Paranormally Yours: A Boxed Set

by Alisha Basso

  It was clear from his tone and the look in his eyes he wasn’t sorry at all. To the fae who worked for the FDA, regulation of dust was a matter of life and death to every one of them. If dust wasn’t regulated, it could mean complete and utter chaos for the world and possibly even annihilation of the fae. Especially pure, illegal dust.

  I didn’t acknowledge the fae’s insincere words and his eyes hardened. “May we come in?”

  I didn’t want them to come in. Fae were beautiful and deadly intelligent. They possessed subtle powers, their magic a natural extension of their personalities. I couldn’t fault them for what they did, for who they were, but I had to protect myself against any backlash from Olivia’s actions. I wasn’t to blame, but the fae made their own judgments and were of one mind when casting them.

  “I am really busy. I’ve got two catering jobs today and don’t have a lot of time,” my tone flat and uninviting.

  “This is about a grave matter and cannot wait.”

  Having no choice, I stepped back so they could enter in a flourish of leather and silk. The fae in the fedora, Talon Sunstrike, removed the soft felt hat to reveal very red hair—not auburn, as is natural to the earth, but a true Crayola red. There were highlights of gold sparkling in the sun streaming through my windows. The hair flowed around his exquisitely beautiful face, bangs brushed across his brow. Part of it was braided and secured with elaborate silver clasps, and the rest flowed over his shoulders, vivid against the white of his shirt. He ran his fingers through the mass, giving me a quick glimpse of his pointed ears. I got caught up in watching the strands settle like silk against his cheeks.

  The other two agents were just as lethally beautiful. The dark-haired one wore his hair long and free-flowing down his back to his waist. It was pitch black like tar. The other one...I didn’t even want to look at him. His hair was lavender, and cut in blunt, enticing layers framing the strong features of his well-formed face.

  I couldn’t allow my gaze to linger on any one of them for very long. Because of my grief and fatigue, my energy was at its lowest ebb, and it made me very susceptible. It had been all I could do to keep from touching Agent Sunstrike’s hair as it settled around his shoulders. My hand had even lifted, but I forced it back down.

  Fae were required to use magic to shield their beauty. Witches could be vulnerable, but humans were totally defenseless against their splendor. It could cause riots and traffic jams. Even though Agent Sunstrike was shielded, it was difficult not to react to him. His eyes were almond-shaped, with a slight slant, but didn’t look Asian. They were larger, and surrounded by long, lush lashes. The irises were three breathtaking shades of green, the outside a ring of dark avocado, then a loop, the color of an evergreen forest, and then a ring of jade edging the pupil.

  Thank the deities they were shielded. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t have been able to help myself. I’d have been immediately enraptured and lost. Enrapping was illegal only if the targeted person was unwilling. Then it was akin to mind rape. Consenting adults could use it any way they liked. Of course, the FDA had its own set of rules. Enrapping was against the law, but as I looked at the leader, I felt sure he would stop at nothing to get the information he needed. I made a mental note to try concocting something to mitigate their power.

  “How about some coffee, gentlemen?” I said brightly, leaving them standing in the foyer. I was seriously starting to lag and needed some dark liquid gold to bolster myself, never mind my guests. I threw a quick look at the fridge doors, but then reminded myself the spell was a week old. I didn’t have anything to worry about. And now the sun had moved higher in the sky, the metal was merely a dull grey. Healing slowly, my arm throbbed slightly, a small distraction. I looked nervously away.

  I skirted the spot where Olivia’s body had fallen amid the ugly blemish of red, congealed blood. Nock had handled cleaning the floor. The pool was long gone.

  At the sink, I filled the glass carafe with water, letting the everyday sounds soothe me. Moments later, I heard the scuff of boots on the tiled floor. When I turned to pour the water into the well, I saw only Agent Sunstrike had entered the kitchen.

  He’d removed his leather coat, and I couldn’t avoid noticing the suit jacket fit him nicely across his broad shoulders. I tried not to stare. But the fae were just so well put together. His mouth was intensely masculine, with full lips and a strong jaw.

  “Something smells very good in here.”

  “Spinach and artichoke soufflés for a baby shower brunch.”

  He watched me, his gaze very intense and focused.

  “I’m sure you didn’t come to smell my soufflés. Why exactly are you here?”

  “Direct and to the point. Fair enough. I’m sure this is a tough time for you, Ms. Starbuck, but I have more bad news. We believe your partner was dealing in illegal dust. We were hoping to talk her into revealing her source. You wouldn’t have any information which might lead us to her supplier, would you?”

  He had a beautiful lilt to his melodic voice, but it flexed with steel.

  My stomach knotted. Right, “talk her into” was code for torture the information out of her. I took a deep breath to calm myself. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t.” I poured the water into the well and walked past him to the pantry shelf to get my ground coffee canister.

  Technically I wasn’t lying. I had no idea how pure the dust was which Olivia purchased for our cream puffs.

  Sunstrike stood there for a moment, studying me as if trying to see into me and discover whether I was lying.

  “Ms. Starbuck,” he said softly, leaning his hands on the counter…hands which were big, masculine, and just as well-formed as the rest of him. “We are only trying to do our job. You understand that, right?”

  And my heart pounded at the compulsion weaving through his conciliatory words. I nodded as he tried to enrap me.

  My hand shook slightly while I measured out coffee into the filter, turning my body slightly so he couldn’t see. But that was it. I smiled at him and pushed the switch to get it brewing.

  I could tell he was both dismayed and intrigued to see I hadn’t been enrapped. I got the feeling he wasn’t used to failure.

  “How long had you known Ms. Vesta?” The coffee started its slow drip while he skirted the counter. He came close to me, his scent a mixture of a spring meadow and strong male.

  My chin lifted, my barriers slamming into place. If he meant to intimidate me by invading my personal space, I would put up a defense. “Three years.”

  His eyes traveled over my face and fastened on my eyes, pulling on me like raw energy. “Partners with her this whole time, and you were ignorant of her criminal behavior?” His knowing gaze made him look like a bad boy in an expensive suit.

  I turned away and selected two mugs from the cupboard. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about. The only criminal behavior she committed recently was cleaning out our bank accounts, Agent Sunstrike.” Even though I tried to keep my voice even, it wobbled and thickened. “I think that tells you everything you need to know. Cream or sugar?”

  “Black.”

  I poured out two cups, getting half and half out of the fridge for my own cup as an excuse to put distance between us. “Would those other two agents like some?”

  “No, they’re fine.” He took a sip and smiled. “This is delicious coffee. The fine taste lingers on the tongue.”

  “It’s my own blend.”

  “You have a gift.”

  My face heated. I couldn’t seem to help it. The compliment was as genuine as his enjoyment of the coffee. But I had to be careful not to let down my guard with this disarming fae.

  “You haven’t recovered the money?” he asked, setting his mug on the counter, his eyes lingering on the spell grimoire I had left open on the counter.

  Even as my thoughts went to the key still around my neck, and I forced my hand to remain at my side to keep from clutching it beneath my shirt, I swore silently. The book was still open t
o the mirror spell. I could only hope he couldn’t make out my handwriting or didn’t really practice or understand Earth magic. To my relief, he looked away.

  I had no intention of mentioning the key to him or anyone else. Once I figured out what it unlocked, I would be the one to discover what Olivia needed to hide. “No. I have no idea what she did with it.

  He picked up the mug and drained the cup. “Do you sell this blend?”

  “I...no.”

  “Would you be willing to make a batch up for me?”

  “Of course,” I said, wondering if this was a ploy to get back inside to subtlety interrogate me. Dust hounds like this one didn’t give up easily. Tenacious was a mild word for their level of determination.

  “You decide the fair price.” He glanced at my spell book again and then pushed away from the counter. “You’re busy and still grieving.”

  I met those tricolor eyes and was startled to see genuine emotion there.

  “We’ll let you have some peace and quiet for now, but there is much more to discuss, so we’ll be back tomorrow. We’re very sorry for your loss, Ms. Starbuck.”

  The warm feeling he just evoked was replaced by a chill sliding down my spine. Great, just what I needed. Dust hounds on my scent. He was right. I was truly exhausted, emotionally and physically. And the shock still hadn’t completely worn off.

  I followed him into the living room. The other two agents must have been dismissed already, because they were gone. I realized they had left so he could enrap me without any witnesses. Couldn’t be compromised if no one knew, and this fae was quite capable of enrapping me and making me forget I had been.

  He picked up the leather coat, the smell mingling with his meadowy male smell as he slipped it on.

  “Till the next time we meet, Ms. Starbuck.”

  He slipped out my door and closed it softly behind him. I locked it and put a notification spell on it just in case.

  “That’s one dangerous dude. Did you have a good time going one-on-one with him?”

  I jumped and swore softly. “Nock! How many times...”

  “Till you turn purple in the face,” he said with a smirk.

  I narrowed my eyes and headed back to the kitchen.

  He followed. “I can’t help it. It’s the gremlin blood in me. Makes me contrary.”

  “I think you like being contrary.”

  He shrugged. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  “You are impossible.” I said, going back to my dough.

  He nodded. “Did you make any extra soufflés?”

  “No. Not for snarky little men who think they know every damn thing there is to know.”

  “Awww, come on, Lily,” he whined. “I’ll wash your car.”

  “Hah! You want to wash my car, you conniving little sneak.”

  “I do not. It’s not like I like the bubbles or the way the paint shines in the sun or anything,” he groused.

  I laughed and went to the counter, thinking things shouldn’t be like they were before. Olivia was dead, but Nock and I, and our relationship, were the same. It seemed we should have been changed by it. The sorrow was trapped somewhere under my breastbone and I couldn’t seem to dislodge it. Maybe, just maybe I shouldn’t push it. It might be our way of coping with her loss. It might be our way of expressing our grief.

  I wasn’t sure. I just knew it hurt even as the laughter bubbled out of me at his antics. For that alone I would give him a thousand soufflés. Grabbing up one of the cooling pastries, I dropped it into his hands and ruffled his dark hair. “Wax it, too.”

  “You are a complete slave driver,” he said, with a pout, but I knew it had no weight when I saw the sheen of excitement in his eyes.

  “Gnomes….” I said rolling my eyes as grief washed over me like ripples from a broken heart thrown into deep water which could only fall and fall because there was no bottom.

  #

  I ignored the FDA dust hounds on my scent. Okay, mostly. I peeked. Well…glanced. All right. I looked. Primarily at Talon Sunstrike. In the sun, his hair was like a ball of flames, it was so fire-engine red. Gorgeous males dressed in black biker leather = instant hormone surge.

  Where their suits had gone, I didn’t know, but the bikes and leathers were like them, powerful, seductive, and intimidating. It was hard not to stare, but at least I managed that much. My heart fluttered a bit, but I attributed the palpitations to having the FDA on my butt. There was nothing I could do to stop them from following me, but fortunately there was nothing for them to see but this manicured residential street with its neat little rows of pretty houses.

  When I arrived at my catering job, Katie Seaton, my very pregnant client, opened the door for me. She was dressed in a high-end outfit befitting an upper class lady living in the posh part of Minneapolis. She was shorter than I was, with blonde hair cut just above her shoulders, with a careless, natural curl to it that said she could just let it go to do as it pleased. She had a kind of trophy wife look, but I could sense she was well-loved by her husband. Her unique grey-blue eyes, balancing out a lace of dark lashes, widened. Her delicate brows, just as blonde as her hair, rose when she saw Nock. Then her pretty pink lips curved into a smile, and I wondered if she was reacting to his pointed ears or the fact that he looked a lot like a little boy.

  She dropped her eyes to his black T-shirt that said, Gnomatter what you say, I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong. She laughed softly.

  Humans, or norms as they’re referred to, didn’t possess any magic, unless they were shamans, witches or mages, exceptionally gifted magically. The gifted ones were incorporated into a witching school, or shaman or mage order when they were very young. All humans were tested. It was deemed necessary so there were no mishaps or children exploited for their powers.

  I met her eyes, and something in their depths, along with her tight shoulders, made me very glad of the magic I had added to the food and drink. Trying to read past the party jitters and the worry, I concentrated on what was really going on with her.

  “Oh, Lily, come on in. I was getting anxious just waiting for you to get here. There are going to be so many people.”

  “Everything will be fine,” I murmured reassuringly, still trying to see what was really at the root of her unrest. I switched to my second sight and found her aura to be an agitated blue. But the baby was serene in her womb, a soft golden glow. “Nock and I will set up and get everything ready. No worries.”

  She led me through an expansive dining room with beautiful green silk wallpaper complementing a mahogany table and a tasteful deep green rug on the gleaming hardwood floor. Once in their large, stainless steel kitchen—which I totally envied—I set the soufflés down on the counter, Nock handed me the china, and then he disappeared.

  She turned to go into the dining room, but I didn’t want her to be freaked out by Nock’s special gnome magic. He would have everything decorated and all the china and crystal laid out in about fifteen minutes.

  “Let’s give Nock a moment to prepare the dining room,” I said.

  “Oh, that’s right. If it wasn’t for those pointed ears of his, I would think he was just a little boy. He’s very talented.”

  “Yes, he is, but don’t tell him,” I whispered. “His head is big enough.”

  “Too late,” he sniggered as he popped into the kitchen, grabbed the china and pink cloth napkins and disappeared again.

  “Oh,” she said, then laughed nervously. No matter how accepting humans were, they were still just a little nervous around paranormals.

  She wrung her hands and paced a little. The doorbell rang, and when she looked at me, I nodded. We were ready for the guests to arrive.

  I transferred the soufflés to a platter matching the china and hovered my hand over the pastries, concentrating. “Ignis,” I whispered.

  They warmed, and I carried the platter into the dining room. All but two people were seated, and the fruit was already on the table. Nock was so good at this stuff. Each
place setting had a cute bottle of perfectly chilled lemon spritzer. Different kinds of white and pink flowers in a crystal vase graced the table, and the napkins sculpted on each plate had been folded into delicate storks.

  “Oh, Lily. It’s wonderful. Thanks so much to both you and Nock.”

  I nodded and gave him a sidelong glance. He looked very pleased with himself until I met his eyes, and then he frowned as though he was having the worst time ever.

  Then, his eyes sparkling in that pinched little face, he disappeared.

  As the meal progressed, I replenished the fruit and watched Katie while she ate. A bit at a time, her shoulders eased and she relaxed into the conversation. As I passed her chair, my magic brushed up against my hand like a soft feline. The spell swirled around her and settled against her skin. There was nothing to see with the eyes, but just as you can see things in your dreams, so I could sense my handiwork. The calm, the happiness, the release of stress were like a balm to my heart. Ah, I was a damn good, good witch. The whole table of ladies started to get lively. I smiled. It was such a high to see my magic spreading happiness and ease with the consumption of good food and drink. I was such a kitchen witch.

  I met Katie’s eyes and, even though she had relaxed, there was still something there, and as though I could look into her heart, I saw it. The darkness. It twisted my gut and settled hard into my chest at the anxiety it was causing her.

  I witch-spoke so only she could hear me, “Katie, let it go.” The power resonated in my voice. “You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

  She turned her head so suddenly her hair brushed against my face and the spells she’d ingested sparkled over us for just a moment like diamonds in the sun. It was if everything slowed and her startled eyes slammed into mine.

  The darkness of her fears floated out of her eyes and dissipated into the festive, cheery room.

  She searched my eyes, all her fear, hope, and desperate need naked there. I smiled, taking all those doubts and spinning them into the diamonds around us until they were nothing but a shimmer at the ends of my fingertips.