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with him? First, he’d had a migraine last night, when she’d never known him to have those, and now he seemed totally fine with someone breaking into his apartment? She rubbed her eyes and sighed.
    “I promise everything will be okay. We’re safe here. A ward is a magical barrier that remains active until broken or disengaged. They have no way to break it. They don’t even know it’s there.” He smiled and walked into the kitchen, out of sight.
    She frowned, staring down at Ian’s desk until her gaze zeroed in on the papers sitting on his printer. They had lots of details about Rich. Bank account information, among other things. She pinched the bridge of her nose, not feeling her best. Her world was crashing down. How the hell was she supposed to concentrate?
    She snatched up the papers and walked into the kitchen to put distance between herself and the noise of whoever was trying to get into Ian’s apartment. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
    “Anything else you’d like to share aside from all this information? It’s a little hard for me to pinpoint what’s odd when I don’t have much of an idea who Rich was.” She sat at the kitchen table and watched Ian grab a skillet from a drawer under the oven. For a technomage, his kitchen was decidedly low-tech.
    He looked at her for a moment and sighed, setting the skillet on the stove range before sauntering over to her and slumping into the chair across the table. “Things I noticed were pass codes, door codes, etc. But his bank statement said a lot. He went to a teashop every Thursday. That’s not like him. He didn’t drink tea.” He pointed to different instances on the sheets of paper.
    What had Rich done?
    “Geez. This is pretty intense.” She stared into his eyes.
    A gunshot blast came from the other room. She darted to the entrance of the kitchen, bumping into Ian.
    There were no signs of entry. The only sign of anything off was Bernard leaning against the front door, caressing the wood lovingly.
    “What’s he doing?” she asked.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    “Oh, God. What did you do, Bernard?” Ian jogged toward the door and looked through the peephole.
    One of the guards had killed the other. The tall man stared at the locksmith with fury in his gaze, but that didn’t look like something a normal person would feel. No, it seemed almost animalistic and raw.
    Ian cut a glance at the gnome. “Get away from the door.”
    Bernard blinked and shivered. “Too good. Too, too good. Can’t leave. Nuh uh. Won’t leave.”
    “I’m cutting you off. I knew this was a bad idea.” Just then, another shot rang out. Ian ducked. His nerves were ragged. He shakily looked through the peephole to see the other guard dead.
    The locksmith stared down at his hands. A fine tremble shook his entire body. He lifted the gun slowly, and Ian knew where he’d be turning it next, if Ian didn’t act.
    He grabbed Bernard, feeling a sharp wave of emotion crash over him. The gnome’s power was blasting intensely. Normally, he could shrug the ill effect off with ease, but the strength of Bernard’s power right now was immense.
    Desperation and the feeling of being alone crawled over him as he clenched his fists tighter. The colors in the hallway lost a touch of their warmth, turning slightly monochrome. Willing himself to let go, he tossed Bernard into his gnome-house and locked it. He took a deep breath, trying to shake off the foul sensation that burned him so fiercely.
    Hannah walked over to him, but he shook his head. “Not now. I’m a little unstable.” Her hand descended on his arm. Air rushed from his lungs that he hadn’t been aware of holding. His body relaxed more and more as she ran her hand up his arm. The toxicity of Bernard’s magic drifted away from him.
    She stood on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his.
    He thrust his fingers into her hair and kissed her, feeding from her mouth. God, he wanted her. Everything within him screamed to claim her. Make her his