Chapter Two
Tenminutes later Sadie joined her minimal staff downstairs, ready to kick off another rowdy Saturday with the first of the night’s drinkers already swinging back one form of elixir or another to fight the harsh cold.
“Hey, Cabe, pour a pitcher for table three and let’s tap another keg.”
“You got it, boss.”
Normally humans loved visiting The Cauldron Bubble for a fix of hard liquor and beer like the shifters loved their witch-brewed New England moonshine. The cold was doing a damn good job at keeping half of her tables unoccupied. She sighed and made a mental note to order in a fresh stock of alcohol for the coming holidays and brew up a few more batches of her personal concoction. Maybe she should throw a winter solstice celebration? Invite the whole town.
Letting that thought simmer in the back of her mind, Sadie left the instructions with her bartender and walked over to a quiet corner out of earshot of everyone.
She pulled out her phone and punched in the familiar number.
“Tell me you have it ready, Sadie,” answered a familiar and nervous voice through the earpiece.
Sadie’s heart swelled for Harlow. Once a part of the royal family within the Silver Circle, she couldn’t even do a simple protection spell as punishment for disobedience. Who the Hades did the Silver Circle of Magic think they were controlling who a witch loved, anyway?
Sadie traced the soft edges of a napkin, her back to the crowd forming around the bar. “Hey, Harlow. The potion is ready. Do you have the additional ingredients?”
“I will before the night is up.”
“Good.” Both knew that if either of them was caught with dragon’s blood in their possession, Harlow’s current situation would look like a vacation. “When would you like to meet for delivery?”
“Right now, if you can. I don’t want to waste another minute if you know what I mean.”
Sadie didn’t dare ask what else the woman had on her agenda for the evening that made her sound in a hurry. If she’d lost her powers, she’d be a little anxious too. Honestly, the less she knew, the less any truth spell could pull from her.
“How about in an hour? My place? Yours? A la clandestine, I presume?” she added in a low whisper.
Humans understood how the Silver Circle’s law worked, which helped to explain why the forbidden brew came with a hefty price tag. Her government worked pretty much like human’s, only the elders of the Silver Circle were not as forgiving as their human counterparts. Theirs acted more like an all-inclusive package deal—judge, jury and executioner if you were unlucky enough to be brought to the Circle’s court. Break a law and the Silver Circle punished a witch or warlock how they saw fit. Thank the goddesses lopping off heads went out of style around the time cameras became a thing. Well, for the most part anyway. There were rumblings underground that had her heart going cold just thinking about the dark rumors of how the Elders dealt with truly awful criminals.
“No. My place is being watched. Trust me. I’ll swing by your place, okay. Your back door in an hour.” Harlow countered, bringing Sadie out of her head and back to the conversation.
“Or that. Yeah, I guess that works, too.”
Before she could press end on her phone call, Sadie’s magic shimmered the length of her spine and instinct stiffened her muscles. “See you then, Harlow.”
Hitting end, she slowly turned on her heel, expecting to find one of her sisters. Instead, chiseled muscles defined by outdoor labor and encased in black cotton came into view. She traced a path with her eyes, first down to see solid thighs covered in the sexiest fucking black jeans she’d ever seen on a man, and up to find a gorgeous set of dark blue eyes staring down at her.
“Getting into trouble again?” Aidan drawled, his rough baritone doing wicked things to her cool composure.
That was on the outside. On the inside two emotions warred for control. Fear of what he might have overheard with his heightened hearing. And nerve-searing, thigh-clenching lust.
Lust was winning by a mile.
He anchored his hands on two wooden chairs on either side of him and breathed in deeply, then released on a long sigh. “Sadie.”
Why did he have to say her name as if he wanted to spread her open and lick her until she came undone?
Aidan Montgomery—the werewolf shifter that starred in all her fantasies—stood so close she could reach out and touch any part of her fantasy she wished.
He must have sensed the turn her dirty mind had taken. His pupils dilated and the rims of his irises brightened with a supernatural shade of red she could only describe as a mixture of sapphire with shards of ruby. The contrast of colors was as striking as the man. She’d seen his eyes like that once before but hadn’t gotten to ask what it meant before he sprinted out her door in a dead run.
“Why the two colors again?”
“What are you talking about, Sadie?” He straightened, letting his hands fall by his sides.
It was just like her to blurt whatever decided to stomp through her mind before she had a chance to filter her thoughts. Her question caused his brows to pinch together and he took a half-step back from her.