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

understand that he has been someone very important to you. The fact that he had a hand in making you who you are, that alone would be enough.”
    “Piers, I do love you. Please, you must understand that as well.”
    Piers’s smile was crooked.
    “And if I thought that love was enough to make the world work the way that I wish it to, I would be a far happier man, I think. I love you as well. However, I’m not so great a fool as to think that you don’t love Kieran McCallen.”
    Hailey bit her lip.  
    “But we’re not talking about love right this moment,” Piers said. “What we are talking about is a choice that you have to make. It is up to you whether you want to aid Kieran McCallen on his mission. However, that is your choice. You do not need to fear him or the Magus Corps. They may stamp and bluster. Let them. There is no way on earth they can pull you from these walls if you do not wish to go.”
    “But…but they help Wiccans. They protect us.”
    Piers shook his head.
    “They may do that for other covens. I would even guess that they do it very well and very willingly. However the Castle has always been different. We have always been a place that is self-sufficient. We protect our own, and we do it without needing to resort to the services of the Magus Corps. Things are different for other covens. I understand that. However, they have no authority here.”  
    Hailey thought for a moment.
    “Thank you,” she said at last. “I need to learn more to decide what I want to do. But Piers, what if I decide to go with him?”
    Piers was silent for a long moment.
    “Then you will. That is your decision, and just like Kieran cannot force you to go, I will not force you to stay. What I want for you, what I want for every Wiccan, is freedom of choice. You are not my prisoner, and you are not his tool. You are a person who has been asked to help someone who needs your skills––or thinks he needs them.”
    Hailey’s smile was faint, but it was real.  
    Slowly, she leaned up to kiss him. The kiss that they shared was almost chaste. They had only recently begun to learn each other’s bodies. She could feel the spark there, lying under the surface and ready to get fanned into flames at a moment’s notice. She warmed herself against it for a moment before turning away.  
    “I want to come to you tonight,” she said huskily. “That is one thing I want. However, before I do that, I need to talk to him.”
    Piers’s face was very still, betraying nothing.
    “Go and be quick, then,” he said softly. There was a certain heat to his voice that made Hailey blush. “I’ll be in my quarters, come looking for me when you are done.”
    Feeling more calm, if not more in control, Hailey hopped off the window seat and followed Piers to the door. When she stepped into the brighter light of the corridor, her eyes widened.
    “Piers, what happened to your chin?”  
    There was a dark bruise on Piers’s face. It was a vivid purple. He had definitely not had it when she’d been with him earlier.
    “Some understandings are created through fair words and considered speech. Some…are not. Let’s leave it at that.”
    Hailey decided to let it go. With another gentle kiss, she walked down to the guest quarters where she knew Kieran was going to be sleeping.

    • • • • •

    When she knocked on the door, she could hear a stirring inside. Kieran opened the door, and immediately she presented him with a piece of cold steak from the kitchen.
    “I figured you would need this.”
    Kieran frowned, but then he shrugged, a rueful look on his face. It would have been useless to protest given the black eye that he bore.
    “Can I come in?”
    He nodded, gesturing her in. The guest quarters were quite bare, but it struck her suddenly and with a forceful blow how little he traveled with. She understood in a vague way that the life of a Magus Corps officer must be a rather barren one, but it had never quite occurred to her how