Page 8 of The Death Dealer (Sentinels of Magic Book 2)

Trevor exited through the terrace doors, kicked off his shoes, and followed the dirt path the girl had used. When he caught up with her, she was sitting on the sand, which was still warm from earlier in the day. Her arms were clasped around her raised legs, and her chin rested on her up-drawn knees.

“You okay?” he asked gently, noting the flimsy little-girl nightgown and worrying it would provide no protection against the brisk sea air.

“Yeah.” Her gaze swept him, and she turned away dismissively. There was no real curiosity when she asked, “Who are you? Another doctor?”

“Doctor?”

“My dad keeps them coming, determined to find a cure.” Her voice was flat, as if she was disillusioned by life.

Why would someone as young as she feel that way?

“I’m not a doctor. My—” What? Companion? Friend? Mark? What was Soleil to him now?

The girl watched him closely. “Your what?”

“I was just trying to figure it out. Let’s go with friend.” Trev shrugged and gave her a self-deprecating smile. “My friend deals in rare plants. Her dream is to repopulate extinct and endangered species across the world.”

Although her gaze turned thoughtful, the girl remained mute.

“Is your dad Stockton?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Trevor Blane.” He squatted and held out his hand for her to shake.

“Lily Stockton.”

The second she touched him, he could feel her ebbing life force. She was dying. Whatever disease she had was terminal.

Although he suspected cancer, Trev asked, “Why is your dad rotating in doctors? What’s wrong with you?”

“Defective heart. But I’m not a candidate for a transplant.” When he stayed silent, waiting and watchful, she grimaced. “And cancer. Rhabdomyosarcoma.”

“I’m not certain what that last one is.”

“It affects the soft tissue in my body. Mine is stage IV. Dad said it couldn’t be treated because of my weak heart muscle.”

Based on her overall energy and the trace magic he could detect throughout her aura, Lily was receiving magical infusions of a sort. Was that why Stockton had wanted Soleil to come to his estate?

With a casualness he didn’t feel, Trev nodded, plopped down next to her, and stared at the waves as they reflected squiggly lights from a peek-a-boo moon.

“How long do you have, Lily?” he asked softly.

“The last doctor said a few months. That was about three weeks ago. Dad fired him. Said he didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.”

Rather than sound amused, as a normal teen might, she sounded tired.

“Your father refuses to give up hope.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “It’s going to be bad, though. When I’m gone, he’s…” With a deep inhale, she shook her head. Trev got the impression she was frustrated more than sad.

“You want him to give up hope?” he asked.

“Yes. No! I don’t know.” She dumped a fistful of sand off to her side. “Why is he trying so hard when I’m going to die anyway?”

“He’s your dad, kid. In my experience, there are fathers who go to the ends of the earth for their children.”

Her curious gaze on his face felt like a living thing, and oddly, Trevor wanted to hide from what he knew her next question would be.

“Did your dad?” she asked.

“Nope. Mine faked his own death and disappeared on my younger brother and me. Until last year, we didn’t know he was alive.”

“Holy shit!”

“Don’t swear,” Gene Stockton’s voice preceded him.

Trevor studied the man’s profile as he joined them. There was no anger, merely a healthy concern for his daughter’s welfare.

“Lily, it’s late. You should be in bed, resting for tomorrow.”

“I’m not going!”

“We’ve discussed this?—”

Lily surged to her feet and glared at her father. Both fists were clenched tightly by her sides, and she looked as if she was using the last of her energy stores to argue the point. “I said I’m not going! Why can’t you let me die in peace?”

“Because you’re not dying on my watch,” her father snapped.

But there was a haunted expression in his gaze as he stared at her.

Tears filled Lily’s fierce eyes and trailed down her cheeks to drip from her jaw. “I’m tired, Daddy.”

“I know, and that’s why you need to rest. There’s a dinner tray in your room.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head in her frustration. It seemed Gene Stockton intended to willfully ignore what she was trying to relay.

“Mr. Stockton, I’d like to talk to you in private, if I may.”

In an instant, rage clouded the other man’s face, and in his blind fury, Stockton looked ready to pummel Trevor for no other reason than the fact he was present.

Trev kept his cool, understanding Stockton’s grief and frustration for what they were. “Sir, I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

He nodded once. “We can meet in my study after I escort Lily back to her room.”

“I want to hear it, too,” Lily said. “If it concerns me, I should get a say.”

Summing her up and weighing his options, Trev slowly nodded. “Okay, then I say we discuss this here and now, while you’re up for it.”

“Daddy?” Her voice was pleading, as if she expected her father to reject the idea.

“Okay.”

Trev hid a smile and turned to watch the water lap the shore as he waited for Stockton to bundle his daughter in the quilt he’d brought outside with him. Once they were settled, he cleared his throat. “Stockton, do you know what my father was? Is?”

“A warlock, or male witch.”

“Yes. But do you know what ability he possesses?”

“No,” Stockton admitted.

“And me? When you left me alone earlier, did you reach out to your contacts to find out what I’m capable of?”

“I did. Few knew, but one suggested you’re a magical assassin.”

“That’s putting a grim spin on it, but it’s close to accurate. Feel free to call off your investigators, Stockton. I’ll share.” Trevor locked gazes with him. “I’m a Death Dealer. I can kill with a single touch.”

Other than the gentle crash of waves, silence reigned. Shooting a glance at Lily, Trev noticed her eyes were rounded with wonder.

“What exactly are you proposing, Blane?” Although challenging, there was an underlying wariness in the man’s tone.

“The flip side of my abilities is that I can heal.” Trevor let his words sink in.

Gobsmacked, both father and daughter stared at him as if he’d grown a second head.

“Normally, I’d need permission from the Author—uh, my bosses, but I doubt they’d grant it for a mortal,” he told them. “So if we do this, we’ll need to bring in some of my heavy-hitter friends to cloak the ceremony.”

Gene Stockton staredat the dangerous warlock sitting beside his daughter. When he’d found out the man was an assassin, his first instinct was to get Trevor Blane the hell off his island. But curiosity had gotten the best of him, and he’d spied on Blane via the security cameras strategically located around the estate. He’d also shamelessly tapped the call the man made to his brother and sister-in-law and watched as the suspicion died from the man’s eyes.

When Trevor caught sight of Lily outside, he hadn’t appeared threatening, merely curious, so Gene had continued to observe him via a security app to see what the guy would do. Throughout their conversation, he’d listened in, appreciating Blane’s frank comments and how he hadn’t treated Lily as if she were a fragile flower. She hated being considered sickly.

Gene had only stepped in when his daughter swore, and his scold was a matter of habit rather than a true rebuke.

“You can heal my daughter? For good?” he asked hoarsely. His shock hadn’t completely worn off, and he didn’t quite know what to say. One question was prominent in his mind; what price would he be forced to pay?

“I can, and I will.”

“Why would you?” Lily asked, eyes narrowed. Her suspicious nature made Gene proud as punch. As quick-witted as she was, Lily Anne Stockton would never be hoodwinked.

Blane’s entire self was open and honest when he responded. “Because no one should have to suffer the way you are. Especially not a kid.”

Mulling over the man’s reply, Gene felt grudging respect build for him. It was the opposite of what he’d experienced for Benjamin Blane. That fucker had almost cost Gene his life.

After Dutch’s wife and daughter were killed, the kingpin had shown up, prepared to torture anyone and everyone to find out the dirt on the traitor in their midst. Benjamin Blane had gone by a different name then, but it didn’t take Dutch long to uncover his true identity.

Thankfully, Gene was able to convince him that he wasn’t involved. Not long after Dutch left him—thankfully with digits and limbs intact—Gene decided to learn everything he could about the spy Dutch had unknowingly welcomed into his organization.

He never revealed what he’d discovered, because Dutch would’ve murdered the Blane boys without a second thought, just as he had their mother, Gloria. So Gene had kept whatever he uncovered in his back pocket for a rainy day. Today might be that day.

“Perhaps you should state what you expect in return, Mr. Blane,” Gene said coolly. “Or, I should probably clarify, what you and your brother, Simon, expect.” In his experience, most people didn’t do things out of the goodness of their hearts. Especially not the FBI.

Trevor Blane shocked him again when he said, “Not a damned thing, Stockton. I don’t barter for profit. Your kid should be able to live a full and happy life.”

Meeting his daughter’s gaze, Gene wondered if she could see his fear mixed with hope, as he saw hers. “Lily?”

Her tired eyes contained a hint of steel. “Yes, but if it doesn’t work, you have to let me go, Daddy. No more doctors. No more treatments. Okay? You let me go.” When he hesitated to agree, she firmed her mouth and glared her irritation. “Promise me, or it’s no.”

“It could come back,” he hedged.

“It’s doubtful it will, but if it does, you call my number, Stockton. I’ll return to help her,” Trevor vowed, eyes solemn.

“And if you’re not alive to help her?” The question had to be asked, and Gene hated that he had to be the one to ask it. Hated that it sounded like a subtle threat.

Fortunately, the Death Dealer didn’t take it that way. “Then my brother will help her, and failing that, I’ll leave instructions for another.”

When Gene looked at his daughter again, she was staring at Trevor Blane with hero worship in her shimmering eyes. His fear was nothing compared to her courage. With a nod of acceptance, he shook Trevor’s hand.

“Thank you.”

“Thank me after it works. I still have to call in a few people to pull this off and not get found out by those in charge.” Trevor glanced between them. “I’m not trying to give false hope. It can be done, if we aren’t stopped.”

“I understand.”

“Good. I’ll see you at dinner.” The Death Dealer rose to his feet and snapped his fingers. All the sand clinging to his backside fell from him, leaving his slacks pristine.

“Neat trick,” Gene said dryly.

A fleeting smile crossed Trevor’s lips. “One of my favorites.” To Lily, he said, “Tomorrow is going to be a trying day for you, kid. At breakfast, we need to discuss what this entails. The process won’t be a walk in the park. In fact, it’s going to be painful. I’ll explain everything before we start, and if you change your mind, I’ll understand.”

“I won’t, sir,” she promised.

Love for his daughter swelled in Gene’s heart. If he could take her illness and pain for himself, he would. His desire was for her to live a full life and experience all she’d ever dreamed possible.

“Okay. Good night.”

As Trevor Blane disappeared into the inky night, Gene faced his daughter. “If you’re as keyed up as I am, I’m going to suggest a kitchen raid.”

Lily giggled. “Ice cream and cake?”

“You know it!”

“What about dinner?”

“I’ll have a tray sent to our guests. You and I have reason to celebrate.”