by A. Blythe
“Talk to Luciano first. If you two are completely casual and you’re going to find some other arm candy next week, then maybe it would be wise to move on sooner rather than later. Save everyone a huge headache.”
“I didn’t plan to ditch Rocco for another mobster,” Farah said and groaned. “Why is this city so small?”
“To be fair, you didn’t ditch Rocco for Luciano. I think you need to make sure that part is clear.”
“Speaking of parts, are you going to do something with your hair?” Farah asked, examining my head with unsettling intensity.
“I’m going to let it air dry.”
“A little product wouldn’t hurt.” She held up the pillow for protection. “And maybe some mascara.”
I punched her soft shield. “I am not trying to make a good impression. I’m supposed to be the worst date he’s ever had.”
“Just because you plan to be a bad date doesn’t mean you need to look bad doing it.” She watched me as I admired my reflection in the mirror. “The ego is strong in this one.”
“You’re right. I need to fix my hair. And he’s going to be here soon.”
“Do you think he wears his Protectorate badge to bed?” she asked. “Maybe you could let me know in the morning.”
I refused to give fuel to her wishful thinking. “I’ll be home before you go to bed. Marid’s honor.”
“There’s an oxymoron,” she said wryly.
“Are you suggesting my caste is dishonorable? Watch yourself, Farah,” I teased. “That kind of insult may well result in a duel.”
“Don’t wear the flats,” she cautioned as I went to slip on my shoes. “He’s so tall. You can get away with heels.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for the strappy shoes with the kitten heel.
“Now those are sexy,” Farah said and meowed.
“Talk to Luciano while I’m out,” I said. “Let’s get both of our male-related issues resolved at the same time.”
I stepped into the living room where Katrien was watching the news. She looked me over and said, “For someone who does not want the Naphil’s attention, you chose an eye-catching dress.”
I shrugged. “Apparently I have an ego and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Farah peered out the window. “He’s here!”
It was seven on the dot. Typical Naphil.
“Have a great time,” Farah said. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep watch over Katrien.”
“As long as we remain in this magical fortress,” Katrien said with a wave of her hand, “we will be perfectly safe.”
“I have my phone,” I reminded them. It was like having children. I hurried out of the house before they could follow me.
Reed was still on the sidewalk, ready to ring the upstairs bell. I yanked open the door before his finger hit the button.
“Ready,” I called. I stopped short when I noticed how good he looked. Not a piece of wavy, blond hair out of place and clothes that were perfectly tailored to his Naphil physique. His shoes were as polished as his teeth.
“Wow,” I exhaled. For a split second, I forgot my plan to be a terrible date.
He grinned. “Wow is a good start. And you look pretty ‘wow’ yourself.”
“Thank you.” I let him take my hand and escort me to the car. It wasn’t one I’d seen him use before. This was a Maserati Quattroporte.
“You have two cars in the city?” I queried.
“The other car belongs to the Protectorate,” he said. “This one is mine.”
Who knew Captain Tenderheart had an affinity for fast, expensive cars? I liked this Reed—he was more my speed.
We drove to an upscale Cuban restaurant where we valet parked. I was impressed that he didn’t hesitate to hand his key over to the acne-riddled valet who looked like he only got his license yesterday.
Despite the crowded interior, the table was ready and waiting when we arrived.
“So how many dates have you brought to this particular restaurant?” I asked, drinking in the sophisticated vibe. This place didn’t exist when I was younger. If it did, Farah and I would’ve been shifting into adults so we could hang out at the cool bar.
“You’re the first,” he replied, unfolding his napkin and placing it on his lap.
“What made you choose this place? Do you eat here a lot?”
“I’ve never eaten here,” he said. “But I always said I’d treat myself when I had someone special to bring.”
Damn. That was sweet.
“Reed,” I began. “You can’t throw around words like ‘special.’”
“Why not? Don’t you think you’re special?”
“To you?” I shrugged. “I don’t see how.”
He offered a patient smile. “Alyse, can we stop pretending there isn’t a connection between us? It would make the date much more enjoyable.”
Did he really think we had a connection? Did we have a connection?
I decided to focus on the menu and leave the question and answer portion of the date until later. “Lots of seafood options.” I loved seafood.
“You mentioned once that it was your favorite.”
And he remembered. Egads. This was going to be an impossible evening. Where was Flynn when you needed a mood killer? Scratch that. Flynn’s presence would only serve to make Reed look more perfect.
As if by some voodoo magic, Flynn’s voice cut through the chatter and background music.
“You can’t be serious,” I breathed, craning my neck to locate him.
I turned in time to watch Tessa storm away from their table, her face flushed with anger. I saw Flynn twitch and knew he was dying to shift to mist and catch up with her, but he couldn’t do it in front of an entire restaurant full of humans. Instead, he remained seated and continued calmly slicing his steak.
Reed followed my gaze. “Maybe you should check on him.”
“He’s a big boy. I’m sure it’s fine.”
Then I heard him order a bottle of whiskey.
“On second thought,” I said, “I’ll be right back.” I didn’t wait for Reed to answer.
“Gods and stars, Alyse,” he said when he saw me. His gaze lingered on my dress a beat too long. “What are you doing here dressed like that?”
“None of your business.” I sat down in Tessa’s seat. It was still warm. “What did you do?”
“It’s what I didn’t do.” He inhaled deeply and stared at me with those piercing blue eyes. “She wants me to propose. She wants to get married.”
Oh.
“And you don’t?” Of course he didn’t. He was Flynn. He was a black sheep. A lone wolf. At least he used to be. Tessa had changed him.
He tossed his napkin onto the table. “I don’t know. Marriage was never really part of my game plan.”
“But you love Tessa.”
“So what? I love you, too. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we’d walked down the aisle, can you?”
My breath caught in my throat. “You mean loved. Past tense.”
He blinked. “Yes, that’s what I said.”
I let it slide. Flynn just admitted that he loved me. That maybe he still loved me. He hadn’t said the magic word once during the entirety of our relationship, yet here he was, telling me now in the middle of my date with Reed.
“You had a funny way of expressing your love for me,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
He didn’t seem to grasp my meaning at first, still focused on his current relationship problem. His brow finally lifted. “Come on, Alyse. You can be deliberately obtuse, but surely you knew how I felt about you.”
“Did you love me when you were with the Hinn from law enforcement class? Or how about the Shaitan who tended bar over at Snickers?”
Flynn chuckled. “By the gods, you have a singular talent for making everything about you. You do remember I’m in the middle of my own crisis?” He pointed lazily in Reed’s direction. “And your date is over there, trying to pretend that he’s totally cool wi
th you consoling me.”
I bristled. “It was Reed’s idea for me to come over here.”
“Because he knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away, my blue diamond.” He reached for my hand and I quickly pulled away.
“You should go after Tessa,” I said. “She’s probably outside, waiting for you to chase her.”
He tapped his fingers on the side of his wine glass. “Did you ever wait for me to chase after you?”
“No,” I lied. “You know that isn’t my style.” And it wasn’t—usually. But when I’d left him after I discovered the months of deception, I had expected him to come and find me. Try to explain. Grovel a little. He never showed up. Instead, he blew up the cafeteria of the Academy and got himself expelled. That was our happily ever after.
He whipped out his wallet and dropped two hundred dollar bills on the table. “You’re right. She probably wants me to go after her.” He patted my shoulder as he passed by. “Thanks, Alyse.”
I took a second to compose myself before returning to Reed.
“All good?” Reed asked.
I drained my wine glass. “Who knows with them? It’s always one drama or another.”
Reed studied me. “You sure you’re okay?”
“He can hardly be surprised she wants to get married,” I continued. “She’s a human of a certain age. It’s biologically programmed. What did he think would happen if they moved in together?”
“Have you ever considered getting married?” he asked.
“To him?” I blew a raspberry. “Not on your long life. That would’ve been a death sentence. For me, anyway. He probably would have carried on shagging every available female in a fifty mile radius behind my back.”
Reed paused. “I didn’t mean him. I meant in general.”
“Oh.” My glass was empty, so I picked up Reed’s glass and took a sip. “I don’t know. I guess I never thought about it. It’s such a human ritual.”
A moment of awkward silence passed.
Reed eventually cleared his throat. “It must be difficult for young djinn, not having parents.”
“Not really. We have role models. Guardians. Older djinn we emulate. It’s basically the same.”
Reed smiled. “What about unconditional love, Alyse? Don’t you think that’s an important element of the relationship? That unbreakable bond?”
An unbreakable bond.
What a myth.
“You don’t believe in unconditional love?” he asked, surprised.
“No brain invasion during dinner,” I said hotly. “It’s ungentlemanly.”
“Sorry,” he said. “You’re just so loud, even in your own head.”
“I don’t think supernaturals experience unconditional love in the same way as humans,” I admitted. “At least those of us without a human parent.” Unconditional love seemed to be an entirely human concept.
Reed studied me. “You’re capable of it, you know. I’ve seen glimpses of it, in the way you treat your friends.”
I forced a smile. “So you’re interested in my potential?”
He leaned forward. “No, Alyse. I’m interested in you, in case I haven’t made myself perfectly clear.”
I couldn’t hold his gaze. It felt too intimate, especially when I knew he could read my mind. “All of this talk about unconditional love has made me thirsty. Why don’t we order a couple of mojitos?” The one good thing about my human body was the ability to get drunk quickly. I figured it was high time I took advantage of that particular skill.
“I’m driving,” Reed objected.
I gave him a sheepish smile. “I meant for me.”
11
I was sharpening a katana in the armory when the supernatural alarm sounded. I took a peek at the security camera and was surprised to see Melania standing just inside the door of Tops and Bottoms. Either she was interested in restocking her lingerie collection now that she was stateside or she was looking for me. Judging by the disgusted expression on her face, my bet was on the latter.
“Melania, what a surprise,” I said, appearing from the dressing area.
Farah had already intercepted her. “You know her?”
“This is Melania, the mage who’s helping Detective Thompson and I with the robbers.”
“Oh, right.” She pumped Melania’s delicate hand. “I’m Farah Brahim, a friend of Alyse’s. I own this shop.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Even without smiling, I could see the shadow of her dimples.
“Are you in the market for edible body paint?” I asked, just for the hell of it. I couldn’t help myself.
“Absolutely not. I’d like to speak to you about the case.” She shot a quick glance at Farah. “Alone, if you don’t mind.”
Farah made an elaborate display of picking up her phone and pounding her thumbs on the screen.
“Come with me.” I beckoned her to the red velvet chairs in the back of the room. There was only one customer on the far side of the store and she was wearing earbuds, so I figured it was safe to talk.
“I heard about your evening,” she said, barely suppressing a smile.
Reed shared details of our date with her already? I didn’t realize they were so close.
“It wasn’t exactly a roaring success,” I admitted, not that I’d intended it to be. I just hadn’t expected Flynn to be the reason it went south. “But the food was excellent. I highly recommend the seafood soup.”
“Grayson really seems keen to have you as his partner, but I have to be honest.” She cocked her head and studied me. “I just don’t see it.”
What didn’t she see? “Excuse me?”
She zigzagged a finger in front of me. “You’re nothing like I expected. For one thing, you dress like a refugee from the Salvation Army.”
Instinctively, I glanced down at my outfit. Combat boots, green leggings, and a black tunic top. Okay, maybe she wasn’t too far off the mark.
“Reed isn’t into fashion, as far as I can tell.”
“You should be kissing the ground he walks on,” she scolded me. “You treat him like a piece of gum under your shoe. He is of the Nephilim. He should be revered.”
Revered? Reed was certainly honorable and a natural leader, but revered? Sorry, I didn’t revere anyone. “You’re a mage, not a Naphil. What’s your stake in how I treat him?”
She pressed her lips together. “Grayson is a dear friend and I don’t want to see him humiliated, particularly by someone like you.”
I laughed in her face. “So why are you here? Just go.”
Melania inched closer to me and her features hardened. “Because I want to be helpful to Grayson and Kenya. They’re my friends. Therefore, I’m willing to tolerate you.”
Hmpf. I wasn’t sure I was willing to tolerate her. “We don’t even know each other, Melania. I’m not really sure why you think you know me.”
“I’m a mage who gets inside people’s heads,” she reminded me. “That’s what I do.”
Was she saying she’d glimpsed something inside my head that she didn’t like? That was entirely possible.
I tried to keep the tone light. “I hate to imagine your conversations with Reed. Do you just sit around in silence and bounce in and out of each other’s heads?”
“Never mind my personal interactions with Grayson.”
“You brought it up.” There was a bit more attitude in my response than I’d intended. Melania sat in the chair next to mine, her steely gaze unwavering.
“So are you here to talk about the case or was that just a pretense?”
“I examined the minds of the two surviving robbers from”—She looked around with an air of dissatisfaction—“this place. They were victims of the same spells as the gentlemen from the bank.”
“Did you take a look at the one who died?” The one who appeared to have dropped dead from a punch in the nose.
She nodded. “A tragic outcome. He was the father of two children.”
“Any idea what triggered
it?”
Melania looked at me intently. “It was like a brain explosion. All of his memories combusted. I’ve never seen anything quite like it and I spend a fair amount of time playing around in people’s heads.”
“Why would a punch in the nose cause that kind of destruction?”
She shrugged. “It wouldn’t.”
So just bad timing on Katrien’s part. “Any more clues? Anything that could point to a suspect?”
“Not yet.” She stood and smoothed the front of her trousers.
“You could have told me all this over the phone,” I said.
She gave me a cold smile. “Yes, but then it would’ve been harder to catch a glimpse of that three-ring circus you call a mind.”
Bitch.
“I’ll give you credit,” she said. “You’re fairly competent at cloaking your thoughts.”
I returned her icy smile. “If I care to give you a piece of my mind, it will be pretty freakin’ obvious.”
“Good to know we’re both on the same page.”
I didn’t bother to walk her to the door. Who did she think she was—showing up in town out of nowhere and acting like she owned the place? I mean, who did that?
The door barely closed when Farah came rushing over for a report. “I could feel the chill from over there.”
“I should set her up with Prince Simdan. They can sit around complaining about me to each other.”
“So she’s the one who does all the fancy memory wipes?” Farah asked. “Good thing she came back to Philly when she did.”
When I opened my mouth to reply, the thought hit me. I’m a mage who gets inside people’s heads. That’s what I do.
“Yes, it must be serendipity,” I said. And if it turned out to be more than that, I’d be more than happy to expose her for the murderous, mind-controlling thief that she really was.
My conversation with Melania still stung hours later. It wasn’t that I didn’t respect Reed—I respected him immensely—but our relationship wasn’t as simple as she thought it should be. I wasn’t as simple.
What I couldn’t stop focusing on, however, was her remark about her ability to get into people’s heads. Was I overreacting because I disliked her? Was it possible she was responsible for casting the spells in the first place? It was awfully convenient that she happened to show up and be the one person capable of identifying the spells in use. But what did she have to gain? I still had no clue what the thief was looking for. Maybe it was connected to her time in Japan.
