Page 86 of Wicked Bonds

Her eyes flew open.

Alarms.

Real alarms.

But not from her wards. The house had sprung to life around them, blaring out a warning she didn’t understand.

“Leela. We need to go!” The urgency in Balthazar’s tone suggested he was repeating himself, but she’d missed it the first time around.

His hands were no longer cupping her face but grasping her hips.

“Leela.”

Bullets fired outside from some sort of defensive mechanism tied to the house.

She didn’t have time to ask how or where it came from because she could feel the Seraphim outside now. Not from her wards, but from her own sense of self-preservation.

She’d been in this position before.

Yet couldn’t say when.

A strange realization, one she ignored as she threw her arms around Balthazar’s neck and misted them to the first place she could think of—a random doorstep in…

She frowned as she returned to her corporeal state.

Italy?she guessed, taking in the canal behind her and the long boat drifting along it. The gothic architecture with the touch of Byzantine influences and famous waterways quickly confirmed their current location.Venice.

But she didn’t own a place here.

Strange.

However, as she glanced up to meet Balthazar’s startled gaze, she realized it might not be that strange after all.

A fact he proved as he reached around her.

To key in the code to the door at her back.

Chapter16

Balthazar

This location almost felt appropriate,given it was Jay’s main house off the island. Like all the other Elder locations, it came equipped with upgraded security, a door code, and enough bedrooms to give each male his space when needed.

Balthazar guided Leela into the double-story foyer, then closed and locked the door behind her. An Oriental rug decorated the marble floor, leading them to the seating room with windows overlooking the front terrace and canal beyond.

I’ve been here before,she whispered to herself.But when?

He followed her gaze to a painting on the wall between the oversized windows.

Her feet whispered over the floor with a dancer’s grace, her focus consumed by the painting. Was that the location she’d recognized? Or was it the residence around them?

Jay had renovated the home to match current times in regard to plumbing and general electricity, but he’d kept much of the ambience the same as when he’d purchased the home several centuries ago. It was one of those residences that continued to be passed down through generations.

All the paperwork and legalities were handled by the estate team in Hydria. Balthazar understood most of what they did, but not all, as it varied by country and often changed over the decades.

“How often do you visit this house?” Leela asked, her voice sounding a bit far away as her mind continued spinning into a memory she couldn’t quite grasp.Have I followed him here before? No. Maybe. I’vebeenhere. When?

“More often than the others, but not often enough for it to be notable,” he replied. “This is Jay’s home.”