Damn, Maeve’s troubleshooter was beautiful. Her black curls were shaved close on the side, even as they rioted in a mohawk of long, springy curls to form a four-inch crest across the top of her head. More curls hung over her forehead, emphasizing the delicate angularity of her bone structure. Her eyes were big and dark and beautiful, her nose a wide, gentle curve above the most sensual mouth he’d ever seen.
Her snug shorts revealed long, lean muscular legs, as her crop top showed several inches of smooth, taut belly. The sunrise yellow fabric contrasted beautifully with the deep, rich brown of her skin. Even the wide black gun belt only emphasized the seductive curve of her hips.
Following his fascinated gaze, Helena glanced down at herself, took in what she was wearing, and winced. Her extravagant mouth drew into a little grimace. “Didn’t have time to change before I…” Her lips twitched. “Changed.”
Conal inhaled to answer -- and out of nowhere, a wave of hot arousal rolled over him. Just like that, he was intensely aware of her. The way those full breasts tented the fabric of her thin top drew his gaze. He ached to touch them, to taste them… Oh, Christ, I’m getting an erection. Where in the hell had that come from?
One minute he’d been fighting the aftershocks of torture-inflicted PTSD. The next, he was sniffing pretty werewolves. He was going to make Helena think he was some kind of pervert. Fighting the blend of embarrassment and lust, Conal looked away, shifting from foot to foot. Essus, reacting to his emotions, rubbed his head against his burning cheek with a soothing churrr.
Conal heard a sharp inhale and automatically glanced back at Helena.
Her dark eyes had widened. And they were looking below his belt. Arousal flashed over her face before she, too, glanced away. She cleared her throat. “Liam, maybe I should be wearing something more… professional?”
“I believe I have just the thing.” There was a note of amusement in the death god’s velvet voice.
Light flared around her, and when it faded, she wore black slacks and a long-sleeved white shirt, low-heeled black pumps on her feet. There shouldn’t have been anything seductive about such a stern outfit, yet Conal found himself staring, enthralled, at the curve of her hips, the way the white cotton lay over her breasts.
Shit shit shit. Could she smell how turned on he was? He needed a pillow to hide his crotch. Time to get his mind on something else. Now. He turned away from Helena and focused his attention firmly on Maeve. “I’m afraid this isn’t over. While they were torturing me, they used an enchanted phone to video the scene for Siobhan.” He ground his teeth. “She definitely hired them.”
Maeve flinched, but turned to face him. “Did she say why?”
“Revenge.” Conal hesitated a moment, but there was no point in trying to sugarcoat it. “She told me once I was dead, she was going to target my sisters and burn Beltane to the ground.”
“Bitch,” Essus muttered in his ear.
Helena frowned. “Beltane? Isn’t that a Sidhe Summer festival?”
“Yes, but it’s also a New York neighborhood. Five thousand people live there, mostly Changelings, but some full-blooded Sidhe and people from other Mageverse races. I’ve been helping them buy homes and start businesses.” Conal’s lips tightened. “Which is apparently enough to make Siobhan want to kill every last one of them.”
Maeve’s eyes closed and she dropped her head, one hand rubbing the spot between her brows. She looked uncharacteristically weary. “My daughter has always had a jealous nature.”
Helena frowned. “This makes no sense. I studied this kind of sociopath in FBI training. What’s the point of killing Conal before those he cares about? I would expect this kind of stalker to go after his friends, then the sisters, then Conal. Intensify his anxiety and suffering.”
“I doubt the wolves were actually going to kill him, no matter what they said,” Liam commented from his holster. “More likely they’d have taken him back to Siobhan, and she’d have healed him only to play with him a little longer.”
Conal felt his face go cold and bloodless. “That… does sound like Siobhan’s kind of game.” He shook off the fear. They didn’t take me back to the bitch. And they won’t. I’ll die first. “What do you think I should do?” he asked Maeve. “I could hire magical bodyguards for my sisters, maybe even a small army of werewolves for Beltane, but thousands of people are involved. Sooner or later, somebody’s going to get killed.” He flexed his fists restlessly. “I need to focus Siobhan’s attention on me so she’ll leave everyone else alone.” His gaze fell on Helena. Damn, she’d been amazing when she’d fought -- fast, skilled, fearless. Between Liam and her own werewolf abilities, she’d be more than capable of protecting his sisters…
“I could assign Helena and Liam to you for the length of this crisis,” Maeve said as if she’d read his mind. He wouldn’t put it past her. “They’re experts when it comes Siobhan and her rogue Sidhe.”
“Yeah, I noticed that when she blew the torturer’s head off,” Conal said dryly. “In fact…” Brilliant, beautiful and powerful. She’d drive Siobhan right up the wall.
Essus flexed his claws on his shoulder. Yes, and are you sure that’s a good idea?
Conal ignored his friend. “Helena, would you be willing to consider some undercover work?” Hope she doesn’t take that as a double entendre.
She eyed him, one dark brow lifting in interest. “What do you have in mind?”
Conal paused, trying to decide how to word this. What if he offended her? Oh, hell, might as well take a chance. “Would you be willing to play girlfriend?”
Helena blinked. “Oh, so that’s what you meant when you asked me to marry you. I thought you were out of your head.”
“Yeah, blood loss probably had something to do with the initial thought.” That and the sight of her in human form, as beautiful as she was deadly. “But on further consideration, it’s not a bad idea.”
“Well, it would definitely rivet Siobhan’s attention,” Maeve said dryly.
Helena shrugged. “If it saves lives, I’m in.”
Maeve waved a hand. “I have no problem with this. Work out the details between yourselves and let me know what you have planned. In the meantime…” Her voice dropped to a growl. “I need to have a word with my daughter.”
“Will do,” Helena agreed. “Good luck.”
Maeve hesitated, giving her a long look. “If you end up with your back to the wall, don’t hesitate to use all the weapons you have. You’ll need them against Siobhan.”
Helena went very still, and her warm brown eyes turned grim and cold. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Let’s hope. Farewell, my dears.”
What the hell was that all about? “Thanks for saving my life -- again,” Conal said.
Maeve gave him a fond smile. “It’s not a tithe on what I owe you. You saved my granddaughter from Siobhan’s snakes. That’s not something I’m going to forget.” One hand swirled, and a glowing point appeared, swelling into a dimensional gate. Maeve swept through it, the charms in her hair chiming softly in the presence of the spell.