Chosen by Desire (42 page)

Got it.
She hid it behind her back and edged closer to the door.

Her psycho advisor didn’t notice anything in her ranting. “All these years I did research, I searched, I talked to people. But nothing. And then someone like you comes along and finds evidence of the scrolls on her first try. Not even evidence like I originally thought, but who the Guardians are.”

“Just lucky, I guess.” She watched the sword aim at her and gulped.

“It was wrong.
I
deserved to make the find. Who are you, anyway? A hick from the Midwest? This is my heritage. Tales about the scrolls were my bedtime stories as a child. I’ve spent my life learning about them.
I
deserved to be the one to make the discovery.” Her gaze narrowed and she aimed the sword at Carrie’s chest. “Which is what will happen, after I claim the scrolls for myself.”

Another three feet and the doorknob would be in her reach. She sidestepped casually so she wouldn’t be obvious about what she was doing. “I can appreciate that, Leonora, but after thinking about it all, I don’t think it’d be a good idea to let the general populace know that the Scrolls of Destiny exist.”

Leonora glared. “Did I ask you what you thought?”

“You know the myth,” she continued, ignoring the question. “There was a reason the scrolls were given Guardians to keep them safe from the average Joe. If word gets out that they exist, think of what people would do to get that much power in their control.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Of course it is,” Carrie said reasonably. “You wouldn’t go down in history as the person who found something really cool. You’d be the typhoid Mary who brought an era of chaos and violence down on the human race.”

“But I’d still have the power, wouldn’t I?” She lunged, making a sweeping slice in the space between them.

The blade whizzed toward Carrie, so close she smelled its metallic tang. Choking on a scream, she flattened herself against the wall behind her.

Leonora smirked and made another threatening jab.

Okay, toying with her was just unnecessary. Eyes narrowed, Carrie adjusted her grip on the figurine.

The door burst open before she made her move. She felt the
whoosh
of air as it slammed into the wall next to her.

She and Leonora both paused in their macabre dance to look. Carrie heaved a sigh of relief. “Max.”

Leonora howled like a banshee and expertly spun the sword overhead as she rushed forward.

“
Max!
” Carrie shrieked. Oh, God—it was going to cut straight into his chest.

Only as the blade came down, the air around it shimmered. She felt a curious surge of familiar energy and watched incredulously as the sword rippled and bent, as if warping away from him.

Still, a thin line of blood seeped through a cut in Max’s shirt.

Oh—now she was pissed. “
Leonora.
”

As her former advisor turned, Carrie threw the decapitated statue. It hit Leonora’s shoulder, and the woman cried out, her arm dropping.

But she didn’t let go of the sword.

Leonora raised her head, her eyes blazing with cold fury. “You’ll regret that.”

No doubt about it, especially when Leonora raised her arm and stepped forward. She did a figure eight with the sword and, with a battle cry, rushed forward—toward Carrie this time.

She fully expected to be run through—Max wouldn’t be able to reach her in time. But she wasn’t going to stand there placidly and let it happen.

Carrie took a book from the shelf behind her and threw it. It caught her advisor off guard, interrupting her attack. So Carrie grabbed one after another, chucking them as fast as she could.

“Bitch.” Leonora blocked them with the blade.

Carrie didn’t care—out of the corner of her eyes she could see Max reach for one of the other swords on the wall.
Good,
Carrie thought as she threw the last book in her reach.

“Out of options?” Leonora raised the sword over her head and brought it down in a circular swoop.

With a growl, Max pushed her aside and blocked the strike. Carrie flinched at the clang as the swords collided.

Max thrust forward, pressing Leonora against her desk. Carrie knew he was trying to get the action away from her, but concern for him made her take a step forward.

Leonora yelled, a deep-rooted, savage cry, and twirled her sword in a dizzying series of blows—all aimed at Max’s head. He parried calmly, his eyes on his opponent the whole time. Then he went on the offense and charged her.

Leonora stumbled, but she recovered instantly and did a fancy block-twist thing that disarmed Max. They all watched the sword arc in the air, clattering to one side of the room.

The wrong side of the room.

No.
Carrie tried to figure out how she could get it back in his hands, but she didn’t see a way that wouldn’t put her in danger, and that would have distracted Max worse than anything.

With a sinister smile, Leonora raised her sword. Letting loose her battle cry again, she advanced.

“
No.
” Carrie lunged forward.

Max stood still, cool as usual. As Leonora’s blade descended, his leg arced up, kicking her arm. A sharp crack sounded, followed by the clatter of her sword falling to the ground.

Panting, Leonora gripped her limp wrist in front of her.

Like a broken wrist was going to stop her. Carrie turned to warn Max, but his utter tranquil concentration made her pull short.

Then Leonora gasped. Retched. Clawed at her chest. Her face distorted, flushing beet red. She choked—once, twice—scrabbling to the ground. Her limbs stuck straight out, unbending, like a stiff rag doll. Her mouth twisted in a horrible parody of a smile as she tried to talk.

Carrie kneeled next to her former advisor despite her lurching stomach. “What?”

Her words were a faint hiss through frozen lips. “It should have been my discovery.”

Leonora exhaled one last torturous gasp, her eyes open, her features contorted and body rigid.

Carrie gagged.

Max lifted her and wrapped his arms around her, turning her around.

“Wait.” She tried to look around his body, back at her former advisor. “I don’t understand. She looks ghastly… Like a statue. What did you do?”

“I bound the iron in her body to a solid state,” Max said, like it was no big deal, as he led her outside the office.

“Why’d you wait so long?” she asked, her voice shrill with shock even to her own ears. “You could have pulled that Guardian card when you walked in.”

“I needed a moment to gather my chi and wanted you out of danger first.” He kissed the top of her head, his hands roaming over her body. “Are you okay?”

She realized he was checking her for injury, and her heart turned over. “You should be yelling at me for coming here and putting myself and you in danger.”

“I was going to get to that later.” He lifted her chin. “First—”

His mouth came down on hers, a hint of desperation and fear in his kiss. But that burned in their desire and became a passion and something more. Something like—

“Wait.” She pushed him back. “I need to say something.”

He shook his head. “Later. First we need to take care of what happened here.”

Carrie looked back through the doorway, feeling the blood drain from her head again as she caught a glimpse of Leonora’s stiffened legs. “Right.”

Max propped her against the wall. “Wait here.”

She did as he said—for about two seconds. That was how long it took her to tuck the genealogy into her bag. Then, because she couldn’t stand not knowing what he was doing, she peeked inside, careful to keep her gaze averted from Leonora’s body.

He was wiping down the sword he used, holding it with his jacket to keep from touching the parts he cleaned. She must have made a noise, because he lifted his head and scowled. “I thought I told you to stay outside.”

“I told you I had problems with orders outside the bedroom.” She watched as he replaced the sword on the wall. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to call the police and tell them we found her like this.”

“Will that work?”

He arched his brow. “I’m filthy rich. Of course it’ll work.”

“Because I’ll take the blame. I don’t want you to get in trouble for the mess I created.”

His expression softened. “I appreciate that. But for now I’d like you to stay outside, out of my way.”

Nodding, she went out to the hall, sank down against the wall, and wondered if Rhys knew any good criminal lawyers.

I
t happened pretty much how Max had said.

He called Rick, who called a connection at the Berkeley police department. The police came and closed off the crime scene.

They were, of course, completely mystified by the cause of death. It astonished them so completely, they barely questioned why the office was in shambles. They’d never seen a woman stiffened because her blood had solidified. Not shocking, really. Carrie doubted Max went around and petrified many people.

Rick’s homicide detective friend took their statements, believing Max when he said they came to pick up a text she needed and found Leonora dead. Because the cause of death seemed to be a medical problem, they took Max’s word at face value. They didn’t even seem to notice the slash on his chest.

It was a relief. And Carrie was even more relieved when they were allowed to leave.

They drove back to the city in silence. Night had fallen, and she was glad for it. It felt a little concealing, a little safe. Or maybe she just felt safe because she was with Max.

She stared at his profile. She had things to tell him. He’d stopped her before, but once they were at his place she wouldn’t let him distract her. “We’re going to your place, aren’t we?”

“Yes.” He glanced at her.

“Okay. Good.” She relaxed and then tensed up again as she tried to figure out how to tell him she loved him—that she wanted to take the risk. Her stomach churned, and she closed her eyes and tried not to dwell on it.

They arrived at his place all too soon. Without a word, they got out and took the elevator to his loft.

She stood across from him, hands clenched inside her jacket pockets. Soon she’d get her feelings out in the open and everything would be okay, even if he decided she was more trouble than she was worth.

Only on Max’s doorstep, there was one hunky Brit and a manically pacing artist-slash-bartender.

Gabe whirled the second she heard the elevator doors open. “What the hell took you guys so long to get back? Did they detain you?” She rushed forward to Carrie and grabbed her arms. “Are you okay?”

“You guys can stop asking me if I’m okay.” But she smiled to soften her words, and she hugged Gabe tightly. “In case I haven’t said so, I love you.”

Gabe frowned and looked over her head to Max. “Is she okay?”

Carrie rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Just worn.”

“What are you doing here?” Max asked them, though his attention was on Rhys.

“We wanted to make sure Carrie was all right.” Rhys pushed off the wall and stood straight. “But now that we see she is—”

“I’m not leaving until I know what happened.” Hands on her hips, Gabe glared at all of them.

The elevator doors opened again, and they all turned as Rick strode out. He stopped short when he saw everyone standing in the hall. His face set, angrier than she’d ever seen him, he zeroed in on her with his hard cop’s gaze. “What the hell happened tonight?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Gabe chimed in.

Sigh. Looking imploringly at Max, she said, “Maybe we can take this inside.”

He didn’t look happy, but he let everyone in.

Before the inquisition started, she smiled at Max. “I’d love some tea. Maybe you could make some for all of us?”

He grumbled in dissent as he stalked off to do it. She watched the play of his body. The cut on his chest—she bit her lip as she remembered that. No telling where that sword had been. She’d have to make sure she took care of that later.