by Deanna Chase
Simon replied with a little cockiness, “It’s what I would do if I were him. Novis is intelligent, and I knew that while he hadn’t made a progeny in a very long time, he wouldn’t pass up this opportunity. He’s one of the few who is very selective and it was strategically a good move on his part. Someone with Adam’s background can be an asset—the Breed tend to be very closed off in many ways. You know Justus,” he trailed off, “we also need to have a night out. Maybe a welcome to the Mage party and invite Adam and Novis—good opportunity to sharpen our connections.”
“Hey, I didn’t get a party.”
Simon purred, “Now, love, what do you call that night on the dance floor?”
“Scandalous?”
I loved the sound of his laugh and I closed my eyes to let it warm me. When I heard a deep creak of leather I sat up and flinched. Justus was turned completely around in his seat, staring at me.
“What?”
“I smell blood.”
“Well it’s a good thing I don’t have my monthly—”
His seatbelt clicked open and Justus crawled through the tight space between the seats, looking ridiculous. He was way too tall to be moving around in such a confined space. Those athletic legs got tangled up in the front as he fell against the seat. One foot kicked Simon in the face and I hid my laugh.
“Bloody hell! A man is trying to drive here. Hard to keep the passengers alive when one of them is crawling around in the car like a moose. Could’ve run off the road and slammed into a tree and then what? Yeah, lying in a field for days trying to heal while animals gnaw on us, that’s what…” He rambled on.
“Let me see,” Justus insisted.
He turned my hand palm up and blood pooled from the gash. I shrugged; I was immortal after all, so I yanked it back and closed my fingers.
“You bleed.”
“I’ll bandage it when we get home. I promise I won’t bleed all over your studly car, Simon. I just need to get warm and I’ll be all right.” My limbs stiffened as I stretched them.
Simon glanced around. “Don’t worry, love, won’t be the first drop of blood spilled in here. Justus, why don’t you tell her about the time you thought you could jump on a moving truck?” He snorted and turned the wheel as the car hit the main road.
“Why are you so stubborn,” Justus asked, pulling out of the jacket he tossed in the front seat. He also was rain soaked; small droplets clung to him in various places around his neck and lashes.
“I take after my Ghuardian.” I grinned.
Justus reached over and brushed back my wet hair, coaxing me gently to lie across his lap.
My Ghuardian draped his arm over me and I felt his warmth move across my body as if he were the sun warming cold waters on a hot summer day. I thought of the tattoo on his back and it made perfect sense.
He was the sun… my sun. He was the center of my new life and I basked in his light and protection. My eyelids sank heavily and his hand rested over mine.
Despite what I had told him—my hand was healed by his magic.
Justus made me whole again.
You have just read Sterling (Mageri Series: Book 1).
Here is an excerpt from TWIST, the sequel:
TWIST
A Mageri Series Novel
Book 2
Chapter 1
“C-8.”
“Miss,” I said, twisting open a chocolate cookie. I scraped the icing off with my teeth and nibbled at the edge, watching Simon squirm in his chair.
I lifted my chin, feigning confidence. “B-10.”
“Hit.” Simon leaned on his elbow, planting his cheek against a fist.
“Ready for some humble pie?” I snickered. “B-9.”
“Miss!” he sang, wagging his eyebrows. “C-2.”
He squinted at me with those brown eyes when I flicked a tiny white peg off the polished table. It skipped across the floor, twirling in a circle near the stove. Simon lacked humility, and I lacked grace.
“You win.”
“Say it.”
“Come on, Simon, you won. Don’t be such a child.”
“Say it.”
He folded his arms. Hell would freeze over before my English friend would let me walk away from that table without saying the words of defeat he longed to hear.
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “You sunk my battleship.”
“Atta girl.”
He turned my game board around. “You shouldn’t be so sensitive, Silver. What you lack is conviction. You’re so eager to beat me that you forget all about strategy.”
“Perhaps our game sessions should end; clearly I’m not enough of a challenge for you.”
“Such a drama queen. Didn’t play nice in the schoolyard, did you? If you only see the next move, you’ll never win the game. You have to look further ahead. I can give you an example.”
“Of course you can.”
His lips thinned and I pretended not to notice. Simon loved comparing life with games.
“In chess, you try to so hard to protect all your pieces that you wind up spending half your moves running until you’ve been cornered. You need to be willing to make sacrifices. Perhaps that pawn you so desperately cling to is your pride.”
“Don’t play that hand, Simon. I’m really not in the mood tonight.” I kicked my chair back and stood up. “I know what you’re doing, but I don’t care to have a life lesson wrapped up in a game analogy. The simple fact is—I’ll never beat you.”
Simon rested his chin in the palm of his hand, and tapped his cheek playfully. “Self-doubt is a persuasive mistress; careful not to shag her or you’ll never get your balls back.”
“Why does everything have to be about sex with you?”
A snort escaped. “I thought it was about games?”
“Aren’t they one in the same?”
He nodded. “Truer words were never spoken. Learn from your mistakes, love. You can be so predictable.”
He chomped on a cookie while studying the placement of my ships.
His bad boy looks were deceiving, because Simon was an intelligent and resourceful Mage who was a demon with knives. Teaching new Learners how to protect their light was his bread and butter. I also learned that his reputation preceded him as a strategist. We could contract our services to other Breed, but the Mageri paid well and took care of its own. Simon worked independently. He was an Englishman who recently returned to his way of life in America. Either that, or the country ousted him. He turned down three job offers since the move, insisting he was in retirement. Deep down, Simon hated the politics.
Long ago, there were no governments within the Breed; we were lawless. Humans feared us, wars raged, and there was no order. I read about slavery, and even some who were driven to extinction from conflicts that were ages old. It was necessary for each Breed to establish rules and structure before we destroyed ourselves. For Mage, a higher order called the Mageri was created, with individual Councils for various territories. Rogues who did not comply with the laws were hunted, and there was a sense of comfort among the people.
The Breed has separate laws, places of business, history, and culture. A world brimming with its own magic—a world I rarely saw. My Ghuardian, Justus, kept me under close watch. His responsibility was to protect, educate, and shelter the hell out of me.
He took his job seriously.
Justus schooled me, both mentally and physically. I learned what I was capable of, and he worked to sharpen my abilities. A Mage does not automatically know how to use their gifts; a significant amount of calculation goes into it.
Two nights out of the week were spent with the sexiest game geek this side of the East Coast. That would be Simon Hunt: the man, the myth, the bane of my existence.
Simon’s game collection was unparalleled, and it pleased him immensely that I spent countless hours getting my ass kicked. I wasn’t bitter, but in my defense—no one should have seven hotels on one property.
When I first met Simon, he didn’t own a te
levision, but when I started hanging around, it became our late night ritual. He loved the old creature features.
I used to live in what I considered a big city until I moved to Cognito. Nothing compares. It’s a metropolis polluted with traffic, cluttered buildings, coffee shops, and nightlife. It’s also the capital for the supernatural. Breed live within human society; we are not hideous creatures that lurk in the shadows. We’re standing in line behind you at the grocery store checkout, eating burgers at the local diner, sitting two rows ahead in the theater, and coexisting with humans—all without your knowledge. Physically, most of us pass as an ordinary person, but if you look close enough, you’ll notice subtle differences. The eyes are often telling, but most humans ignore the strange. Even among Mage, flickers of dim light dance in the irises during an energy burst, often imperceptible to an inattentive eye.
I crossed the living room and sat on the couch, smoothing out the wrinkles on my blouse. Simon plucked the pegs away from the game board, watching me from the corner of his eye.
What he lacked in brawn, he more than made up for in charisma. His eyes were as sweet as candy and flustered many a woman. Simon possessed soft features and a dimple on his left cheek that wouldn’t quit. His smile was contagious—lush lips in the center that thinned out to wicked lines. He also knew how to turn the English accent on and off to his advantage. Wavy brown hair dusted his shoulders, and most of the time it never touched a brush. I suspected the real reason he kept his hair long was to cover up the tattoo at the nape of his neck. The one he never mentioned but once.
When I first met the great Mr. Hunt, he came off as the kind of man who would be holding an electric guitar and licking a woman's boot from heel to cuff with his pierced tongue. The usual dress code was jeans and a mangled shirt, but he also owned the most curious collection of leather. Simon’s appearance was 50% rebellion, 30% comfort, and 100% attention. He dressed smart when he wanted to. He just never wanted to.
“What is it, love?”
When I didn’t respond, he rose from his chair and sat beside me. The cushion sank, and I leaned against him as he curled his fingers through my long black hair.
“Still fretting about that friend of yours?”
He was talking about Adam. The last time we spoke was the night Adam challenged Samil, my Creator. It was a scheme they hatched up to use Adam, because of the rules the Council put in place. They all wanted Samil dead, but the death of a Mage went against the laws of the Mageri. The only way was to remove his power to the weakest challenger—a human.
“Novis is an experienced maker,” Simon assured. “He has made many a respectable Mage. If his decision is to separate you two, then it’s with good reason. Look here. I do not want to see any long faces tonight. It’s our night, so don’t be a sourpuss.”
Simon’s wicked fingers wiggled around my rib cage, sending out a flutter of electricity.
“Stop it!” I snapped.
Simon dragged me over his lap and tickled me until I fell on the floor, just shy of hitting the coffee table. A red, lacy article of clothing beneath the sofa caught my eye, and I snagged it. “What’s this?”
He snatched the pair of panties dangling from my fingertips. “Last night’s dessert; now get up off the floor.”
“Why? Afraid I’ll find the rest of her clothes down here? I hope she left wearing something decent.”
“No woman leaves my apartment decent,” he said with a wink.
“If you buy me dinner, I’ll be a happy woman.”
“That better be a promise,” he said. “Now what say we get Twister out for later?” He stepped over me, lifting a black leather coat from the chair.
While he shuffled into the sleeves, I noticed his dimple was on prominent display. It was an adorable feature on his otherwise scandalous face. We played almost every game, except one. Twister was out of the question with his flirty behind.
I adored him despite his flaws. Simon was a good friend to me and always kept me in hysterics. He hadn’t laid a finger on me in a suggestive way lately, although it wasn’t without noticeable restraint. He was a man, and I ruffled his needs on occasion. We kindled a fire once, and neither was willing to strike the match again. Mistakes happen.
“Not on your life, but if you pick up a cheesecake, I’ll endure a game of Risk.”
His eyes brightened. “The cheesecake remains in the fridge until I dominate Europe.”
“Whatever.”
So easy to please.
Risk was his weakness, and I rarely agreed to play. I couldn’t stand all that territory and global dominance shit.
He locked the door on his way out and I grabbed my phone. I was breaking the rule about severing human ties. Justus complicated my life with rules, and while I accepted these new expectations, it was a difficult adjustment. My heart ached when I thought about the simple pleasures of my previous life. I missed the feel of southern heat on my skin, the taste of strawberry ice on my tongue from my favorite snow cone stand, and watching life pass me by at a casual pace. I missed going to the movies because Justus never went. I missed the connection I had with girlfriends—the kind you could talk to for hours about nothing. For various reasons, there weren’t as many women as men among Breed. I was also new, and it made it that much harder to make friends when I only spent time at the occasional Breed bar.
I missed Sunny. In my human life, we shared an unbreakable friendship. Only now, I feared she would not be receptive to any of this, but my heart was telling me to try.
Sunny had moved out of her downtown apartment, but the girl who sublet it gave me her private number. I decided to make the call at Simon’s house where I could have a moment alone. Justus kept a tight watch on me—that man probably had the Mage laws tattooed on his ass.
I tensed when it reached the third ring.
“Hello, who’s calling?” she snapped. Her voice was suspicious and reserved, not at all like the affectionate girl I knew.
My throat nearly closed. “Sunshine?”
***
PURCHASE TWIST
Twist was selected as the Reader's Favorite & Reviewer Top Pick on GraveTells
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The Mageri series is an exciting urban fantasy romance following the journey of a young woman's claim to immortality, and her own identity. Dark, unique, passionate, and full of unpredictable twists, the Mageri series provides an original spin to an old concept. Sometimes ordinary people are destined for extraordinary lives.
The Seven series is a light paranormal romance where Shifters live in secret in the modern world. A blend of humor, heartwarming romance, drama, and real-life issues. This series is for those who love a good love story. Cliffhanger-free
Books by Dannika Dark
THE MAGERI SERIES
Sterling
Twist
Impulse
Gravity
Book 5 (Coming late 2013)
NOVELLAS
Closer
SEVEN YEARS
Seven Years
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Table of Contents
About the Books
Magic After Dark
Sacrificed in Shadow
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About SM Reine
Crimson Night
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Marie Hall
Influential Magic
Chapter 1
>
Mid-Point
About Deanna Chase
Fairy Tales and Ever Afters
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Danielle Monsch
Maggie For Hire
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Kate Danley
Sterling
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Dannika Dark
Table of Contents
About the Books
Magic After Dark
Sacrificed in Shadow
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About SM Reine
Crimson Night
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Marie Hall
Influential Magic
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Deanna Chase
Fairy Tales and Ever Afters
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Danielle Monsch
Maggie For Hire
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Kate Danley
Sterling
Chapter 1
Mid-Point
About Dannika Dark
