The Invincible Mystic Master

Chapter 006

Will took Summer's hand.

“Don't worry, Mr. Morton. Arthur Lillard doesn't scare me. He's a bug I could crush under my shoe. I'll go with Summer, and I won't let anything happen to her.”

Matthew considered him for a moment. The young man was a member of the Order of the Veil; he'd already shown what he could do. With Will beside her, Summer might actually be safe. Besides, hiding from Arthur wouldn't solve anything. If they could put an end to this threat now, Morton Group would finally have room to breathe.

“All right,” Matthew said. “I'm trusting you with my daughter. Keep her safe.”

Summer gave Will a skeptical glance. The whole Morton family couldn't deal with Arthur Lillard, and this guy thought he could handle him alone?

Still, her father had made his decision.

They drove to the Velvet Room, an upscale nightclub whose elegant name concealed a decidedly sordid reputation. Summer had never had any reason to visit a place like it.

“Once we're inside, let me do the talking,” she warned Will at the entrance. “Don't make things worse.”

“Relax. I know what I'm doing.”

They made it as far as the door to Arthur's private suite before two bodyguards blocked their way.

“Mr. Lillard invited Ms. Morton,” one said. “Nobody else. You can wait outside.”

Will raised an eyebrow. He'd met men far more important than Arthur, and none of their guards had ever been foolish enough to stand in his way.

“Summer's my fiancée. I'm going in with her.”

He started forward, but Summer caught his arm.

“Don't cause a scene.”

Will swallowed his irritation. When your future wife gave you an order, sometimes it was easier to humor her. He stepped aside and watched Summer enter alone.

One of the guards looked him up and down.

“You? Engaged to Ms. Morton?”

The other snorted.

“Take a look in a mirror, buddy. You look like you couldn't afford the valet tip. And you think you can compete with Mr. Lillard?”

“Stay right there,” the first guard added. “By the time she comes out, she probably won't be thinking about you anymore.”

Will's gaze turned icy.

“Say one more word about her,” he said quietly, “and you'll regret having a tongue.”

Both men laughed.

“What are you, crazy? You're going to get cheated on, and there's not a damn thing you can...”

His sentence ended in a wet crunch.

His jaws had snapped together without warning, trapping his tongue between his teeth. Blood filled his mouth as he stumbled backward with a strangled scream.

Will lowered the hand he'd held behind his back. A silencing hex had done exactly what he'd intended.

“How's that tongue tasting now?” he asked. “Still feel like talking?”

The guards stared at him in horror.

“You son of a...”

A crash came from inside the suite.

Will's expression changed. He moved toward the door at once.

The two guards stepped in his path again, trembling despite their attempts to look threatening.

“Try forcing your way in,” one said, “and you're dead.”

Will pulled out a fire charm.

“Witchfire.”

Two balls of flame sprang into existence and darted toward the guards. They danced around the men's backsides, scorching their clothes and sending them leaping around the hallway.

“Water! Get some water!”

Both men abandoned the door and sprinted toward the restrooms.

Will drove his foot into the entrance. The heavy fire-rated door splintered under the impact.

Summer was sprawled on a couch inside. Arthur Lillard sat beside her, wearing a leering grin as he reached for her.

The explosion of wood made him jump. He'd been moments away from getting what he wanted, and the interruption killed his mood instantly.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, turning around. “Who let you in? You have any idea who you're messing with?”

“Take your hands off her,” Will said. “That's my fiancée.”

Arthur stared, then burst out laughing.

“*You're* the reason she turned me down? Some country nobody in bargain-bin clothes?”

His eyes ran over Will's outfit. It looked like the whole thing had cost less than a hundred bucks. Summer had surely picked up this loser as a fake boyfriend to get Arthur off her back.

“You know what? I don't care if you're really engaged. You're with her for the money, right? I can give you money.”

He pulled out a blank check and tossed it toward Will.

“Write whatever number you want. Take it and disappear. If I see your face again, you'll wish you hadn't been born.”

Will didn't even look at the check.

“Money, huh?” He smiled without warmth. “Tell me, Arthur. How much would you pay to keep breathing?”

Arthur shot to his feet.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? Nobody talks to me like that! Where the hell are my guards?”

He shouted toward the hallway.

“Get in here! Break this asshole's legs and throw him into the street!”

Only muffled screams answered him through the pounding music.

“Save your breath,” Will said, approaching slowly. “Your guards are busy dealing with their burned asses. I doubt they're coming back to rescue you.”

Arthur's confidence began to crack. He was accustomed to ordering other people to handle his problems. Without his bodyguards, he had no idea what to do with someone who wasn't afraid of him.

“Do you even know who I am?” he demanded. “I'm Arthur Lillard! Touch me and I'll ruin you. I'll ruin the Mortons, too. Neither of you will be able to show your face anywhere in Tearhaven!”

Will kept walking.

Arthur retreated until the back of his legs struck the couch and he fell onto it. There was nowhere left to go.

“You know,” Will said, “I've heard threats like that before. Plenty of people thought they could make me disappear.”

He leaned closer.

“I'm still here. They're the ones who ended up regretting it.”

A chill ran down Arthur's spine.

“And you'll be no different.”