by Maya Daniels
Now, not only did I need to somehow find Crystal, but I still needed to find the emerald-eye hottie and make him forget me.
Fuck me ten ways to Sunday, I thought, chuckling at myself.
Shaking my head, I exhaled a long sigh. “Where the hell do I even start?”
“Well, honestly, I think you should start by taking those clothes off again.” The male voice had me turning toward the sound, a gasp flying from my lips.
Elijah. Fucking. Hawthorne. Was in my room.
Go figure.
“What the actual fuck are you doing here right now?” I shouted, my hand covering my chest even though I had clothes on.
“Just thought I’d stop by and see how you are doing? After last night, the way you walked away without telling me your name, I thought you might need something.” He took a step closer.
I inched backward. “Oh, really? Well, isn’t that nice of you. Now get the fuck out of my home.”
Actually, he was here. I didn’t have to find him, after all, but finding him in my room when I thought I was alone had startled me so much I didn’t even have enough braincells left to think about that tiny little fact.
When he strode forward, I let him, raising my chin and holding it high. And when he stood right in front of me, his mouthwatering scent wrapping around me and causing me to salivate, I didn’t back down. Instead, I met those gleaming green eyes of his, proud that I didn’t fall into them.
“You will forget everything you learned about me last night, and you will go home with no memory of me or what happened in the alley,” I said, my words chanted as my magic wrapped around each one.
“I will forget everything I learned last night. Last night didn’t happen,” he repeated, his tone flat and his wide eyes locked on mine.
Elijah Hawthorne’s memory has been erased. Check Mate. I grinned.
“Actually, though, I’d rather not. Learning what you can do was really the highlight of my week.” He chuckled, an arrogant smirk tilting his lips. Honestly, he looked like he knew something I didn’t, and I just really wanted to wipe that expression right off his face.
I glared.
He was fucking with me. The arrogant, way-too-hot-for-his-own-good asshole was fucking with me, and I fell right into it.
Shoving against his chest, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m not a toy for you to play with. And what the hell are you that my magic didn’t work on you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know? Then again, if I tell you, what do I get out of it?” He tucked his chin low, winking at me. “Stick around. Maybe if you’re a good girl, you’ll find out.”
“Asshole,” I muttered. “Get out of my house.”
“Actually, I think you need to finish getting ready and meet me in the kitchen. I’ll have coffee waiting.” He stepped past me, that delicious scent of musk and sandalwood filling my nostrils and making me want to take a bite out of him as he passed.
Who the hell did this guy think he was? He didn’t get to order me around. I gave the orders here, thank you very much. And he was about to get schooled.
Since I had clearly already been dressed and ready, I clenched my fists stomping through the hall and straight to the small kitchen with a few cabinets, a stove, sink, and very minimal black counters. I really was into black, probably a bit too much.
Plopping my ass on one of the chairs at the table by the window, I watched Elijah pour me a cup of what I assumed would be coffee and bring it over, sliding it in front of me. The steaming liquid tempted me, but I didn’t trust him. No way would I be drinking it first, especially since I wasn’t there to watch him make it.
“Alright, you got me here, now what do you want?” I snapped, leaning back in the chair and stretching my legs in front of me. Nonchalant. Not anxious at all. That was me, even though inside my heart was racing and nervous energy made my lip want to tremble, though I was a master at swallowing it down and playing it cool.
“It isn’t what I want, Brigit. It’s what I can do for you.” That all-knowing smirk twitched his lips again, and I had to sit on my hands to keep from slapping it off his face.
“And what, pray tell, might that be? I’m all ears,” I replied, innocently widening my eyes. “Also, please tell me how someone who insisted on asking my name already knows it.”
He smiled, a panty-melting showing of teeth, and I found myself leaning toward him without even realizing it. Down girl. Down. Repeating the words might actually help, right?
“You demand a lot of answers for a girl who won’t give many herself, don’t you?” His words hit me like a brick to the face, but I wasn’t falling for his manipulation. Keeping it mysterious was my jam, not his.
He needed to be an open book.
“Out with it. How do you know my name?” Crossing my arms over my chest, I sharpened my glare on him.
He took the same stance I did. “You first.”
“You told me your name last night, asshole,” I reminded him.
“That I did.” His smirk returned, while he jerked a thumb over his shoulder pointing to the refrigerator behind him. “And I learned your name off the bills on your fridge. Nothing untoward at all.”
“Fair enough,” I said unimpressed, leaning on my elbows and tapping a finger on the table. “Now tell me how you got past my wards.” Because that I needed to know.
Crossing one leg over the other, he focused on me. “Before you’ve even had a sip of your coffee?”
So he noticed I wasn’t drinking anything. Who would’ve thought?
Hardening my features, I stared him down. “Out with it. This isn’t a game, and if you think it is, I’m not playing. Tell me what you know, or leave.”
“That will have to remain a mystery for a little while longer, but in due time, you will know,” he said, folding his hands in his lap. “That is a promise.”
Like I could trust a promise from a man I knew almost nothing about besides his name. But whatever. I could live with not knowing that.
“Okay, I’ll let that go for now. But what, exactly, can you do for me?” I asked, pressing my weight on the elbows until the edge of the table bit into my skin.
Holding his hands in front of him in a placating gesture, a serious expression covered his face. “The girl from last night—”
“What about her?” I interrupted, my haste to have answers adding to my irritation.
“If you’d let me finish, I’d tell you, though you should already know …”
Raising my eyebrows, I glowered at him. “Well, Mr. All-knowing, please, share.”
“I have been tracking the mages for a while now because I knew they were up to no good, and if they want that girl, there is obviously something she can offer them.” Elijah stood, moving to the window and gazing out of it.
“Wow, numbnuts, I never would’ve thought about that. I bow down before your all-knowing powers.” Rolling my eyes even though he couldn’t see it, I stood, picking up my cup of coffee and walking to the counter. After I set it beside the sink, I leaned my hip on the edge. “Since I already knew that, maybe you could tell me something actually useful.”
“She has magic.” He faced me, mimicking me from the opposite side of the counter.
“Already figured that out too,” I told him, and I had. Only because of Hank, but Elijah didn’t need to know that.
“When I found you this morning—”
I cut him off. “And how exactly did you do that?”
“I’m a tracker. I track magic. So, really, it was not that hard.”
“So why can’t you just track Crystal?” I asked, hoping it would make my life easier.
“Give me the motivation and maybe I will.” He kept his tone low, his lips twisting into that smirk again, and my dumb ovaries swooned.
Clenching my fists at my sides, I groaned. “Oh my God. Does any man at all ever think without using his dick?”
Grinning, his eyes twinkled in amusement. “You took it there, not me.”
I swore ste
am was coming out of my ears with as much anger as was coursing through me. “How about this for motivation? I won’t kill you if you track her?”
“Ooh, we are going with the tough chick act? I have to say, I’d like to keep my life, so...” His laughter was like music to my ears, and I hated every damn second of it. That can of worms was not being opened. Not today, or tomorrow, or even next week.
The guy might be a walking sex stick, but I was not taking a lick. Nope. Not me.
God, I need to get laid, I thought, knowing that would solve all of my problems when it came to Elijah.
A few seconds of silence passed before his striking gaze met mine. After a firm nod, he stuck his hand between us. “You drive a tough bargain, but deal.”
With no other choice, I took it, muttering, “Deal.” Dropping his hand, I lifted the cup of coffee, keeping eye contact the whole time. “And this is about how much I trust you, just so you know.” I dumped it down the drain, my only reply that sexy smirk on his lips.
This would either be the best deal I ever made in my life, or the worst, but whether I liked it or not, I was in it to win it now. I’d just stay focused on the money and the new life it would buy me.
Yeah, that would keep my mind off jumping Elijah’s bone, right?
5
Back at the scene of last night’s chaos, and where my life had started going down the sewer drain. I crouched in the alley, looking for any clues that might help me find Crystal. Heck, even a strand of hair would be better than the nothing I’d found so far.
Elijah stood at the entrance, watching me with that devilish smirk that seemed to always be plastered on his stupidly handsome face. Truth be told, that was probably the reason I couldn’t find anything. His nearness caused my hormones to come alive, waging this invisible war inside me and making me want to run right to him and kiss him senseless.
But I wasn’t that stupid. My lips would remain right how they were, not kissing anyone, thank you very much.
If only I’d known last night what I did at that moment. I could’ve had the shadows follow her home to make sure she arrived in one piece, and then I wouldn’t find myself in this current shitty situation.
“No, you didn’t think of that because of your stupid, raging sex meter, you hoe?” I mumbled to myself, kicking the ground as I straightened and moved further into the alley.
I needed an earring, a tattered piece of clothing. Anything.
“Talking to yourself isn’t going to get you very far,” Elijah said, coming to stand next to me.
Of course he heard me. Why wouldn’t he?
Giving him a nasty look, I continued searching. “I don’t see you helping. I thought you were a special magic tracker. Why don’t you be useful and actually do that?”
He snickered, the sound grating on my ever-present nerves. The guy was definitely sin walking, and that caused irritation to flutter through me like the damn wings of a butterfly. Even his snicker had my panties melting.
Ugh. Not helping, Brig. At all.
“You know, if you took care of that lust of yours, you might be more focused. I could help with that.”
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes like a teenager. “I’m sure. Just like any man with a dick could. Thanks but no thanks.”
A lilting laugh echoed through the alley. “Just remember, when you are ready the offer stands.”
“Mmmkay. Thanks again, but how about we get back to work. Track oh glorious tracker.” I extended my arm in front of me, waving it in the air. “Show me what you can do, glorious hellhound.”
One corner of his lips reached for the sky, and I looked at the ground to avoid my treacherous female brain from taking my mind where it didn’t belong. Again. Leaning against the brick wall, I watched Elijah move forward, sniffing the air like a hound dog on a trail.
That couldn’t be how it worked, could it?
More loud sniffs filtered through the air, and I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it. He even turned in circles occasionally like a dog chasing its tail.
“Seriously? That’s what you do?” I asked, the incredulous tone of my voice indicating exactly what I thought.
Angling his head toward me, he grinned. “No, but I had to give you something.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling and dragging my gaze to the muscles playing there. “Don’t want to give all my secrets away.”
Stomping forward, I released a loud hiss. “Quit playing games and do your job. We made a deal, remember? Or do you want to die?” I asked, grabbing the shadows and tossing them from palm to palm, the implication purely a threat.
Gaping at me, fear widened his eyes. “Oh, please put those shadows away. I’m shaking in my booties.”
Again, I could tell he wasn’t scared in the least, and it made me wonder why. Anyone who saw me playing with shadows would run the other way, or at least try to take me out first. They were powerful, and truth be told, I didn’t even know everything I could do with them yet. I mostly got lucky, and worked on instinct.
What the hell was this guy that my magic didn’t deter him at all?
“Just get on with it, and stop wasting your time talking to me, okay?” I said, keeping my tone flat so he didn’t sense how annoyed he’d made me. Didn’t want to give him any more power over me than he already had.
“Talking to you isn’t a waste of time. You dazzle me, Brigit. More than you can possibly know.” The sincerity in his tone wasn’t missed, but all it did was make even more questions flitter through my brain. How could I, a mere shadow whatever I was, dazzle someone who could track magic? And what did he track magic for? Did he work for the mages and he was just leading me to my death?
I didn’t trust him, not even a little. So that made it hard to focus on the job in front of me. My guard had to stay up at all times, because if I dropped it by being sidetracked and dumb, I could die. And I’d come way to close to death for my liking just last night. I didn’t need a repeat of that.
Either way, I knew he was up to something. I could feel it deep in my bones, but I had no idea what.
Realizing I’d kept my eyes on the ground for much too long, I glanced up to find Elijah moving from one side of the alley to the other.
“What are you doing?”
Glancing over his shoulder at me, he raised his eyebrows. “My job.”
“And how, exactly, does that work?”
“Tediously,” he said plainly, turning from me and going back to whatever he was doing. From my vantage point, it looked like he was a dancer, twirling from one side of the alley to the other. Maybe he was sniffing the air, though I had a feeling he would never tell me. I didn’t fail to notice how he avoided almost every single question I asked him, deflecting with other nonsense. And even if he answered, his reply gave me absolutely no indication of anything.
It didn’t bode well for me to trust him, that was for sure.
Shaking my head, I went back to what I’d been doing before. Scanning the ground carefully, I kept looking for anything out of the ordinary. Moving to where Crystal had been crouched last night while I fought the mages, I found something. A drop of dried blood.
“Elijah, over here,” I called, and his boots smacked the asphalt as he came to crouch beside me.
His long finger traced the dark red splotch, and his eyes lit up, gleaming with some otherworldly power—at least that was how I saw it. In fact, it was probably just the sun hitting him just right.
“I’ve got a lead,” he said, lifting to his full height again.
“So, that’s how it works. You need blood?” I asked in the hopes to finally get some sort of an answer.
That smirk pulled the corners of his lips up, and it took everything for me to pull my gaze from the heat I saw in his emerald eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he asked, winking before he started moving. “Ms. Grey, if you want to find the girl, I suggest you follow. My legs are much longer than yours, so it won’t be an easy feat to catch up.”
Red-hot anger surged throu
gh me, and I clenched my fists at my side as I stood up, jogging until I was right beside him. “And I suggest you learn when to keep your mouth shut because you are seriously pissing me off.”
“Duly noted. But it won’t change anything. I am who I am, and you need my help.” Smiling at me, those emerald orbs dropped to my lips, lingering there much to long. “And I have a feeling if you get out of your own head, what I am is someone you would actually like.”
“Not a chance in hell,” I replied, my words rushing out immediately. They were true too. I might want to have hot, sweaty sex with Elijah, but I would never actually like him. He was too arrogant, and much too irritating.
Oh no, Elijah Hawthorne would never be someone I called friend, much less anything else.
Ever.
6
The weather was nice, for once.
People mulled around, mushing their faces into the sparkling clean storefronts, spending money they didn’t have to make themselves feel better about their shitty lives. Me? I didn’t need to max out my credit card to know my life was a shit storm. I was reminded daily in the form of late notice letters arriving in the mail, the red stamps on them with “urgent” or “overdue” the only consistency in my miserable existence. Tucking my thumbs in the back pockets of my jeans, I displayed a nonchalance I didn’t feel, trying to blend with the crowds.
I needed that money.
Like, yesterday.
“So”—Jerking my elbow, I thumped Elijah’s arm with it to get his attention—“let’s try this again, like a director’s cut. How does this tracking thing work?” From the corner of my eye, I watched his lips cock up in a smirk, and feathers tickled the back of my throat. I strangled those fuckers with a vengeance. “Do you actually just lift your face up and sniff like a dog who’s sniffing another dog’s butt and follow the stench, or …”
It was immature, I knew that. For whatever reason, I really wanted to push him to the point where he lost his control and dropped the mask he was wearing like a second skin. All his teasing and joking aside, there was a coiled power, a barely restrained raw force in the way he held his body that was sending warning alarm bells bouncing around in my head.
