Claimed (Book Four of the Castle Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel Read Online Free Page A

in an entire strike team, but the concern is that they would be too obvious.”
    “So they want to send you and me in instead?”  
    Kieran nodded.
    “Throughout the history of the Magus Corps, smaller teams tend to have a greater level of success than larger ones. They saw the file that I created. They saw your powers.”
    A sudden thought occurred to Hailey, one so terrible that it momentarily made her head swim. She stared at Kieran.
    “What else was in that report?” she asked. It felt as if her entire body had gone numb.
    “Hailey?”
    “Kieran, tell me what else was in that report. Did you tell them everything that we did together? Did you tell them that I was…I am in love with you?”
    Kieran’s face had gone white.
    “Hailey…”
    “You’re not saying no,” she whispered. “Dear gods above, you filed me in your report like your swords or your gear. That’s why they sent you.”
    Kieran started to deny it, but there was nothing he said that would have convinced her otherwise. It was too clear. The Magus Corps saw her as a tool to be used. When they made that decision, it only made the most sense to send the person who could use it in the most able fashion.  
    She couldn’t take any more.
    She shook her head, turned and walked away.

CHAPTER THREE

    IN TIMES OF trouble, Hailey had a habit of seeking the highest ground she could. When she was staying with the Angioli coven in Italy, she often took refuge in the choir loft. Though the Castle was short on choir lofts, there were still many odd corners and closets where she could hide.
    She found an unused bedroom in one of the towers, a place where someone had stored a small library’s worth of books before abandoning them. She sat on the window seat, gazing out over the dark mountainside. She had been so happy to come to the Castle. It had been an island both in time and in space. It marked the first place where she had felt truly safe, truly cared for. It was a community that was for her. She gave back to it with every bit of will and power that she could. Now she was being asked to leave it again.  
    The only light in the room was from a small lamp. She sat in the dimness thinking about what it would be like to pull back from this place, to leave it. Even in such a short time, the Castle had become her home. The idea of leaving it made her feel hollow and empty.
    There was a knock on the door behind her. Hailey’s first impulse was to hide, to pretend that there was no one in the small room. Then she was disgusted with her own cowardice.
    “Come in,” she said.
    It only took her a moment to recognize Piers’s silhouette in the door. He entered, closing the door behind him, but in deference to her sensibilities, he didn’t turn on the light. She felt a surge of the love that she had for him. It was warm and lovely. She remembered that she could trust him.
    In the light of the lamp, he looked uncertain, almost nervous. She held her hand out to him.
    “Come sit with me,” she said softly. “I need you close.”
    Obediently, he came to sit at her side on the window seat. She only hesitated a moment before she leaned against him, burrowing into his side. His arm around her felt like the warmth that she had been seeking her entire life.  
    “You have a decision to make,” he said finally.  
    When she tried to sit up, he held her closer. Giving in, she snuggled closer against him. In the dimness of the room, it felt like everything outside was a story, a fairytale that was designed to frighten her. This was real.  
      “He cannot take you from here unless you wish to go. That is not something that I will permit. Unless you say that you are willing to go with him, you will remain right where you are, and he will leave empty-handed.” Piers paused. “I understand that you have a history together.”
    “Piers…”
    “It is one that I respect. Hailey, if you want something, I think I would move heaven and earth to get it for you. I