Black as Midnight

by Mary Martel

  "Fuck," Rain hissed in an ugly voice, before shoving his chair back so hard it tipped over and crashed to the floor. He stormed out of the room in an angry cloud that seemed to suck all of the oxygen out with him.

  "He's got that right," Quinton muttered angrily, before standing and storming out of the room after Rain.

  I stared after them, where they'd stomped toward the kitchen, in complete and utter shock. "What did I do wrong?" I asked in a quiet voice that shook.

  From under the table, both Damien and Tyson reached for my hands at the same exact time. They eyed each other. Tyson wary. Damien resolved.

  Both threaded their fingers through mine and held on tightly.

  "You didn't do anything wrong, beautiful girl," Ty told me. "You never do. It's the assholes you grew up with who did something wrong."

  "Agreed," Damien muttered angrily.

  From down the table someone cleared their throat. I looked up to find the rest of them who'd remained staring at me intently. It had been Julian who'd cleared his throat.

  "Since you're feeling so generous with the L word, do you want to toss that sucker my way too?"

  I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with where the conversation was heading.

  I wasn't quite ready to go there with Julian just yet, not in front of everyone else. Though, I was sure I did love him, I loved all of them. It's just that some of my connections were deeper than others. We weren't on that level just yet, but given enough time we would definitely get there. Julian was the type of person you bonded with for life, then prayed like hell nobody ever got in your way because he'd destroy them. I was also slightly terrified to bond with him because I knew it would be all consuming and when I was with him, just the two of us, he'd be the only thing that mattered to me. Hell, just thinking this way and knowing what was to come when my relationship with him progressed to that level sent chills down my spine and had me blushing as I looked away from him.

  "Leave her alone," Tyson said, coming to my rescue.

  I knew I'd chosen wisely when picking out my best friend.

  "She hasn't had enough coffee for this conversation yet. Wait until she's nice and caffeinated up, and has been fed properly to spring this type of talk on her. She's a whole lot nicer when she's not operating on an empty stomach."

  Okay, so maybe I hadn't chosen wisely and my best friend wasn't just a traitor but an asshole as well.

  Good to know.

  "We'll make you food," Addison chimed in, sounding far too happy for the situation. "She's already said she loves us. Even if it was throwaway at the time, we're still better off than you are."

  The twins bumped fists as they grinned at each other.

  "And there are two of us, twin," Abel crowed.

  They got up from their seats and practically ran from the room.

  I wanted to throw my coffee mug at them but didn't, because it would be a waste of good coffee and, like Abel had so Kindly pointed out, there were two of them—I'd only be able to hit one of them if I threw my mug. Only hitting one of them didn't really seem fair.

  Julian's eyes met mine from across the table, fierce and unwavering.

  "One day you'll tell me you love me," he proclaimed, "and I swear on my life you'll never forget it."

  With that, he stood up and stormed out of the room, muttering something under his breath about having to open the shop today and asshole twins. Poor Jules. I hoped he didn't curse someone in his bad mood.

  "Shit," Damien cursed as he let go of my hand and abruptly stood up. "I drove today and I'm supposed to be dropping him off. If I don't get out there he's going to come back in and pulverize one of your Salt and Pepper twins."

  I cringed at hearing him call the twins by my nicknames. Did everyone know about that? Geez.

  He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine in a barely there, but sweet kiss before turning away and following in Julian's footsteps.

  After I heard the front door close behind him I slumped back in my chair and reached for my coffee. If this morning was anything to go by then my day couldn't really get much worse.

  Normally, I would say famous last words and all of that, but I was thankfully proven wrong.

  After eating breakfast with the twins and everybody who didn't live at the cottage left, I lounged around in my bedroom all day reading the books the guys had given me about tarot cards.

  I desperately wanted to sit at the round table in the shop across from a customer and read their cards for them. The guys were all for this but, unfortunately, I actually needed to know what the heck I was doing before I could start. I was a fast learner and if I kept on it, then it wouldn't be long before I was sitting right where I wanted to be.

  I had a quiet lunch with Dash before he left to do things unknown to me. He didn't return until the wee hours of the morning, and Binx and I enjoyed a quiet day to ourselves. Something rare I treated like the gift I knew it to be.

  I also took advantage of the time alone to get caught up on all of the laundry, something Dash would not have allowed me to do had he been home to stop me. Out of the two of us, he was the domestic one, only because he wanted to be. He got off on taking care of me and I apparently got off on letting him. But, every now and then, when the opportunity arose to be the one to take care of things for the two of us, I took it. I didn't ever want him to think I was a mooch or a horrible roommate.

  I called it an early night and crashed on my bed with Binx tucked up beside me, and Coach Taylor bossing boys in football gear around on the TV. It was official, I was gone for Tim Riggins. Taylor Kitsch was a hottie and the long-haired, brooding character he played on one of my favorite shows was exactly the kind of guy I seemed into in real life. Except for, you know, the drinking and being a hot mess part.

  After the last dream I had, I wasn't taking any chances of falling asleep underneath anything that wasn't my beautiful dreamcatcher, so I crashed in bed instead of the loveseat.

  I woke up when I heard Dash come home. It might have actually been because Binx got up and left me for his main human, but I couldn't be certain.

  I expected them both to join me in my bed, but fell back asleep before they got there.

  Chapter Eight

  The bell over the door rang out, signaling someone entering the store. I looked up expecting it to be one of the guys and immediately looked away when I realized it wasn't.

  It wasn't a complete stranger, either, and I very much wished it was. Or that he'd walk right back out the door and disappear into a poof of smoke.

  The short, bald, exceptionally round man that resembled a genie and was a big time, hot shot member of the Council of Elders for the American Witches, strolled into the store as if he owned the place. I looked down at his feet, expecting him to have slippers that curled up at the toes with little bells on them. Alas, he wore no such thing. Instead, he wore a three-piece suit that might have looked good on him if it didn't look so out of place with the piercings on his ears and protruding, pregnant belly.

  He looked deathly pale underneath the garish lights that ran along the ceiling in here, and the gold hoops in his ears gleamed so brightly they almost blinded me. The same could be said for his bald head. I wondered if he waxed the damn thing, that's how shiny it was.

  Unfortunately for me, and it was unfortunate no matter how you looked at it, the door didn't have a chance to close behind the short man. And it didn't because he wasn't alone. This being another unpleasant surprise. Every time he'd come to see me before he'd been alone. But, then again, he'd never come to see me here and had only visited me at the Alexander’s big house. As far as I knew he didn't even know this place existed or that it was owned by Tyson Alexander.

  It didn't feel good to know that he very much knew of FFTU's existence.

  The thought of Rain being in the apartment next door made my stomach churn painfully. He couldn't be found here. Not by these people. It would be bad for all of us.

  I plucked my phone up off the counter where
, thankfully, Binx was missing from and shot off a quick emergency text.

  Ariel: The Council is in the shop. Do not come out here. Text Quinton.

  My phone immediately vibrated with a text message, but I put it on mute and tossed it on the shelf below the counter before looking at it.

  I hoped to all that was holy that Rain could, for once in his life, follow simple directions. If he came down here and confronted members of the Council, then there was no telling how that would play out and who it would hurt in the end.

  I didn't think it boded well for me that the two gentlemen who came through the door behind Adrian weren't people I had ever seen before in my life either.

  The heat that blasted off of them and filled the room up with their presence told me all I really needed to know about the two men. They were witches like me and they had a whole lot of magic. I didn't think I'd ever felt something so powerful before. Then again, all the witches in my acquaintance didn't wear their magic on their sleeve for the whole world to check out. They kept a lid on it and made sure they had control over it at all times.

  This gross display of magical power was like the witch’s version of a pissing contest. I wasn't sure who they thought they were competing with here, but I was sure they both wanted me know that there was no shame in what they were packing.

  "Hello, child," Adrian Almatiez purred in his cultured voice, which even put Marcus Cole's to shame. "You are looking lovely and it has been far too long since I've seen your beautiful face."

  I wanted to gag but managed to keep my face pleasantly blank. It wouldn't do well to insult the man as soon as he walked through the door, or ever, for that matter.

  "It has been a long time, Adrian," I replied in a voice devoid of all emotion. I couldn't quite pull off pleasant so I went for blank with my tone. I was happy to hear I'd succeeded. Even though I didn't want to ask, I did it anyways. "How have you been? I hope well."

  Honestly, that last part wasn't exactly a lie because I would never wish ill will on him. He was scary and probably had some magical juju going that would alert him the moment someone had bad thoughts about him, and he probably had a box stuffed full of voodoo dolls poked full of pins because of it.

  He walked right up to the counter and held his hands out toward me. Reluctantly, I reached out and took hold of his hands as I leaned down over the front of the countertop. I had to lean down far because I think he was five-foot tall tops, and I wasn't exactly a short girl. Adrian brushed soft, plump lips against my cheek before pulling back and staring into my eyes. He still held on tightly to my hands and I couldn't help it when they started to sweat.

  He made me nervous and it was starting to show.

  "I must tell you I've been disappointed that you've not kept in touch with me." He squeezed my hands gently before releasing them and stepping back.

  I stood up straight and wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt covered thighs, suddenly self-conscious of my attire. I would have dressed differently if I'd known I would be meeting with a Council member today. Instead, I was wearing a blood red tank top with black wording across my breasts that read, Ask me about my coven.

  I'd skipped the hoodie today and was even more self-conscious that my scars across my collarbone were openly on display for all to see. Strangers seeing them was one thing. This man? Now that was an entirely different thing altogether.

  I had opted for a short black leather mini skirt that showed off my long legs, instead of my usual leggings. My feet were slipped into a pair of bloodred flip flops that matched my tank top. I had a black choker around my neck with a silver pentagram hanging from it. It had been a gift from my Salt and Pepper twins for Christmas and I wore it almost every day. It matched the ones they both wore constantly.

  My wrists and fingers were bare of jewelry, but the studs in my ears had all been changed out and replaced with bloodred ones that matched my tank top and flip flops. My lip ring was the usual black that I rarely changed out now, because it matched the one Julian wore through the opposite side of his bottom lip from mine. I thought it was cute that we matched so I never changed it out to something different.

  My outfit was appropriate for my age and my job, but none of it was something you wanted to be wearing when facing off with what was basically one of your race’s royalty. Especially not with the word coven in all its glory printed across my chest. I didn't think it was smart, nor would he appreciate me drawing attention to the fact I was a witch and a member of an actual coven. Then again, nobody who'd been in the shop today actually took what was printed on my tank top seriously.

  I cleared my throat nervously before responding to Adrian. Mostly I was floundering for something to say to him. Did he know I'd been there with Tyson when Chuck, just call me Chucky, had fallen to his death? I freaking hoped not because I had no explanation I could give him for that question, not one that wouldn’t end horribly for me.

  "It's been so long since I've seen you or heard from you that I honestly thought you'd returned to wherever it is you and your people call home."

  I held up my hand when he opened his mouth to speak. Not smart, but I felt like I hadn't done myself any good so far while speaking to him and really needed to make up for it before he got the chance to speak. I put my hand to my chest before carrying on, "I had, wrongfully, assumed you would leave the motel and return home after meeting me. I didn't know that I was supposed to be keeping in touch with you because you had never given me your phone number or email or any other means for me to reach out and contact you. If you had left me with your phone number I'm sure I would have contacted you by now, even if it was just to check in with you. You have my sincerest apologies, Adrian. It was never my wish to offend you."

  He crossed his arms over his chest as he eyed me shrewdly. "Child," he drawled, "just who in the hell do you think you're talking to here?"

  I pursed my lips but shrugged my shoulders innocently. I was caught in my lies and we both knew it.

  "For one," he continued, "Quinton Alexander has my phone number and knows how to get ahold of me."

  Oh boy. He had me on that one. Not that Quinton would have given me Adrian's number if I'd asked for it. He would have freaked and told me that as the head of my coven, Adrian needed to go through him if he wanted to get ahold of me. It was all bullshit, of course, and part of Quinton's need to protect me from any and every little thing that he could.

  "Two," he said and I chewed on my lip ring. There was more? This couldn't be good. "How could you ever think I'd leave without saying farewell to you? There are so few females that the ones we do have are precious to us, the Council especially. You should know this by now, child. You are our future. Young women like you are the future of all witches. Never would I, or my brothers for that matter, leave without the proper goodbyes. That would be far too rude. No, we've been waiting for you to come to us. And now the time for waiting is over."

  Shit, shit, shit.

  He waved his hand around airily. "As, I'm sure, you can see by my arrival at your quaint little shop."

  I resented him calling Tyson's store a quaint little shop almost as much as I resented him showing up here out of the blue.

  He stared me down as if he expected a response from me, but he wasn't going to get one. I was smart enough to know no good would come out of my mouth.

  "Nothing to say, huh?" He smirked at me like he was enjoying this.

  I shrugged my shoulders. When he was right, he was right, and that was all there was to it.

  “Would you like to meet my companions?" he inquired as he gestured to the two young men standing off behind him, giving us the illusion of privacy even though they could clearly hear every word we were saying.

  Though he'd asked a question, I was sure he didn't actually expect an answer out of me this time because I wasn't going to have a choice in the matter. I was meeting his companions because that's what he wanted from me and, I was sensing, the whole reason behind this impromptu visit.

  The two me
n stepped up to the counter, and I finally took them in for the first time since they'd walked through the door.

  And wished I hadn't looked at them now because I felt like a traitor to the males in my coven. These guys weren't just pretty to look at, they were hot. Smoking hot. Like, take my breath away, make my heart race, freaking hot.

  Yup, I was a traitor, and if there was a hell I was sure to end up there when my time came.

  "Simon." Adrian gestured for the first one to step forward. "I'd like for you to meet the latest female witch to join our ranks, Ariel Kimber. Ariel, this is Simon."

  Simon was tall, probably about a whole foot and a half taller than Adrian, putting him around six foot five. His clothing stretched over his muscles, straining against their width. His eyes were silver and his hair was black as midnight. There was something arresting about his looks, ethereal even, and for whatever reason, I found myself immediately drawn to him.

  There were black swirls and symbols I couldn't quite make out inked into the skin of his neck, the column of his throat, and they disappeared down into his black, button up dress shirt. When I caught sight of his tattoos, they flashed the same silver of his eyes for a second and I swear I saw them moving around on his skin. I blinked and they were black and unmoving once more, as they should be.

  I looked at Adrian quickly, to see if he'd seen it as well. He watched me shrewdly with an assessing look in his eyes that downright frightened me to my very soul. He knew I'd seen the flash of silver, he'd been watching for my reaction. That meant it had really happened and that frightened me even more. I didn't trust the Council for obvious reasons and I didn't want them using any kind of magic to influence me in anyway.

  My eyes shot back to Simon's silver ones, and the warmth and concern in them for me wasn't comforting in the slightest.

  "Ariel," he murmured in a quiet, husky voice. "It's good to finally meet you."

  "And this," Adrian sang happily, sounding far too pleased by the whole thing, "is Trenton."