To Woo A Warrior (Southern Sanctuary) (17 page)

“Just thinking of all the second
date rules.”

Hadleigh frowned.  “There are
second date rules?”

“Absolutely.”

“Like what for instance?” 

“Well traditionally the second date
is generally a scary movie.  The girl, that would be you, generally clings
to the
boy, that
would be me, for reassurance and
protection.  There’s generally some snuggling going on, a bit of smooching
and I play my cards right, and trust me I intend to.”  He flashed another
big grin.  “A little under the sweater action.”

“Perhaps I’m not that kind of
girl.”  Hadleigh responded dryly.

“I was talking about my
sweater.  And for the big finale there’s the goodnight kiss make-out
session at the front door.  Usually until the girl’s father storms out on
the porch and breaks up the action.”

“My father can shoot lightning bolts
out his fingers.”

“Good to know.”  Vaughn still
smiled.

Shaking her head Hadleigh slammed
out the door.  The man really was crazy and Goddess help her she was crazy
about him.

Chapter Seventeen

Hadleigh opened her apartment door
just after five o’clock to find Nate standing there wearing the unofficial off
duty uniform of the team, khaki fatigue pants, matching t-shirt and brown
boots.  His whiskey amber eyes taking a moment to scope out Hadleigh’s
outfit of black boots, pants and long sleeved V-necked top.  He gave her a
warm smile in greeting.  “Well hello there, don’t you look nice.
”

Hadleigh’s eyes narrowed, she
remained unmoving, blocking the doorway.

Nate rolled his eyes heavenward. 
“Oh please … saying someone looks nice is not flirting.  Maat it’s barely
a compliment.”  His smile widened into a grin, obviously holding no hard
feelings against her for his unexpected dip in the swamp a few days past.

“You like to live dangerously don’t
you?” 
Hadleigh
stepped back grudgingly,
allowing him to enter.

Nate sauntered past her, looking
around curiously as he moved over to lean against the back of the sofa. 
“I understand you need an escort.”

“And you drew the short straw?”

Again he flashed that grin of his
that no doubt hundreds, perhaps thousands of women had melted over in the
past.  Hadleigh didn’t melt but she did find herself smiling at him
return, Goddess the man was consistent. 

“I volunteered.”  He offered.

“You sure I didn’t smack something
loose when I punched you?”

Nate shrugged, the sparkle never
leaving his amber eyes.  “What can I say except I’m a sucker for
punishment.  Besides, things are never boring around you.”

Hadleigh rolled her eyes. Men! 
Would she ever understand them?  Punch them and they’re suddenly your best
friend
for life. “Come on.”  She turned and
headed for her bedroom. 

Nate followed with a slightly
puzzled expression on his face.  “You’re definitely sending mixed messages
here Hadleigh.”  He waggled his eyebrows looking pointedly towards her
bed.

“Shut up.”  Hadleigh lightly
cuffed the back of his head.  “And get in the closet.”

Nate just laughed.  “Funny, not
the first time a women has ordered me to do that.”

They stepped out of Hadleigh’s
closet into an empty hallway, facing a door with big gold lettering on it
signifying that the office belonged to the Special Liaison Officer. 
Hadleigh made a perfunctory knock before walking on in, Nate close on her
heels.  His head swivelled every which way as he surveyed the huge room,
filled with floor to ceiling bookcases every square inch of them crammed with
books, papers or artefacts.  There were neat piles on the floor and books
stacked on several chairs.  The only completely clear surface was the
massive antique desk smack dab in the middle of the room.  Perhaps that’s
why the room’s occupant was currently sitting on top of said desk, a huge book
in her lap, her legs swinging idly back and forth.  She glanced up for a
split second noting their presence.  “Hi, just give me a sec.”

Hadleigh watched Nate’s reaction out
the corner of her eye as he surveyed Darcy for a split second before switching
his attention back to the contents of the bookcases.  Hadleigh was kind of
shocked, she’d been expecting Nate to take one look at Darcy and act like a
heat seeking male missile.  Because let’s face it Darcy was hot, and she
knew it.   Somehow her
mish
-mash of styles,
catholic schoolgirl meets silent screen legend just worked on her, and on any
man that came across her path.  The short black plaid skirt, tight hot
pink shirt and knee high boots were a sharp contrast to her ultra-short dyed
black bob, pert nose, constant I know something you don’t smile and the piece
de resistance laser sharp ice blue eyes.  Or as her older sister Nell
described them - ‘Darcy has the eyes of a psycho killer promising mayhem,
mischief and a painful death to all who even think about crossing her.’ 
It was an apt description.

“Interesting reading?” 
Hadleigh enquired as Darcy closed the book dropping it carelessly to the
floor. 

Nothing was allowed to mar the
perfection of the empty desk except her cousin.

“Not really, just trying to figure
out if a person can be infected with invisibility via a sheep bite.”

“And can they?”

“According to Great Uncle
Barty
they can?”

“You’re not convinced?”

“I think he just likes walking
around naked.”  Darcy shuddered delicately.  “He thinks claiming he’s
invisible and blaming the sheep will stop him from being fined.”

“Yikes.”  Hadleigh added a
shudder of her own.

“Double yikes,
Barty
won’t see ninety again.”  Darcy leaned back on her desk, her legs swinging
faster.  “Nell mentioned she caught up with you in Atlanta.  Somehow
I thought your Viking would be taller … blonder.”

“This is Nate … Nate … Darcy, my
cousin.”  She performed the introductions. 

Nate turned, sent Darcy a smile of
greeting then resumed his perusal of the bookcases.
Weirder
and weirder.
  She didn’t think there was a woman young or old who
escaped Nate’s attention and devotion.

 “So what brings you to the
office of the Special Liaison?”

Hadleigh huffed out a sigh, ignoring
Darcy’s I know something you don’t smile. 

“What skill set would it take to
capture and command Drexel,
Paralyxis
spiders and a
demon possessed skeleton armed with a relocation spelled knife?”

Darcy blinked slowly giving nothing
away.  The woman was killer at poker.  “Interesting
combination.  Did they come all at once?”

“No forty-eight hours between
visits, the Drexel first, then the
Paralyxis
and the
demon together.”

“Makes sense.” Darcy nodded “Use the
Drexel to find the victim then send in the spiders to paralyse, the demon to
capture.”

Hadleigh shook her head.  “No,
the Drexel weren’t on a hunt; they were contained at a location by a focus
rune.  When we busted the rune they were happy to escape.”

“
Mmmm
,
interesting, in centuries past they were known as Drexel hounds, they didn’t
stop the hunt until they found their prey.”

“Maybe they did find their
prey.”  Nate turned, leaning carefully back against a bookcase. 

“Perhaps it was a test?”  Darcy
mused out loud.

“Of the Drexel?”  Hadleigh
enquired.

Darcy shook her head, the edges of
her black bob clipping her high cheekbones.  “No a test for the
prey.  Following that logic they passed so send in a team to contain and
capture.”

“So who would be capable of setting
something like that up?”

Darcy’s response was
immediate.  “A God.”

“What?”  Hadleigh’s mouth
dropped open and for the first time she sensed tension from Nate.

“Or a demi god, anyone with god like
powers running through their veins.”

Hadleigh’s mobile phone beeped,
breaking the tension, she pulled it out, frowned, hit the ignore button and
stuffed it back in her pants pocket.  Giving Nate a wary glance she had to
ask.  “Could Maat be behind it?”

Nate’s face
remained impassive
,
it
was Darcy who laughed
. 

“Maat?  Goddess no.  She
can be tricky I’m sure but Maat abhors chaos and that’s just what the incidents
you describe are all about.”

Hadleigh breathed out a big sigh of
relief.  “So anyone specific in mind?”

Darcy shrugged.  “Well you need
to be looking at the darker end of the spectrum.”

Hadleigh jumped as her phone buzzed
again, hauling it out she glanced at the screen, huffed a sigh and this time turned
the phone off before returning it to her pocket.

“Problem?”  Darcy asked, sharp
blue eyes missing nothing.

“Not at all.  So how do we
narrow this down?  Is there a spell?  Or a protection charm for the
intended victim?”

“If it’s one of the full blood Gods
or Goddesses there’s probably not a lot you can do.  If we’re talking
demi, lesser or wannabe bastard great
great
grandchild then there are a couple of things you could try.”

This time it was Nate’s phone that
buzzed loudly.  The women watched him haul it out, smother a chuckle as he
read the message before texting a reply.  Glancing up he noted the
attention being sent his way.  “Carry on, I can text and listen at the
same time.”

Hadleigh couldn’t believe Nate had
just passed up the opportunity to make an innuendo regarding his multi-tasking
skills.  “I think I broke him.”  She muttered under her breath.

“Hey we’re all broken in some
way.”  Darcy chirped, launching herself off the desk with a high kick,
sending her skirt flapping.  “I have a list here...
” 
She looked around at the bookcases.  “Somewhere.” 
Her eyes narrowing on her target.
  “There!”  Darcy
put Hadleigh to work pulling down the files and books she wanted from a high
shelf.  “I was surprised when I heard you’d taken a vacation.  I
distinctly remember you telling me you loathed them with a killing passion.”

Hadleigh shrugged.  “My
feelings have not changed on the subject let me assure you.  Luckily it’s
been more like work than a vacation.”

“Which pleases you no end I can
see.  But still I had no idea you were such a big reality TV
aficionado.  I thought you said Declan killed your last set and you hadn’t
bothered to replace it.” 

Typical Darcy, mind like a steel
trap and tenacious. 

“It was more like I was volunteered
to help out.  All that holiday leave piling up finally came back to bite
me on the ass.  Edward dobbed me into Alma and before you know it…”

“Wait!”  Darcy held up a
hand.  “It was Alma’s idea to send you to Atlanta and you went! Are you
insane?”

“Hey, it’s not like I had a choice.”

“But Hadleigh, Great Aunt Alma! You
know she’s tricky!  Oh my Goddess you and the Viking!”

“It’s not like that.”  Hadleigh
protested in an urgent whisper.

Her tone must have been lacking in
firmness for Darcy jumped all over it. 

“You love him?”  Darcy looked
aghast first at Hadleigh and then across the room at Nate.  “Him?”

“What him?  Goddess no!” 
And then like a train wreck she couldn’t stop the words issuing from her
mouth.  “I told you, that’s Nate, Vaughn is the Viking but he and I are
just friends.”

Darcy stared at her intensely. 
“You are in so much trouble … Goddess what am I saying? We are in so much
trouble.  Look you need to be strong.  Ditch the guy.  Kill the
guy but whatever you do don’t fall in love with him.  For pity sake Gaia bought
on her own misery but if you fall to Alma’s machinations what’s to stop her
from coming after the rest of us?”

Hadleigh couldn’t stop the small
laugh that issued forth.

“What?”  Darcy asked warily.

“Me! 
In
love?
  You’re forgetting who you’re talking to.”  Hadleigh
waved a hand. “The Jolly Red Giant as my first boyfriend so aptly nicknamed me
does not do love.   And men do not fall in love with all of this…”

Darcy rolled her eyes. 
“Seriously you’re back on that tired old horse.  Hadleigh you have to be
strong here.  Wake up and smell Alma’s devious plot?”

Hadleigh shook her head.  “
Darc
trust me, you have nothing to worry about.  
Think about my track record with men, it’s lousy bordering on laughable.”

Darcy didn’t look convinced. 
“Nell told me the Viking is gorgeous.  That he looks at you like a thirsty
man in a desert looks at a glass of water.”

Hadleigh shifted uncomfortably,
glancing Nate’s way to ensure he was still safely across the far side of the
room.  “It doesn’t matter if he’s attracted to me … if I like him. 
I’m not good at … the intimate side of things.  Even if I do slip, and
have…” gulp “sex with him it will just end the same way all the others do …
disappointment and the usual back lash of name calling.”

Darcy huffed a small sound of
displeasure.  Her eyes glowing an eerie blue as she contemplated the idea
of vengeance.  “Those men were idiots, if only you’d give me their
names.”  Darcy smiled fiercely and then shook her head as if to dislodge a
really evil fun thought from taking hold.  “Besides I’m guessing if Alma
is behind this your Vaughn will turn out to be different.”

“Don’t you get it
Darc
, I’m the problem. I’m the one common denominator.”

Darcy shook her head suppressing a
sigh, trying to build up Hadleigh’s shattered self-esteem was a lost cause.
Maybe this Vaughn would be the one ... Goddess what was she thinking? 
Determinedly she pulled the third book from the pile Hadleigh had arranged for
her, opening it seemingly at random she ripped out a page, unconcerned about
ruining the book knowing the page would grow back. 

“Here.”  Handing it to
Hadleigh.  “This may or may not prove useful.”