Sensual Magic by Lauren Dane Page B

around.”
    He sighed, annoyed with her refusal and his need to be with her just a few more minutes. “Humor me.”
    â€œYou’re going to see stuff you’ve never seen before. Can you deal with that?”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œVampires. Demons. Weres of many stripes. Mostly they’ll look just like you and me, but they’re not. I need you to understand that right now. They are not fluffy bunny paranormals like you might read about in some novel. They’re predators.”
    â€œLike you?”
    â€œTo a certain extent, yes. Witches organized into clans do adhere to the basics of the Rede even though we’re not Wiccan. We do not use our gifts to harm or bully. But if I have to harm to save myself or protect my people, I will. I don’t feel guilty for what happened in the garage, William. It was kill or be killed.” She shrugged. “If you want to come with me, you have to take responsibility for whatever you see.”
    He looked at her. A warm wind blew her curls around her heart-shaped face. Challenge glinted in her eyes and he knew if he went with her, he was taking another stepinto…well, into whatever the hell they had, or were building. Or whatever.
    He should say no. Turn around and walk inside. Go on with his Nell-free life. She’d go on and do her business and eventually be gone from town and he’d never see her again.
    â€œAll right, then. Let’s go. They let, um, humans in?”
    She took his hand. “If they’re with one of us, yes. Don’t look at anyone for too long, okay? And trust me. It’s different in there, but it’s safe.”
    He let her lead him and it changed his entire life.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    N ell spoke quietly with her contact, getting the information on where Leah and the mages were holed up. She passed him some money and walked back over to the table where William sat quietly, pretending not to be fascinated by the place.
    â€œCome on upstairs with me. It’s quieter and you can look at the place from a better vantage point.”
    She led him to one of the balconies that framed the second story of Darkness. Up there it was lush. The ultramodern chrome of the downstairs area was still there, but plush, thick banquette seating lined the walls and the railing was built in such a way that one could sit, drink and still see much of the action below.
    â€œSo? What do you think?” she asked after they’d sunk into the cushions.
    â€œI just had no idea. This whole universe exists and I didn’t know about it. I’m fascinated and repulsed all at once.”
    She nodded. “It’s always here, just beneath the surface. Most of the time people see it and because it’s so strange their brains just reject it. I suppose that’s what keeps us safe. Those wards aren’t to harm your kind, they’re to protect us.”
    â€œFrom what? You’re the ones with superpowers. I mean, if anything, we’re the ones who need protecting.”
    â€œFrom that very attitude. There are billions of humans on the earth. There are millions of us. Not hundreds of millions, either. We keep to ourselves and hide our abilities because there are those who’d hang us, put us in camps, round us up and use us if our existence was well-known. We’re wary for a reason.” She shrugged. “We have rules. We don’t harm you all unless it’s in self-defense. Some of us need more policing than others, like vampires who can pass on their state via fluid transmission.”
    â€œThere are, like, what? Cops for you guys then? More than what you do?”
    â€œI’m a cop of sorts for my Clan. For witches. I don’t go out and hunt werewolves or vampires who go rogue. There are those who do that though, yes.”
    â€œTell me about it.”
    She laughed. “I really can’t. In the first place I don’t know that much and in the second place, it’s not my