Lover Beware

tray with the little teapot.
    Kate stared intently at the locks on the front door, and the knob itself. Sarah never took her eyes from the two men. Waiting. Watching. The huntress. Damon thought of her that way. Listening, he thought he heard music, far out over the sea. Music in the wind. A soft melodious song calling to the elements. All the while the dark shadow edged around the two intruders.
    Hannah lifted her arms to the back of the couch, a graceful, elegant motion. The wind rose to a shriek, burst into the room with the force of a freight train. The men staggered under the assault, the wind ripping at their clothing. The bolt on the door turned and the door burst open under the heavy weight of the dogs. The animals leapt inside, teeth bared. Damon blinked as the crouching shadow leapt onto the back of one of the men and remained there.
    Sarah was already in motion, diving at the two men, going in low to catch the first man in a scissor kick, rolling to bring him down. He toppled into his partner, knocking him down so that his head slammed against the base of a chair. Sarah caught the gun Damon threw to her.
    The man with the swollen jaw rose up, throwing the chair as he drew a second gun. Damon attempted a kick with his one good leg. Sarah fired off three rounds, the bullets driving the man backward and away from Damon. She calmly pressed the hot barrel against the temple of the intruder on the floor. “I suggest you don’t move.” But she was looking at the man she shot, watching Hannah and Abbey trying to revive him. Watching the dark shadow steal away, dragging with it something heavy. Knowing her sisters could not undo what she had done. Sarah wiped her forehead with her palm and blinked back tears.
    Kate collected the guns. Abbey held back the dogs by simply placing her hand in warning on their heads.
    “I’m sorry, Sarah,” Damon said.
    “It was necessary.” She felt sick. It didn’t matter that he’d intended to kill them all, or that Death had been satisfied. She had taken a life.
    The wind moved through the room again, a soft breeze this time, bringing music with it. Touching Sarah. She looked at her sisters and smiled tiredly. “Hannah, the cavalry is coming up the drive. Do let them in and don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”
    Hannah rolled her eyes, stomped across the room, landing a frustrated kick to the shins on the man Sarah was holding. “Thanks a lot, I have to see that giant skunk two times in one day. That’s more than any lady should have to deal with.”
    Abigail leaned down, her face level with Sarah’s prisoner. “You’d really like to tell me who you’re working for, wouldn’t you?” Her tone was sweet, hypnotic, compelling. She looked directly into his eyes, holding him captive there. Waiting for the name. Waiting for the truth.
    At the doorway, Hannah called out a greeting to Jonas Harrington. “As usual, you’re just a bit on the late side. Still haven’t quite gotten over that bad habit of being late you set in school. You always did like to make your entrance at least ten minutes after the bell.” She had her hand on her hip and she tossed the silky mass of wavy hair tumbling around her shoulders. “It was juvenile then and it’s criminal now.”
    Deliberately he stepped in close to her, crowding her with his much larger body. “Someone should have turned you over their knee a long time ago.” The words were too low for anyone else to hear and he was sweeping past her to enter the room. Just for a moment his glittering eyes slashed at her, burned her.
    Every woman in the room reacted, eyes glaring at Jonas. Hannah held up her hand in silent admission she’d provoked him. She allowed the rest of the officers into the room before she took the dogs into the bedroom. Damon noticed she didn’t return.
    All the women were exhausted. Damon wanted everyone else gone. It seemed more important to push more tea into the Drake sisters’ hands, to tuck blankets around them, to shield them from prying eyes when they were obviously so vulnerable. He stayed close to Sarah while she was questioned repeatedly. The medical examiner removed the body and the crime scene team went over the room.
    Each of the sisters gave a separate report so it seemed an eternity until Damon had the house back in his control. “Thanks, Abbey, I don’t know how you managed to get that name, but hopefully they’ll be able to stop anyone else from coming after me.”
    Abbey