Mills & Boon : Seducing The Jackal (8 page)

Though Markus towered over all of them, Aya stared at him with
equanimity. “Our sister Tia has proven that jackals and witches can cast magic
together for the greater good. We would do well to follow in her steps. So let
it be done.”

A tense silence followed, then the Elder Sisters spoke as one.
“So let it be done.”

Aya turned to Tia, her eyes glowing with her power. “It will
take some time for us to forget our version of the past. I will count on you to
help the Daughters cross this bridge.”

“Yes, High Priestess,” Tia answered.

“Tia belongs to us,” Markus declared as he stepped forward. He
looped an arm around her shoulders, dragging her close.

Aya didn’t seem surprised by the declaration, but Tia sure was.
“What?”

Markus-Anubis stared at Aya. “I claim her for my clan and for
myself.”

“And if the Daughters say you cannot have her?” The high
priestess returned his glare with power-filled eyes. “She will lead this circle
one day. She belongs to the Daughters of Isis.”

Markus growled in warning. “She is ours. We won’t give her up
without a fight.”

“I’m not a trophy to be passed around,” Tia protested even as
her heart sang. Markus’s claim was what she had wanted to hear, just not the way
she had wanted to hear it. “I decide my own way.”

“I know you’re not a trophy.” He looked down at her with
unfathomable eyes. “You are a woman, a good heart, a gentle soul, a fierce
spirit. You are a Daughter of Isis, and we would not ask you to give that up
when that is what saved us.”

He gathered her hands in his own. “You stood before your
sisters and defended us and our honor. To the Children of Anubis you are a
blessing and a gift, and it will be hard for us not to put you on a pedestal
like a trophy.”

“What about you?” she asked, her voice soft. “You said you
claimed me for yourself as well as the clan. What am I to you?”

“You want to know what you are to me?” A golden glow surrounded
him, then he stood before her in his natural form. “You are the fulfillment of a
wish I didn’t dare make. A need I denied I had. A hunger I thought would never
be sated. Everything I could ever ask for.”

He pulled her close. “I don’t know the future, so I can’t say
where we’ll be a year, a decade, or a century from now. What I do know is that I
have never felt so great a rage or fear as when you fell among those Lost Ones.
I think my heart actually seized.”

“I’m sorry you were worried,” she whispered, awed by the
emotion she heard in his voice.

“I don’t know if this is love, Tia,” he told her. “I haven’t
had the luxury of experiencing that emotion. But I’m willing to find out. I’m
willing to learn, if you’re willing to teach me. Say you’ll give us the chance.
Say you’ll be with me.”

Warmth filled Tia’s chest, a sense of rightness and purpose
that was undeniable. “Yes, Markus. I’ll be with you.” She grinned. “I might even
be able to teach you a thing or two about love and other matters.”

He tightened his grip, though some of the tension left his
expression. “If you say something about an old dog and learning new tricks, I’ll
be forced to bring you home and take you to bed until you beg for
forgiveness.”

She twined her arms about his neck. “We should do that
anyway.”

A soft cough snagged their attention. Tia stepped back, acutely
aware of their audience. Aya gave her a knowing smile as she placed her hands
atop theirs. “Blessed of Isis, blessed of Anubis. Joined together, a blessing
for Sons and Daughters. So let it be done.”

Jackals and witches raised their voices together. “For Sons and
Daughters. So let it be done!”

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