Emerald (Jewels Cafe Book 9)

by Jade Waltz

  Chryso’s gaze locked onto his. “The love potion?”

  “I want to believe she is supposed to be ours, but Saire’s warning keeps going off in my head,” Vesuv explained. “We found her at Jewels Cafe. There were an empty mug and plate on the table. The strong coffee smell covered anything we would be able to pick up, and we wouldn’t be able to use our technology to scan the room without being noticed. It would make sense if the owners were responsible for our predicament. They were the ones who filled out her application and asked us to allow her to stay.”

  “And got a business deal from it,” Chryso growled, clenching his fists. “We are being used, and all of us are victims of their abuse.”

  “That can’t be right,” Vesuv muttered. “She didn’t show any signs of struggling to keep her eyes—or hands—to herself. How do you explain why she got angry when you touched her?”

  “I can’t.” Chryso paced and glanced at the moon. “Vesuv, I need you to take this car home and look at what you can do to repair it. After we return from our looting session, we will ask her what she wants to do with it and what her options are. It will give the illusion we are human and need time to retrieve parts and make the repairs.”

  “You are going to visit Jewels Cafe, aren’t you?”

  Chryso peered over his shoulder and chuckled. “Of course.”

  Waking up in something that could only be described as a cloud made me question if I was still dreaming. All wrapped up in luxurious bedding as I laid on the softest mattress I had ever had the opportunity to rest on made me want to refuse to open my heavy-lidded eyes. If I opened them, it would be proof I was indeed still dreaming, and nothing I felt was real.

  My stomach grumbled in response to my stubbornness, proof what I felt was reality and not some mental construct built by the stress from yesterday. The worst day of my life ended with three gorgeous—and mysteriously filthy rich—brothers, whisking me away to their home. That in itself was almost like a fairytale. I was waiting for the ball the drop. There was always a catch when it came to things like this. People weren’t friendly without wanting something in return.

  Groaning, I stretched, uncovering myself as I climbed out of the bed of my dreams.

  I threw on the jade-colored robe hanging on the bathroom door and brushed my bedhead before making my way downstairs. The house was quiet, no one in sight. I watched the thick snowflakes slowly falling outside as I made my way to their masterpiece of a kitchen. I was thankful the brothers had helped me gather my belongings last night because trying to transfer all of my things right now would be miserable.

  The clock dinged ten times. How was it already ten? No wonder I was so hungry. It was almost my usual lunchtime.

  Since my hosts were failing at their job of having breakfast prepared before their guests woke, I guess it was my responsibility to figure out what to eat. I was betting, once I was done cooking, the three of them would magically appear and want to eat. What would rich males want to eat? Crepes! Everyone loved crepes! And they were easy to make.

  I searched their large refrigerator and discovered their walk-in pantry to gather all the ingredients I needed to make a mountain of crepes. If they didn’t end up joining me—or want them—I’d wrap them for later.

  It took me a while to find the right pans and utensils, but after a few test runs, I found the correct time needed to make perfect crepes and fell into a rhythm.

  I heard a large splash and turned around to see what it was. My gaze landed on Maw, lifting himself out of their indoor spa through the glass door. Time slowed as water dripped from his glistening black hair down his lean body. His strained muscles held his body up like an experienced swimmer. A scowl covered his face as his teal gaze burned through me.

  I rubbed my legs together to ease the neediness slicking my folds. How I would love to pounce on him like a cat and lick all the drops from his fit body. I was willing to volunteer myself to the cause by drying him off to save towels everywhere. Fewer towels used meant less water needed to wash them. My sacrifice could save clean water for others to drink. It was a win-win for all involved, and I would be doing the world a great service.

  “Are you trying to burn my house down?”

  The angry rumble of his voice was like a bucket of icy water, cooling the great need that overcame me. The smell of burning batter filled my nose as a cloud of thick smoke filled the air.

  The crepes!

  A colossal flame engulfed the stovetop, nearly reaching the hood. Intense heat rolled off it, making it too hot to stand near.

  Throwing the spatula into the sink, I turned off the stove, and frantically put on the oven mitts. I grabbed the frying pan and took off for the sliding glass door with Maw trailing me. Once outside, I threw the blazing hazard into the rapidly growing snow pile. A loud hiss filled the air, creating a small cloud of steam as the pan sank into the snow.

  “Can you explain what you were doing?”

  The urgency of the situation died down, slowing the blood pumping through my veins as coolness seeped through my bare feet, making them feel like popsicles. A gust of wind blew the icy snow into me, sending a shiver down my spine. I turned to the angry male and opened my mouth in awe.

  He stood proudly in the doorway with nothing on but a pair of shiny green swim trunks. His chest heaved in deep breaths as his fists opened and closed. As my gaze traced along his shimmering bronze skin, stormy deep blue eyes met mine.

  “I woke up to a quiet house and nothing sitting out for me. I figured for a high-end bed-and-breakfast, I would at least be greeted with pastries and cof… tea.” I tightened the robe around me, securing the strap once more as I walked over to the broody male. “Since I didn’t know where you guys were or if I was the first one awake, I figured when you said I had free room, it included the kitchen.”

  “It seems my brothers stayed up all night, and you weren’t awake when I got up, so I decided to go for a soak.” He stepped out of the way and allowed me to pass. “I didn’t think you would try to destroy my house within twenty-four hours. If I knew that, I wouldn’t have left you unsupervised.”

  “What is that smell?” Chryso asked as he walked into the kitchen. He wore a pair of purple pajamas bottoms with the words “Release the Kraken,” written near the… crotch flap? Whatever the correct term was, it was lost to the wind. My mind was scrambled with the only other term coming to me was a cock’s peek-a-boo slot—the words were there, just asking for me to reach in to see what was inside.

  “It seems like someone tried to make crepes and failed,” Vesuv replied, looking at the multiple plates, each filled with a variety. “Must have been Maw because he could never get the timing right.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Maw snapped. “Our guest decided to take it upon herself, not me.”

  “For your information, I was perfectly fine and in my element until you decided to… to…” I stuttered, unable to finish my thought. How else could I explain I almost caught their house on fire because I was too busy eye-fucking him climbing out of the spa? A grown woman has needs, and it had been years since I had any male companionship. Surrounded by these three half-naked brothers isn’t helping calm my libido, especially since I never paid attention to the opposite sex while I was at the hotel.

  “To what?” Maw challenged.

  “Decided to walk around immodestly attired!” I shouted, raising my arms in anger.

  The rapid movement from my arms loosened my robe’s tie, allowing the flaps to fall open. All three males cocked their heads to the side and stared as I gasped and struggled to cover my naked breasts.

  Chryso smirked and failed to hold back a chuckle. “Who is the one being immodest now?”

  “I thought women loved seeing undressed men?” Vesuv asked, confused, wearing nothing but a pair of “Let Me Probe You” alien boxers.

  “There is a difference between seeing them in photos or videos and having them live within an arm's length. Plus… I barely even know any of you,” I explained
as my cheeks burned in embarrassment. How were they so… clueless?

  Vesuv shrugged. “We’re all adults here. I don’t see why any of that matters.”

  “Think about it. Three males alone with one female in a house, in the middle of the woods, away from civilization.” I bit my lip as I took a step back, away from Maw. “You guys could easily take advantage of me without anyone ever knowing.”

  As a unit, all of their eyes softened as their postures deflated.

  “We would never do that to you,” Chryso murmured.

  “Our only intent is to provide you a place to stay and recoup until your car is fixed,” Maw replied, voice flat from emotion.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. “If you will excuse me, I am going to go change into something more suitable… and warm.”

  “What was that?” Chryso demanded as he watched Emerald meekly walk away, her face flushed as she held her robe tightly against her body.

  Nudity was as natural as swimming for the Alzaqi. Chryso didn’t understand why humans had such extreme feelings about it. He’d seen plenty of naked Earthlings, but there was a significant difference between seeing a supes shifting in public and a bare human who would have consequences for their actions.

  Emerald had nothing to be ashamed about. She was a gorgeous treasure, and her mouth-watering smell was better than the display of crepes she’d made for them.

  “I knew she was going to be trouble,” Maw murmured. “All I wanted to do was to enjoy some alone time in the hot tub as I watched the snowfall in the sunrise. You were both lost to the world, and she was nestled asleep in her bed, I figured I had some time before everyone woke up.”

  “She shouldn't have needed to make herself breakfast. I am fully capable of managing the kitchen.” Vesuv picked up a crepe and inspected it before taking a bite. “She can cook, that’s for sure.” He threw the rest in his mouth and groaned. “I want the recipe for my collection.”

  “It’s edible?” Maw asked in shock.

  “It’s better than what you make.” Vesuv shrugged.

  “I need to tell you both something before she returns,” Chryso glanced around the corner toward the grand stairs making sure Emerald wasn’t in sight. He leaned his back against the counter, taking in her slowly fading lingering scent. “I made a detour to Jewels Cafe and had a chat with its owners—”

  “In the middle of the night?” Maw asked, glaring at him as he stepped into a pair of pants. “What made you believe that was a good idea? If they were smart, they would have their store surrounded by cameras since they had issues with that jealous baker.”

  “Saire warned us about not accepting a drink from the Jewels Cafe. It turns out that amateur witch who partly owns the shop spelled their Pumpkin Space Lattes in an attempt to help their customers find true love.”

  “You must be joking,” Vesuv replied, holding a crepe to his mouth. “The rumors are true.”

  “How? What rumors?”

  “Exactly,” Chryso replied. “Julian explained he found a spell in some ancient book that forms a mating bond with those destined to be together.”

  “So, you are telling us that this… this pathetic excuse for a witch decided to force his customers into connections with people they have never even met?” Maw growled. “That takes choice away from everyone who is involved.”

  “Yes. They used the same ancient alien textbooks to call upon the power of the Stars to aid them, but instead of using simple spells and wards to guide him with things, they used the spell to try to aid others…”

  “And by aiding others, you mean they are playing Cupid and reaping in the benefits?”

  “Basically,” Chryso sighed. “But what do you want to do? Make a mission to collect all of these relics and destroy them so no one can use them to summon the power of the Stars?”

  “We could ask Emerald to burn them,” Maw chuckled.

  “You can’t destroy ancient artifacts,” Vesuv hissed, pointing his spatula at Maw. “Take them and let me study them. Don’t waste precious data we could use because you’re angry about some weak starcaller.”

  “You’re both missing the point.”

  “Enlighten us,” Maw scuffed.

  “Emerald was at Jewels Cafe—”

  “And Emerald was there long enough to have one of these spelled drinks while she was waiting for us.” Vesuv placed four cups of steamy tea onto the counter. “Which means, what we feel for her now is a result of this spell and proof she is meant for us.”

  “She can’t be…” Maw slapped the counter, shaking the cups and splashing its contents. “It goes against everything we are.”

  “Is there a way to break it?” Vesuv asked, throwing a hand-towel at Maw. “And do we want to?”

  “No, I don’t want to. She is ours,” Chryso hissed. “Why would we throw that away?”

  “I don’t believe I am anyone's,” Emerald barked. “And I would appreciate you would if you guys wouldn’t talk about me behind my back.”

  Emerald stood with arms crossed, dressed in leggings and an over-sized sweater. A scowl covered her face as she glared at them, pinning the three of them with her heated gaze.

  “We were discussing making sure you felt welcomed here,” Chryso quickly explained, in hopes to ease her anger. “We are in the beginnings of a blizzard, and it is dangerous for you to go out.”

  “One problem. My car is stranded somewhere out there,” she replied, raising an arm toward the driveway. “Even so, I have no place to go—not anymore.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as sadness flooded her face. She hugged herself and walked to the collection of crepes and inspected the damage. “I’m not used to having nothing to do… so I wanted to be helpful for once.”

  “What do you mean?” Chryso asked.

  “How about we sit down and talk over these crepes you made? I can warm them up in the microwave, and we can drink some of this tea I made, now that it’s cooled down some,” Vesuv suggested as he picked up one of the plates of crepes.

  Emerald bit her lip in hesitation and nodded, looking between them as she sat down at the end of the counter farthest from them.

  Chryso didn’t like that she doubted their intentions. He and his brothers were honorable males. Even if they were truly destined to be together by the mysteries of the cosmic universe—whether or not it was the will of the Fates—the Stars had led the four of them together. He and his brothers weren’t animals. The Alzaqi weren’t like the supes that resided on Earth. Alzaqi had no alter-ego or feral instinct, which overrode the supes moral compass whenever they found their mate.

  Claim. Mate. Mark.

  The predator supes chanted that whenever they caught wind of their scent or gazed upon their mate. Such a basic need and savage, it was no wonder Earthlings still fought among themselves. Were the supes a bunch of failed experiments the other visiting aliens couldn’t get right? Chryso often wondered if Earth was a breeding ground other aliens used to create futuristic warriors or to test their gene-splicing programs on a sentient being outside of their own species before they tested it on themselves. Whatever it was, they must have failed, for they created different varieties within the same supe species using humans as their base. They spliced humans with other creatures who resided on Earth and aboard their ships, making a wide variety of different types of supes. The human species must have something wrong with their genetics, or their creators left all their unwanted creations on Earth because something was wrong with the supes characteristics they didn’t plan for or want.

  It was no secret the different factions of shifters kept to themselves for the most part. Same for witches and their covens—and how breeding up to keep purity was encouraged. Angels and Demons? They were most likely spliced from creatures not native to Earth.

  All the supes on Earth had one thing in common—aliens created them and imbedded in them their histories, religions, even memories. It wasn’t hard to create dreams to feel realistic and seem like years passed when it was only a few hours o
r days. Then there were the Angels and Demons who hallucinated whole different realms, voices, and people.

  The Alzaqi who resided on Earth, studying the phenomena, didn’t quite understand the technology the aliens who visited Earth in the past used. Alternating and imbedding things inside others minds wasn’t their specialty nor was splicing genes. They often wondered if it was some highly specialized type of mind control or some unexplained advance technology that they never came across. Teleportation, terraforming, and travel were the technologies the Alazqi excelled in—which is what the ones who resided in Silver Springs used in their jewelry business.

  Emerald eyed him nervously as he stood next to the empty barstools closest to her.

  “Can I sit here?” Chryso sent Emerald a smile in hopes of easing her turmoil as he sat down in the empty seat next to her.

  “Sure.” She shrugged. “It’s not like I can stop you.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I mean, it’s your house, and I’m just a guest. I can’t really tell you what to do in it.” She nodded and smiled as she accepted a teacup from Vesuv. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime.”

  An awkward silence fell as Vesuv served everyone breakfast.

  He thought he would be ecstatic at the news she was meant for them. Instead, he had mixed feelings about the situation. Maw made a good point. The spell that amateur witch cast on Emerald fought against their own instincts—and traditions. In a way, it cheapened the whole experience.

  They were forced to skip the whole discovery process, from presenting themselves as a triad to an Alzaqi female until one accepted their courting bubble dance. They didn’t have destined mates. Each courting was by choice. Males picked who they wanted to court, and the females determined whether the triad’s home was acceptable for their offspring. It was rare for a relationship to form between the female and her triad, especially during times of war.