Free Djinn Justice (The Collegium Book 2) by Jenny Schwartz Page B

reliant on others’ magic, and at the mercy of it, too.
    No one had ever accused Lewis of lacking courage.
    “Sit down.”
    Echoes of his old authority as Captain of the Collegium guardians had her dropping into one of the comfortable armchairs set around a low coffee table.
    Lewis sat opposite her. He’d lost weight, strain showing at the corners of his eyes. He wore a business shirt and black trousers. A discarded jacket hung on a coat rack behind his desk chair. He was a physically imposing man; over six feet tall, broader than Steve and all of it muscle. His dark blond hair was cut short. His brown eyes met hers steadily, unrevealingly.
    “How are you?” Fay asked. She hadn’t expected to open the conversation that way.
    Nor had Lewis, evidently. His eyebrows rose a fraction.
    Fay shrugged, going with the unconventional opening. She wasn’t under his command any more. “You might as well tell me. I’m one of the few people who understands the Collegium, but isn’t under your orders.”
    “Orders.” Lewis snorted. “The mages in this place wouldn’t know an order if it bit them in the ass. They debate everything.”
    “Welcome to the world beyond the guardians.”
    “How are you finding it?” he asked.
    “Good.” She smiled, thinking of Steve. “Complicated,” she answered, remembering why she was here.
    “Does one of the complications involve the Collegium?”
    “Potentially. Peripherally.” Time to choose her words with prudence because were secrets weren’t hers to share. “I expect you’ve realized my partnership with Steve Jekyll is romantic as well as work-related.”
    “You’re lovers.”
    “Yes.” She would not blush, even if this was the man, emotionless and haunted, whom her dad had recommended to her as a life partner. At least Lewis didn’t know it.
    “Yet, you’re here alone.”
    Man-woman nuances weren’t her area of expertise, but she caught a strange tone. “What are you implying?”
    “If you were mine, you wouldn’t walk into the Collegium alone. Not now.”
    “I can look after myself.”
    “Why should you?”
    Her mouth opened, closed.
    Lewis leaned forward. “Richard wanted me for you. Your father got a lot of things wrong, but he understood what made people tick.”
    “And what makes you tick?” Hey, it wasn’t she who’d wrenched this conversation into the deeply personal. She had never thought to have a heart-to-heart with Captain Lewis Bennett.
    “Loyalty. When I gave my oath to the Collegium, I meant every word. I’ve lived that oath.” He’d given his magic to its service. “I saw how you looked at Steve Jekyll. I heard him claim you. If I had that bond to a woman, she’d know that she was never alone—and she wouldn’t have to hide me from the mages, here.”
    “I’m not hiding Steve, or protecting him.”
    “I don’t see him beside you. Fay—” He broke off. “The last few months, before he resigned, your father dropped heavy hints that he’d look favorably on a relationship between you and me.” A twist to Lewis’s mouth showed what he thought of that parental blessing—not much. “I never followed up because I was no good for you.”
    “You were interested?” Her voice squeaked.
    The grim line of his mouth relaxed. “Fay, you scare most men, but for a few of us, you’re a challenge.”
    Her brain literally couldn’t comprehend it.
    Lewis smiled, an actual smile. “Steve saw it. I’ve worked with him. He’s tough. Loyal. Determined. You chose well. He chose well.” His smile vanished. “But he needs to be with you. Being alone makes you a target.”
    “I’ve always been that.”
    “Within limits,” Lewis said. “You were one of the guardians. You had it tough. Richard insisted on it.”
    She hadn’t known of that order from her dad. It hurt, but she believed it. Her father had approved the attacks on her, the harsh extra edge to her training; no reason not to accept that he’d also instigated them.
    “But at the