Nicole dropped her voice down to whisper. “And I don’t want to worry about you walking around with these two.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” the big guy said. “As long as Emily stays by my side, I swear I won’t allow anything to happen to her.”
Okay… That wasn’t exactly the reassurance Nicole was looking for. Going by the tight look on Emily’s face, it wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear either.
“Maybe we should just pay for the book and get out of your hair,” she said.
“Not yet,” the blond said, stepping forward. “I want to take a look at the grimoire first to make sure that it’s legitimate.”
“Excuse me?” Nicole mashed her lips together, not caring if her resentment showed.
Emily shot her an apologetic look. “See, Geoffrey, this is why I tried to ditch you. I knew the second you saw the grimoire, you’d start acting like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like a power-hungry ass,” she said. “I already told you the Starlings don’t sell fakes.”
He ignored her and pulled the book toward him. “I want to see for myself.”
“See what?” A familiar voice rang out from the side door.
Oh, God.
Nicole’s heart started hammering in her chest before she turned toward the store’s side entrance. Even if she hadn’t recognized the voice, she still would have known who was standing there—the only person it could be.
The side entry led out to a narrow hallway with a door and a staircase. That was it. The door led out to the street and the staircase led up to the apartment above the shop.
Which meant it was…
“Shay Madrid,” Emily said his name, her voice filled to the brim with annoyance. “Did you follow me to check on the authenticity of the grimoire too?”
Wait. She knew Shay?
Emily knew Shay? Their new tenant? The gorgeous, mysterious man with the tousled black hair, the heavy brows, and the lips more full and soft-looking than any man’s had a right to be? She knew him?
Of course she did.
It all made sense.
Shay spoke with the same strangely alluring accent as Emily’s employers. That meant they came from the same place. They all knew each other, like some kind of obscure, exotic mafia.
Damn. She really knew how to pick ‘em.
“No,” he said, his deep, melodic voice drifted over and practically wrapped around her. “I already know what you said is true. The Starling family doesn’t deal in lies.”
Even if Shay turned out to be a thug, at least he wasn’t a liar. Nicole shot the blond her best I told you so look.
He didn’t pay her the slightest bit of attention.
“Then why are you here?” Emily asked.
“I live here,” he said. “In the apartment above the bookstore. I could hear you talking through the floorboards”
He could?
Given what she and Emily had been talking about earlier, she wondered just exactly how much he could hear.
Emily groaned again. “Why didn’t anyone tell me that? It would have been nice to kn—” Suddenly, she stopped cold. “Wait. You live here? You’re the new mysterious tenant who moved into the apartment upstairs?”
“I guess so.”
Emily shot Nicole a look. A sharp, pointed look that made all the blood in her body rush to her face. Nicole got the feeling Emily didn’t find Shay half as irresistible as she did.
“Well, guess what? You’re moving,” Emily said. “I don’t care if you have to move in with Geoffrey or even Fenrir, but you’re not staying here.”
Shay looked amused. “Why’s that?”
“Because the Starlings are my friends.”
Shay narrowed his eyes. His voice dropped down even lower. “And you think that I’d hurt them?”
“You might not mean to,” Emily said, her gaze darting back to Nicole. “But yes.”
Shay’s demeanor changed in an instant. He lifted his chin and straightened his back.
“That’s not going to happen.” His voice was hard. The look he gave Emily was even harder.
Emily didn’t appear cowed. “We’ll talk about this later. You know, while we’re moving you into your new place.”
Shay didn’t say anything. He just let the back of his head fall against the door frame behind him and stared straight ahead, his focus far away from Nicole.
Just like it always was.
She told herself that was just fine. The last thing she needed to do right now was look deep into his eyes. She’d only done that once before, on the day he moved in, and she still hadn’t gotten over it.
How could she? The man’s eyes glistened—actually glistened—dark and deep, like the surface of a fathomless lake on a star-filled night, and…
See, when it came to Shay Madrid it was way too easy to get carried away.
That was because it didn’t matter what color his eyes were, or how perfect his hair or body was. What really attracted her to him was the energy that poured off him. He practically radiated confidence and control…and something else.
Something dark and mysterious.
Something that made all Nicole’s bells ring and whistles blow and imagination light up like a firecracker.
Deep down, she’d always known he was no good for her. She always figured it was because he was so far out of her league. Sure, Nicole knew she was cute, in a bookish, nerdy kind of way. But Shay…he was something else entirely.
Of course, now that she knew that something else was dangerous—if not downright criminal—she should probably be happy that he never paid her much attention.
The only problem was knowing you should probably feel something and feeling it were two very different things.
“Let’s just finish buying the grimoire, and leave,” Emily said.
“I’m not done examining it,” Geoffrey said. “There are languages and symbols here that I’ve never seen before.”
“That’s to be expected,” Nicole said, trying to gain back even a shred of professional dignity. “These books were transcribed by hand in Germany three hundred years ago. There’s bound to be some variation in the texts.”
“I’m well acquainted with how grimoires are created, Miss Starling,” he said, condescension practically dripping off his tongue.
Maybe it was her hangover, or the tension in the room, or the worry she had over the people Emily had fallen in with, but the last of her patience snapped.
“Maybe you know how they were made, Geoffrey,” she said, “but you obviously don’t know a damned thing about what’s inside them.” She swiveled the book around on the counter so it faced her, and jabbed her finger down on the page in front of her.
“That is the Sigil of Opheil.” She slid her finger down the page. “That is the Stele of Asmodeus.” Then she swung it over to the other side. “And that is the Seal of Soteria written in ancient Greek which reads, Let the evils of the Light Ones be drowned in Darkness.”
Nicole looked up to find Geoffrey staring at her. This time there wasn’t even a hint of superiority on his face. Just wonder…not to mention a good amount of concern.
Actually, everyone in the room was looking at her the same way.
Even Shay Madrid.
Maybe she’d gone a little overboard.
“Nicole,” Emily said, her voice thin and more than a little frightened. “Your hand.”
Nicole looked down and saw a tiny arc of electricity emanating from the tip of her finger down to the ink of the seal on the page.
Oh, shit.
She balled her hand into a fist and snatched it away. The spark dissipated immediately.
A tense silence filled the store. The air practically crackled with energy. An energy that Nicole had never felt before, but that she instantly knew.
She was just about to open her mouth to try some explanation—static electricity maybe, or the dangers of old, unshielded wires—when a strange swirling wind started up in a
far corner of the store. A moment later a faint blue light started to glow a few feet above the floor. With every gust it grew larger.
Nicole gasped. What the hell?
Before she could ask the question out loud, a strong hand spread across her back and pushed her all the way down to the floorboards.
“Stay down, Nicole,” a voice commanded her. Shay’s voice. “Stay quiet, and stay still. No matter what you hear or see. Do as I say, and you’ll live.”
She turned her head and saw him towering above her. His expression and his posture were both hard as stone. He glanced down at her, and Nicole’s mouth fell open. Her tongue felt dry as the air filling her lungs rushed past it. But it wasn’t his words or even the force behind them that froze her in awe.
It was his eyes.
The color of Shay’s irises had changed. They were no longer dark pools. Now swirls of floating embers rose up from the depths of his eyes. They glowed and danced as if emanating from some unseen fire. Even though Nicole only caught a glance, it was enough to make her gasp out loud.
What the hell was going on?
Whatever it was it wasn’t a joke. That much was clear. And if it wasn’t a prank and it wasn’t a dream, then she had a terrible feeling she knew what it was.
Black sparks that poured from her fingers when she said ancient words. Intimidating men who spoke in strange voices. A gorgeous creature with actual fire in his eyes.
These people weren’t here for some antique book. They were looking for magic.
Real magic.
Chapter Two
This shouldn’t be happening. Not now. Not here.
Shay stared at the portal opening in the corner of the bookshop. It was growing quickly. A couple more seconds and it would be large enough for someone to step out of. Not just someone.
Soldiers.
Fae soldiers. Sent to kill him and every other man in this room.
They were Exiles. Condemned prisoners from a world of magic—the Realm of Light. They’d been found guilty of crimes against the crown and sentenced to exile on the mundane world of Earth, where they were cursed to feel the ravages of time and eventually die.
But they refused to accept their fate. They were fighting back, attempting what no exile had ever done before—working to break the curse, and return home.
But it wasn’t going to be easy. The king had already sent two other forces to kill them. Those attempts had been unsuccessful. Now it looked like he was trying again.
It was no surprise how the king had found them. They’d been careful to hide all the traces of smuggled magic that they’d managed to scavenge…until now.
Nicole’s accidental awakening of the power hidden in the grimoire had been slight, but more than enough to alert those watching from the Realm. It seemed they’d just been waiting for the sign to strike. It had only been seconds from magical spark to the first signs of the portal.
There wasn’t enough time to grab Nicole Starling and get her to safety. The best he could hope for was that the Fae would find her mortal soul beneath their notice and focus their attentions on him and his fellow exiles instead. Right now, it was her only hope of survival.
Shay hated the waves of fear rising up from her trembling body. They were the polar opposite of the beautiful, bright emotions she usually emanated. The ones that were big enough to fill the whole building. The ones that were bold enough to work their way through the tiny cracks in the floorboards of his apartment and take over his space.
Dammit. Why had Emily come to this shop looking for some minor grimoire? Why hadn’t Geoffrey Merlin told Shay he was searching for it in the first place? He could have warned them to stay away from the Starlings.
Despite Emily’s harsh words, he’d done his best to minimize his impact on the family who owned the building. The ones who had no way of knowing the true nature of the creature they were sheltering above them. The least he could do was make sure that they never found out…or felt any of the repercussions.
He owed the Starlings that much.
Shay forced himself to step out from behind the counter as the vortex coalesced. He wouldn’t do any good standing next to Nicole. His presence would only make her into a target.
No, if he and the other exiles had any chance of surviving this battle, it would be by fighting together. Side by side.
Shay, Geoffrey, and Fenrir.
A jinni, a magician, and a wolf.
If that day ever comes, you’ll know what to do.
Well, it looked like the day was finally here. Too bad she had no freaking clue what to do.
Right now, she could barely breathe through the fear and stay quiet like Shay had told her.
Her hands shook as she wrapped them around her knees, desperate to curl up and make herself as small as possible. She didn’t know what else to do.
A few magical sparks were one thing, but ominous winds that came out of nowhere, growing lights, and warnings to stay down if she wanted to survive were another. Terrified thoughts whizzed through her mind, one after another, until somehow, through the din, her grandfather’s voice made it through.
The book will tell you.
The book. Of course.
Nicole sucked in a breath and pulled herself to her knees. She was eye to eye with the safe. The older one this time. The only one that mattered.
A part of her—a big part—couldn’t believe this was happening. After all, her family had kept the book hidden for over a hundred and fifty years now. Through six generations. And in all that time no one had ever come looking. There hadn’t been a single strange occurrence.
Until now.
She needed to be sure that she’d be doing the right thing by taking it out.
Nicole wrapped her fingers over the lip of the counter and slowly lifted herself up, just until she could peer over the edge.
Turned out she shouldn’t have worried about being so stealthy. No one was paying her the slightest attention. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the whirling blue vortex that had opened in the far end of the store, and the long-limbed men who stepped out.
Nicole’s breath caught in her throat. She didn’t have to be told what those were. She’d grown up hearing the tales of seven-foot tall men with stark white hair and cold, ethereal skin.
Fae.
Five of the creatures, all of them wearing the same black uniform and carrying a giant silver spear, walked out of the blue light and into her shop. Their overly slim bodies and pale color made them appear almost fragile, but Nicole knew they were anything but. These creatures were ruthless…and deadly. They lined up in a semicircle, leaving just enough room for one more in the center.
The last fae stepped out a moment later. Clad in a brilliant pearlescent suit, he was clearly the leader. The rich fabric shouted his status, as did the gold-braided epaulets draping down from his shoulders. Whoever this guy was, he was important.
Shay and his friends seemed to know it too. Their backs all stiffened the moment he took his place. The giant Emily had called her bodyguard, Fenrir, protectively pulled her a little farther behind his back.
Nicole held her breath as a strange silence filled the bookshop. Everyone was still. No one made a move.
No one except the center fae. His confident gaze swept the room, passing over Geoffrey, and Fenrir, and Emily…before coming to rest on Shay.
“Shay Madrid,” the fae said. His voice was soft, but cold enough to send a rush of goose bumps up Nicole’s arms.
“Fitch Marrow.” The timbre of Shay’s voice was amazingly even, given the threat standing in front of him.
A satisfied look came over the fae’s face. “You seem unhappy to see me.”
“Merely surprised,” Shay answered. “I never thought you’d fall so far from Oberon’s graces to be tasked with a simple assassination.”
Nicole’s hands began to shake against the wooden counter.
Assassination?
Oh God, this was every bit as bad she’d imagined. Worse e
ven. These fae weren’t just here for the book. They were here for blood. There was no way Nicole could let that happen.
“Put away your smug smile, Madrid,” the fae said. “You’ve misread the situation. I’m still the King’s righthand man. And I wasn’t ordered to come here. I asked for this mission.”
Nicole watched Shay’s head cock to the side. “You volunteered?” he asked. “To come to Earth?”
“To be the one who puts a blade through your beating heart.”
“Now I am surprised,” Shay said. “You’ve never been one to get your own hands dirty.”
A cold smile appeared on the fae’s face. “For you I was willing to make an exception.”
“Why’s that?”
Who cared? That was the better question. Did it really matter why this fae wanted to kill them?
No. It didn’t, Nicole realized. That wasn’t the point of the question. Shay was just trying to keep the ghastly creature talking. He was trying to buy some time until someone could come up with a plan to save them.
It was a decent strategy, but, ultimately, a doomed one. There was no way Shay or his friends could defeat something as strong as a fae…let alone six fae.
But she could.
Nicole slid her fingers off the counter and slowly inched down to her knees. She reached out for the dial of the antique safe as everyone else continued to talk.
“But the allure of being the responsible for your death was all the inducement I needed.”
“I never realized you hated me so much,” Shay said.
“I don’t,” Marrow said. “But other people do, Shay. The King especially, and every day that you continue to breathe his hate grows.”
“And you want to be the one who relieves him of that burden.”
“Close. I want to be the one who receives the well-deserved praise and appreciation for doing so.”
“Of course. I should have realized the difference.” Shay paused for half a second. “So, this is nothing personal?”
Nicole was only half listening now as her fingers carefully turned the dial. She went slow, worried that too many muffled clicks in a row would be enough to draw the soldiers’ attention. So far they hadn’t seemed to notice her at all, and, if this was going to work, she needed to keep it that way.
Jinn: Exiles of the Realm Page 2
