’m fine, Lily. I need to discuss something with Soleil. If you give me a half hour, we’ll begin the second phase of your healing.”

“Sure.”

Her voice sounded small, and it caught his attention. “You okay, kid?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged, not meeting his eyes.

“She’s crushing on you.Seemsto be a freaky power you hold over women. Don’t worry. She’ll get over it. I imagine we all do,” Soleil said.

Trevor disliked the cattiness in her response. “Knock it off. She’s a kid, and she’s dealing with cancer of the heart.”

She never responded and, instead, shifted to look at Damian, who watched her closely. Whatever she saw made her mouth tighten with displeasure.

“If you’ll excuse me.” Soleil rose to her feet and cast those present a polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I think I’ll go rest for a bit. Today took a lot out of me.”

Stockton was first on his feet, drawing out her chair. “Are you okay, Lei? Should I call a doctor?”

She softened what previously felt like a brittle smile for him. “Between Damian, Mr. Masters, and Mr. Blane, we have the strongest healers available, Gene. I’m fine. Really. Just tired.”

“Lei? Since when did he start calling you Lei?” Trevor demanded through their link.

She winced.

“If you’re up to walking the gardens after dinner, I’d love to show you my recent acquisitions,” Gene offered.

Trevor had had enough. “Tell him you’renot availableandbe donewith it, Dalli! The poor bastard is pining away for you.”

The only indication she’d heard him was the stiffening of her shoulders.

“That’ll be lovely, Gene.” She had the nerve to lean in and kiss the fucker’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“My father likes her,” Lily said to Trevor. “I think you have competition for your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, kid.” Although his tone was snappish, it didn’t seem to bother her.

“Dad said you were locked in your bedroom with her.”

The superiority in her voice irritated him to no end. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. Besides, kids your age shouldn’t know about sex, and guys my age shouldn’t discuss anything remotely like sex with children.”

“One, I’m not a child. Two, I never said it was for sex, just that you were locked in your bedroom. And three, I know about sex. I don’t live in a bubble, dude.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “But yeah, talking about it with a guy old enough to be my dad is gross.”

“He’s a helluva lot older!” Trev retorted like the child he accused her of being. The comparison thoroughly annoyed him. “He’s fucking ancient.”

“I’m fifty-two,” Gene saiddrylyas he approached. “Hardly ancient. Only three years older than you,if I’m not mistaken.”

Trevor shoved back his chair and stood. “This conversation took a turn for the worse. I’m out.”

Lily giggled, and Gene chuckled as Trev grimaced.

“I need to find Dalli,” he muttered.

“Dalli? I thought her name was Soleil?” Lily’s confusion would’ve been adorable had Trevor been in any sort of indulgent mood.

“Inside joke.” He gave Gene a sour look. “One only a close friend is privy to.”

Stockton smirked, damn him.

Trev wasreallybeginning to despise smirkers.

First Soleil, now Stockton.There was no end to the smirkiness going around.

* * *

“Do you still love her?”Soleil wanted to punch herself for asking the question the second Trevor walked into her bedroom. What the fuck was she thinking?She’dseen his reaction to the memory at the table. She’d heard his thoughts about the engagement ring.

“No.”

“Pfft.”

“Why ask if you won’t take my word for it?” His tone was waspish.

She cast him a sharp glance in the vanity mirror.When he met her gaze with a challenging one, she knew he was spoiling for a fight.

Well, let him! Engaging in battle was entirely up to her, and she had no intention of giving him the satisfaction of a knock-down-drag-out.With a careless shrug,she lifted the cleansing wipe and scrubbed the makeup off her skin.

Another glance in his direction showed his expression softening.

“It was a long time ago, Dalli.”

“I heard. But two years is a mere drop in a bucket of time for a Death Dealer, isn’t it?”

In the mirror, she saw Trevor’s approach. He stopped shy of touching her, but Soleil could feel the heat of him at her back. His energy was dynamic and far-reaching.

“You shouldn’t lead Stockton on.”

She snorted. “Please don’t talk about leading people on. Not you.”

“I haven’t. We discussed it before you stepped into the shower with me.”

“True. But then don’t behave like you care at other times. Rein in the pretended jealousy act.”

“It’s not pretend,” he said as he eased her hair from its mooring and spread it over her shoulders. Threading his fingers through the strands, he massaged her tender scalp. She closed her lids in bliss. “I am jealous. Of every look, every innocent touch, every smile you send his way. I want to use my ability to murder him slowly. Feel his soul disintegrate under my hands.”

Her eyes flew wide, and with her heart pounding out of her chest, she met his intent gaze in the mirror.

“I won’t. Not unlesshehurts you or breaks your heart, Dalli. So if you”—his jaw clenched, but he powered on—“if you decide to be with him, let him know he needs to treasure what he has.”

Trevor’s image grew blurry, and Soleil blinked away the forming tears. Clearing her throat, she shifted forward and dislodged his hands.

“Sure. I can do that,”shesaid, rummaging for another face wipe.

“I wish it could be me,” he said in a low, aching voice.

“If you wished it, you could make it so, Trevor.” She hardened her tone and her heart. “You’re your own worst enemy in the love department. Not your supposed family curse.”

He dropped his arms and stepped back, his face a cool mask. “Believe what you want, but I know the truth.”

“Sure you do. Men always know what’s best for women, don’t they?” Soleil didn’t try to disguise her mocking tone.

“What do you want from me?” he snapped. “A white picket fence and a dozen babies?”

“Yes, all women are looking for a man to impregnate them.” She rolled her eyes and shot him a look filled with disgust.“What’s wrong with a normal relationship? Someone to love you and who you love in return?”

“Do you think I can wipe all the blood of the past from my hands with a few pretty words? Killers like me don’t settle down to a normal life, Dalli. The Authority won’t let us. And when we try, someone else pays the price. Those we love.”

She faced him and gripped his hands.

“You’re not the killer you think you are, Trevor Blane.” He tried to draw away, but she held on tight. “I’ve spoken to Damian. I know?—”

“When?”

“When what?”

“When did you speak to Damian? Not while you’ve been here. You haven’t had time.”

“Well, no. It was before. When I first… when we…” She pressed her lips together and inhaled, digging up the courage to confess she’d been fascinated with him from day one. “I asked him after you dispatched Morcant. When things settled after Sabrina’s abduction and tribunal.”

Trevor frowned. His darkening expression fed her nervousness.

“Is he the reason Iwas taskedwith watching you? Was this all a setup?” he demanded.

“No!” She released his hands quicker than she would a shriveled earthworm. “I thought you were hot and asked what your deal was. That’s all.”

Trevor remained quiet and watchful as if he were weighing her honesty.

“You don’t have to believe me, but you must admit Damian has too much integrity to set you up. Do you honestly believe a man so omnipotent would lower himself to play matchmaker?”

A smile kicked up the corners of Trevor’s mouth. “No, I don’t.”

She sighed her relief, but her stress returned as she considered their situation. “But the Authority did send you for a reason, and we need to discover what it is.”

The door burst open, and her brother-in-law loomed in the doorway. The skin was tight around his obsidian eyes, andhisfullmouth was pulled downand thin with displeasure.

Soleil’s stomach flipped. “Damian! What’s going on? Is my sister okay? Sabrina? Nate?”

“They’re fine. It’s Spring Thorne. There’s been an attempt on her life.”