Free Treasure Tides (The Coins) by Deniece Greene

the
moment evaporated immediately.
“What the--” Natie began, as she felt her sister’s body tense and
stiffen.
“Shhh, that’s him,” Becki said in a whisper, her eyes watching Royce
with avid curiosity. What is he looking for? He seemed to be deep in
thought, talking to himself and retracing his steps.
“Him- who ?” Natie whispered back, ogling Royce. “Do you know that guy? Damn. He’s gorgeous--, and has a nice ass,” she observed as
he bent to look under the branches of a small shrub. “Maybe we could
help him find whatever he is looking for.
“Shut up , Natie,” Becki whispered, through clinched teeth.
“What are you so uptight about?” Natie asked, taking her eyes off
Royce for a moment but only for a moment. “Seriously, do you know
him?” Natie pressured, turning to watch him intently, again . “What is he
looking for anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Becki hissed and simultaneously jerked Natie quickly
behind a big oak tree.
“Oh my God, you have lost it,” Natie observed, swallowing the urge
to laugh. “Look, is he dangerous? Should we be running? Do I need to
go punch him in the nose?”
Natie sometimes forgot she was every bit of five feet tall. When they
had been sophomores in high school, Natie had actually punched one of
Becki’s boyfriends and bloodied his nose because he was saying mean
things to Becki.
His mother had actually called their mother to tell on Natie for
punching her son in the nose. Of course, the fact that he was six feet six
inches tall made the story even funnier. Natie had actually jumped up as
she swung her fist to hit him in the nose.
“No,” Becki whispered furiously, “just shut the hell up for a hot
minute.” She stretched on her tiptoes, peeking out from behind the tree.
“You’re going to think hot minute ,” Natie growled. She had just about
had all the fun she could have, hiding behind a tree.
“He was at my house this morning, but he said he had to leave. I
thought he was leaving town, but I guess not.”
“He was at your house this morning!” Natie forgot to whisper.
Like a laser beam locking onto a target, Royce turned his head in their
direction; his eyes zeroed in on the pair.
“Oh, hell no ,” Royce muttered before clinching his teeth. He saw not
one but two sets of eyes peeking out from behind one of the large oak
trees scattered in the garden.
He would know those chocolate eyes
anywhere; they were eyes a man could get lost in.
This should have been a simple assignment, a simple search and
seizure operation: grab the first coin, return it to the council, move on to
the next. It was, in fact, turning out to be anything but simple, more like
the-mission-that-never-ends.
Of course, no one had mentioned Witches in the initial briefing;
obviously there were questions that he would now demand answers to.
Why were Witches interested in the coins? Royce had instructed Joanna
to stay completely away from the coins at all costs. One detail that had been shared by the council was the fact that the coins could be deadly to
any Witch who came into direct contact with them.
He had contacted Arimus, the Council leader, and requested a video
conference first thing in the morning. Until he had answers to all of his
questions and felt assured that nothing had been overlooked, he had to
stay especially alert. He was dealing with unknown danger at this point.
Eyes locked onto his prey, Royce stalked toward the oak tree with
angry strides. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was making a
huge mistake. He, however, was unable to stop himself.
“Shit,” Becki muttered, knowing she was in big trouble without
having been told. It was time to make a hasty exit.
“What’s up boss? Did you find it?” Sean asked as he loped over and
fell in behind Royce.
Royce did not slow his pace, did not acknowledge Sean, but kept
moving forward with one purpose in mind. When he was finished with
her, Becki would understand. She simply had to stay away from