“Elijah…it’s…“ Rosalie sighed softly. This was difficult for her. She was used to being brash and upfront. “Do you know when this will happen?”
“No…” The question drew him out of his frozen stupor.
“All right, I have a plan.” She straightened and gave him a smile. “I’ll call down to Morgan’s shop, and ask him if a pendant like that came in. Then I’ll just buy it and that will be that.”
“But…what if it’s too much? Some of the items are…” He rubbed at the back of his neck, his eyebrows lifting. “They’re just a lot, some of them.”
“Elijah, my best friend’s name is Angelique Valadia. Money isn’t going to be an issue, you should know this by now. Can I call Morgan from here?” When Elijah gave her a nod, she stood from the couch and went to his phone. As she glanced at him with an encouraging smile, she picked up the phone and dialed Morgan’s number.
* * * *
S’mores were baking in the oven, and the smell of them permeated throughout not just the kitchen, but the whole bottom half of the house. Smiling in satisfaction, Angelique glanced at the timer. Only five minutes to go before her favorite chocolaty snack was ready. As the phone vibrated on her desk, she quickly whisked herself into the living room and snatched it. A glance told her it was Morgan. What was he calling about at this time of night?
“Morgan? Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Ang.” There was a fondness in his voice when he spoke to her. “You asked me to call you as soon as the pendant came in.”
“Oh…yes, but…it’s like eleven at night.”
“Sorry. I know you’re a bit of a night owl, though. Didn’t think you’d mind.”
“No! Mm, not at all, no! Can I come pick it up tomorrow?”
“Of course. Shop opens at 9am.”
“Thanks, Morgan, I’ll be there at 9am sharp.” She smiled as she ended the call. For a moment she considered calling Rosalie, but she was probably asleep already. Letting out a giddy sound of excitement, she turned to go back to the kitchen. Three steps there, and a shot rang out. It was quiet, silenced almost perfectly. Angelique was dead even before her body crumpled to the ground.
Chapter Nine
“I already told you, Rosalie, there isn’t a pendant like that here.” With an aggravated sigh, Morgan followed the young woman to the back of the store as she ignored his words and pushed by him. When they passed through and into the antique section, it was all he could do not to grab her and force her to stop. It was almost time to close, and this was the second time she had come in today.
Ignoring the older man, Rosalie moved over to the jewelry section and started pulling the chains and strings from their hooks. She was almost frantic in her search, but she was also methodical. If that pendant was here, she was sure as hell going to find it. No one, not even the big bad Morgan Glassus, would be able to stop her. The worst offences she had on her record were a few parking tickets. She wasn’t going down for killing Elijah, accident or not. She would be slaughtered in prison!
“Rosalie!”
The sharp snap of Morgan’s voice made her pause, and she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Listen, buddy. I’m going to find this thing, and you are going to let me. I’m in a really shitty mood, and I’ve spent the last several days running after some guy who is convinced I am going to kill him because of this pendant, so you’ll excuse me if I’m a bit pissed off right now.”
When all he did was stare at her, she turned back to the row of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. She was decent enough to replace everything back in their designated areas once she was finished her search. Morgan let out a sigh of disdain as she made her way over to a cabinet made from rosewood. He was almost tempted to phone the police so that they could come and remove her from his store.
“Damnit, it’s not here.”
Morgan pressed his lips together as he regarded her. “I told you that already. I also told you that if anything like it came in, I would call. Remember that talk we had on the phone last night? You were the one who phoned me?”
“Yes, yes. I know.” Rosalie sighed as she swept ebony hair back from her face. “I’m sorry, Morgan. Nothing has been going my way lately. At all. I’m barely handling my…” She shook her head and held a hand toward him. She had to stop before she lost control and did something stupid. Thoughts of her father swept into her mind, and she could hardly bear the thought of acknowledging them again. But she had to. “I need to go. Just call, okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll call.” Morgan offered a slight shrug as she slipped passed him. “One thing, though…what’s this about you killing Elijah?”
“It’s what he saw in his vision, Morgan. All of that blood he told you about? I’m the cause of it.” Before he could utter a response, Rosalie walked out of the store, the little bells attached to the top of the door chiming as she left.
* * * *
Thunder rumbled loudly over the small structure that was Morgan Glassus’ shop. Lightning flashed, brilliantly illuminating the store’s contents. As the rain came down in torrents, the large delivery truck pulled up beside the magic shop. It was nearly five minutes past midnight, and the driver was exactly on time. He pulled up the hood of his parka, ducked his head, and half ran to the awning that would protect him from the rain. He knocked on the glass door, a small package held in his opposite hand.
After several minutes of waiting, the door opened. The delivery driver offered a smile of relief as he stepped inside. “Sorry about dripping all over the floor. It’s a real nightmare out there.”
Morgan shrugged. “No problem. Do you have it?”
“Yes, here it is.” He held out the small package to the older man, then offered him a clipboard with some papers and a pen attached to it. “Just sign for it, and I’ll give you the rest of that info that you wanted.”
“Just want to say, thank you very much for doing this,” he said as he signed the paper and placed the package on the counter beside him. After his name was scribbled on the paper, he handed the clipboard and all of its contents back to the driver.
“Anytime. It’s normal for us to have some pretty strange hours. Besides, why question when you own a magic shop?”
That drew a smile across Morgan’s face, and even a small snort of laughter. “True, that.”
“Now for the good stuff. Your assassin took out the girl—the same one who killed her best friend’s father. Funny that, eh? What was her name again? Angelique?” He paused, then waved a hand. “Anyway, I just got word that she was killed about few hours ago. She seemed very interested in the pendant, and even had your home number taped to the bottom of her computer monitor with ‘Pendant?’ written under it.
“It looks like she’s been working with Elijah and Rosalie from the start. If I were you, I’d take the pair of them out quicker than you can say ‘magic shop’. Not that my advice is all that great at the best of times, but they’re pretty smart kids. And now that Elijah’s involved, I can see things getting a whole lot scarier on your end.”
“Scarier how?”
“The kid’s got some power in him. No wonder you’re trying to keep him under your thumb and everything, but keep in mind exactly what’s at stake here. What the pendant can do.”
“I’ll keep it all in mind. Thanks.”
“For sure…see you next time, man.” The driver gave him a small wave with a smile, then turned away.
Morgan’s smile grew fainter and fainter until it was gone completely from his lips with the exit of the driver. He waited, standing perfectly still, until he both heard and saw the truck head off into the darkness. When he could hear only the rain, he moved to the door and locked it. Then he turned and strode over to the package that was sitting there on his counter. His fingers shook as he lifted it. There was a weight to it despite that it was barely the diameter of his palm.
Letting out a slow breath, he started to unwrap it. The tape was sticky, but it gave easily when he pulled it away at a cer
tain angle. One more tug, and then the top popped off. Inside, there was something cylindrical wrapped in white packing paper. He didn’t hesitate in pulling the paper away, carefully removing it. The hand holding the box was still trembling, and he could barely take in a breath without feeling dizzy.
“Easy,” he whispered to himself. “Take it easy…”
He licked his lips as he pushed aside the last of the paper. Nestled there in that small, palm-sized box was a dark orange amulet. It was ringed with gold filigree, the gold forming tiny, delicate leaves. The chain was also gold, soft and pure, and it shone with newness. As sweat dribbled down one side of Morgan’s face, he reached in and closed his fingers around the chain. With a nervous swallow, he lifted it up until the amulet hovered in front of his face. It looked almost mundane, glimmering as any precious stone would.
After placing the amulet back into the small package, he placed it in a small slot behind his desk. “Soon, my love,” he whispered. “Soon.”
Chapter Ten
She wouldn’t stop crying. She couldn’t. Every time she tried, more tears would come. And then they would turn into great, jarring sobs that hurt her entire body. Her fingers clutched into the fabric of Elijah’s t-shirt, stretching the collar to the point where he almost felt like he was being strangled. He reached up to try and adjust it, but it only bit tighter into the left side of his neck.
Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he awkwardly placed his hands around Rosalie’s form. It couldn’t be called a hug, as there was no meaning behind it, but it could pass as him holding her. While he thought that it would calm her down enough for her to tell him what was going on, it only seemed to make her even more inconsolable.
There they sat on his old, worn out excuse for a couch. By now the cushion—if it could even be called that—that they were sitting on had dark tear stains spattered all across it. Some of those stains could have been snot, as hard as the Spanish woman was crying. Elijah swallowed hard, then let out a sharp sigh as he rubbed one of his hands along her back.
“Rosalie…are you…” No, that sounded stupid. Besides, he had already asked her at least five times what had happened. His only answers had been inaudible words and…well, this. “Did you, um…did you want me to call someone?”
As she clenched him harder in her fists, Elijah rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling. He was no good at this at all. Telling people what they needed to do in their lives in order to make them better was the only thing he was even remarkably good at, but he had never been adept at comforting them. With a hard swallow, he tried to push her back from him, if only slightly. She responded by ripping his shirt, the seam tearing loose over the top of his left shoulder.
“Rosalie!” Elijah shocked himself with his outburst. His face flushed, and grew even redder when she snapped her head up and looked at him.
“Why are you yelling at me?” It was the first real sentence that she had spoken since arriving here almost an hour ago. Her entire face glistened with tears, both fresh and drying, and her eyes held a sadness that Elijah could hardly bear to look at.
“I just… I…what’s wrong?”
“Angelique…she’s…” Rosalie’s head shook slowly back and forth, and her fingers clutched into Elijah’s shirt again. Some of her fingers clenched through the hole she had made by accident and pressed directly against his skin. “Morgan called here earlier today. Elijah, she’s…she’s dead.”
“What?!”
She must have seen the stricken look in his eyes, because she pulled away and placed one of her hands against the side of his face. “He told me, last night, about the amulet. He said it had come in. It was around midnight, but… Ang told him to call her and I the second it arrived.” She sucked in a deep breath, her words shaking with emotion.
“So, this morning, I phoned Angelique to see if she could pick it up for me, since she lives so close to the shop. I hadn’t heard from her at all, either, so…I was a little worried. I’m surprised she didn’t phone last night even. But she didn’t answer. And then…then Morgan called me. He said she had been in some kind of accident…” Fresh tears spilled from her eyes and sparkled down her cheeks.
It felt like hands were crushing his chest. “An accident?”
“Yes.” Her body shook with sobs. “She just…he said she went into the shop just after it opened and just collapsed. I don’t even know what could have happened!”
“Okay… I’m going over there. Now.” There was that unheard of backbone in Elijah’s tone again, but Rosalie gripped him hard.
“No, please…stay with me. You’re the only one other Ang that I even like a little bit since my father died.” That admission brought on a whole new series of sobs, but she managed to choke them back. “Please stay. We can talk about anything…do anything. I don’t care, I just don’t want to be alone right now. Neither of us should be.” Her voice took on softer tones. “I know what she meant to you, too.”
“What she meant to me?”
“She told me, Elijah… about you and her. She told me everything.” Stepping closer, she tried to catch his eyes. “Stay…I don’t want to be alone.”
His lips parted, and Rosalie could see the protest and the confusion in his face. His body tensed, and she knew that he was going to say no. She could see it there on his face. Reluctance was written all over it. Desperation made her do what she did next, although she couldn’t have explained to anyone why she did it. It all happened too fast.
One moment she was holding onto him, begging with her eyes to try and make him stay, and the next her lips were covering his. She expected him to push her away, to draw back, maybe even flee from his apartment as quickly as he could. But he did none of those things. He returned the kiss instead, albeit slowly. Even, as was his way, awkwardly. He couldn’t tell if this was just a bartering chip to make him stay, or if it meant something else.
“Rosalie, what are—”
Elijah didn’t get a chance to finish his question before she was kissing him again. Slowly, but with a deep, sensual passion. Her hands moved to his face, their warmth meant to soothe and to comfort the both of them. She needed this more than she needed anything else right now. She needed the comfort of a man’s body. At one point she had seen Elijah only as a boy, but she saw him in a much different light now, understanding that there was far more beneath the surface than she could have ever imagined.
Slowly, not wanting to scare him or make him feel any more awkward than he already did, she slid one knee over to his right side. And then she slid her other knee to his other side, gradually straddling him. As her hands moved to his chest, she could feel the pounding of his heart. His was beating much harder than hers, and at a rate that almost scared her.
“It’s okay,” she murmured, her lips brushing against his with each word. “I think we both need this.”
“But I…”
She wasn’t going to let him finish, her mouth sinking around his again. She sucked softly before her tongue nestled against his lips. There was a moment of hesitation from him, and then she felt his lips part. With a sigh, she pressed herself into him while gliding her tongue into his waiting mouth at the same time. Moments later she heard him moan and felt his fingers moving beneath the sparkly black tank top she was wearing.
Her tongue massaged against his until she felt him respond. A sound of delight passed from her lips to his, and her onyx hair slid and tickled across his neck when she moved her kisses along his jaw. When she found his earlobe, she felt his body tighten beneath her. Purring softly, she scraped her teeth along the soft nub of flesh before removing his shirt. Even before the fabric was tossed somewhere beside them, she was stopping.
Wide eyes caught the sight of scars criss-crossing over the tops of his shoulders and across his chest. She drew back and stared at him, one of her hands moving to her throat. Elijah took that hand and drew it down, meeting her gaze with the slightest shake of his head. Rosalie chewed on her lower lip, wondering if she should be regretti
ng this course of action. Her father dead, and then her best friend. And now Elijah seemed to have far more secrets than she could conceivably handle.
“I know,” Elijah said, his eyes casting down and to the side, toward the far end of the couch. “I’m hideous.”
Rosalie felt a pang in her chest, and she quickly shook her head. Breathing in, she slid herself out of the tank top, revealing not the bra that he had expected, but bare, naked skin. “No more talking, okay?” She leaned in and suckled on his lower lip, gazing into his eyes. Her fingers were light against his biceps as she brushed her mouth down the side of his neck and over to the first of many scars she had seen.
She was gentle as she kissed along the pale line, her tongue following with soothing motions. Elijah’s fingers slid into the thickness of her ebony hair as she made her way down his chest. He gasped when her teeth nipped at his nipple, which quickly grew harder than a pebble. Another groan fled from his throat when her fingers attached themselves to his other one, rolling around it and tugging.
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