Mills & Boon : Seducing The Jackal by Seressia Glass

examined the jackals, I could feel Isis magic. It
had been twisted, perverted by Lost Ones.”
    “Lost Ones?” Aya’s voice sharpened. “Isis magic tainted with
the undead? Mother of Horus!”
    “It’s something to be worried about, isn’t it?” Tia asked. “If
the Lost Ones have gained in strength and power, the Daughters of Isis could be
their next target. Markus asked me to ask you to agree to a meeting to discuss a
permanent truce and a new alliance against a common enemy, the Lost Ones.”
    “This jackal presumes much.”
    “What the jackals want makes sense,” Tia answered. The
Daughters, especially the Elders, were fixated on ritual and propriety. Tia
understood that following a strict path had kept them safe, but there had to be
some value in becoming friendly with the enemy of your enemy. “Don’t you think,
after four thousand years of hating each other, our two groups can learn to get
along? We have to be stronger together than we are alone. Wasn’t that the will
of the gods in the first place?”
    “My, my. Look what happens when we send a Daughter out into the
world.”
    Tia swore she could hear a smile in her grandmother’s tone.
    “I’ll gather the Elder Sisters. Come visit me. We’ll go to
circle together.”
    “I’ll be over as soon as I reset my wards. Will the Elders let
me speak?”
    “You are the seventh Daughter of the seventh Daughter of the
High Priestess,” Aya reminded her with all the hauteur of one confident in her
own power. “Be here at sunset. It will be good to have you in ritual again.”
    “Okay, Nana. Thank you.” Tia disconnected the call. She paused
before scrolling through her contacts and finding Markus’s number. The idea of
talking to him sent butterflies tap dancing in her belly. Would he reconsider
being with her? Would he want to go with her to the grove where the Daughters of
Isis gathered? What if he only grunted when she shared the news—or worse yet,
sent her to voice mail?
    In the end, her courage failed her. She sent him a text about
meeting the Elder Sisters later that evening, pocketed the phone, then set about
restoring the wards on her home, extending the protective barrier several feet
beneath the house. Unfortunately she hadn’t started soon enough.
    Unfamiliar magic raised goose-bumps on her arms as the air
before her wavered then ripped, revealing the swirling gray-black clouds of a
magic portal. Several desiccated creatures crawled through the opening.
Screaming, Tia threw handfuls of consecrated salts and incense at the undead.
Those hit imploded, but more came, swamping her. Despite kicking and hurling
curses, they managed to drag her to the portal, then beyond.
    * * *
    Gods. Markus gripped the steering wheel hard enough for
the material to whine in protest. He could still feel Tia pervading his senses
like that damned curse, still feel the imprint of her hand on his chest. How
long would he have to endure her essence stealing across his mind and his magic
without hungering for her? Somehow he didn’t think his immortal soul would last
that long.
    He wanted her. She wanted him. It should have been easy from
there, but it wasn’t. Even in the time of Sekhanu and his Isis priestess, the
alliance between jackals and witches hadn’t been effortless. It was easy to look
into the past with a gold-dusted view. He’d put Sekhanu and Asharet on
impossibly high pedestals. Maybe the golden age of their people was more
tarnished than he cared to remember. If history had taught him anything, it was
that the pairing of a jackal and a witch would always be doomed.
    Even if he and Tia weren’t doomed, being together wouldn’t
work. He had a good four thousand years of experience over her. Though he’d
adapted to survive, he remained old-fashioned in many ways. He’d want to bond
with her, live together, love and fight together. He’d want children with her,
but had no idea if she wanted kids. Hell, he had no idea what her favorite