If the Blackwell brothers had been human and were chained by the usual expectations of society and life, Mad would have been labeled the brooding muscle. He had spent the better part of his life as a soldier and had won more wars than anyone could count. There was even a war named after him. When kings needed strategizing on the battlefield, they’d called him. But now that most battles were fought behind control panels, missiles, or semi-automatic rifles, there was really no need for someone like Mad—a warrior whose skill lie with a blade and close contact.
Hence the brooding.
He had yet to figure out how he fit in this modern world.
“No, I did not spend the night with her,” Dae answered. “I was busy.”
“Oh, so you went back to your secret apartment,” Thorin said, but somehow made it sound accusatory like Dae had abandoned them all.
It was true that he did have a loft separate from Blackwell House and it was also true that he did not share its location with his brothers. When a djinn could just pop up at any time at their discretion, it was absolutely impossible to get a bit of privacy.
No one went to Dae’s loft. Not his brothers. Not his charges. And certainly not the women he fucked. His apartment, located on the Rine River about thirty miles north of the city, was the only place he felt like he could truly be himself and he wanted it to remain that way.
“Did you see Red?” Dae asked, trying to change the subject from talk of his loft and his mark.
“He looked well,” Thor said.
“Yeah, but for how much longer?” Mad said.
“However long it takes to find the right mark,” Dae said.
Mad waved the idea away. On the outside, he was playing indifferent to Red’s impending death, but if history had proven anything it was that Mad did not take feeling well. When their mother died, he disappeared for two years. No one knew where he went. He did that a lot when things became too heavy.
Dae could only guess what he’d do if Red died.
Red did not play favorites, but everyone knew Mad was his unspoken one. They were a lot alike and Mad worshipped Red. He was the dutiful grandson. The dedicated servant.
He was not on board with Dae’s plan to talk a mark into giving up a wish, but only because he didn’t believe in the possibility. Mad played by rules and order. He did not like speaking in hypotheticals.
Dae could admit that trying to use a human’s wish to save Red was risky at best. But what other choice did they have?
None of them were ready to let Red go regardless of what they said aloud.
Oddie sauntered into the room and wrapped a delicate hand around her hip. She was dressed in one of those vintage dresses she so dearly loved. The fabric looked stiff and uncomfortable, but it showed off the swell of her curves. Did she do that on purpose just to torment them all? Djinn Law specifically said members of a sacra familia were untouchable.
“I’m about to make lunch. Any specific requests?”
Dae winked at her. “Yes, love, would you please come sit on my lap?”
She didn’t flinch or frown or stomp away. She just stared at him like he was the worst sort of slime she’d ever scrubbed off the bottom of her shoe.
“Don’t be an asshole,” Mad said and for some ridiculous fucking reason, he seemed serious.
“Will you make your BLTs?” Thorin asked her. “The kind with the spicy mayo?”
“I suppose I can do that. I think I have bacon.”
“I’ll take a BLT, too,” Mad said. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not too much trouble?” Dae said. “Making us food is Oddie’s favorite part of the job.” He winked at her.
“Guess who’s not getting a BLT?” Oddie said and cut away.
“That’s fine! I didn’t want one anyway!” he shouted as her heels clipped across the hardwood floor.
Mad said, “Why do you do that? You weren’t that rude to Margaret.”
“That’s because Margaret would have slapped me upside the back of the head.”
Mad sighed and climbed to his feet. “I think I need to go tell Oddie she needs to start beating you whenever you act up. I feel it’s my duty as the older brother to set you straight.”
“Through the hand of a woman?” Dae said.
“Who better?”
Dae turned to Thorin as Mad disappeared. “Tell me I’m your favorite and I’ll buy you a new truck.”
“I don’t need a new truck,” Thorin said as he kicked his boots up on the coffee table. “Besides, they’re bad for the environment.”
Dae sat back against the sofa. “Fine. You get yourself a mark?”
Thorin nodded. “I met her at the charity event at the arts center last night.”
“Bloody hell. I completely forgot about that.”
He’d been so wrapped up in Ashley and her wish, he’d forgotten he’d committed to attending the event. Thorin hadn’t said anything about it yesterday afternoon, but then again, they’d barely had a chance to chat before Ashley showed up.
“I’m sorry I missed it,” he said. He and Thorin were members of the board. Dae funded over fifty percent of the center. He really had nothing to be sorry for. He’d certainly done his charitable part for the center, but he did not like bailing on his brothers.
“It’s all right,” Thorin said. “You had your hands full with your bunny.”
Dae grumbled. “Not you too.”
Thorin laughed. He had a deep, resonate laugh that reminded Dae of their father, Edward, but not always in a good way.
Edward and Artemesia were each others’ caelis, but they’d found each other late in Edward’s life and he had grown weary even by then.
Dae did not miss his father like he did his mother.
Edward had been even more cruel than Red, if that was even possible. How the hell had the Fates decided to put Dae’s mother, one of the most giving and vibrant women he had ever known, with a man who thought torture was entertaining?
Dae had never had much faith in the Fates.
“Speaking of my mark,” he said and stood up. “I should check in with her before tonight.”
“What’s tonight?” Thorin asked.
“Haven’t you heard? Poe decided we’d have people over.”
Thorin sighed and stood too. “Did he tell Oddie about this?”
“I haven’t the slightest.”
“She’s going to kill him.”
“I’m surprised he’s made it this long.” Dae buttoned his jacket. “I’ll let you be the one to break it to Oddie.”
“Don’t you dare leave me t—”
Dae laughed as the air cracked open and he disappeared.
Chapter 15
ASHLEY
Ashley had a closet full of clothing, but nothing she deemed sexy enough for Dae Blackwell.
The fact that she was going over to Blackwell House tonight as an invited guest was mindboggling. Two weeks ago, she’d been sitting on her couch in sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt with a kitten on it eating her secret stash of Cheez-Its.
With a closet-full of clothes and nothing to wear, Ash had to call in reinforcements. Lola said give her a half hour and she’d be over.
Ashley met Lola five years ago at a ceramics class at the Blackwater Arts Center. Ash had gone to get out of the house and Lola had gone because she’d wanted to sculpt a woman with her spine exposed. They’d been friends ever since.
Lola was a fine art photographer who, with loads of talent and tons of ambition, had built a successful business out of it. Her style was dark and sometimes eerie, but people loved her for it.
Lola was the kind of person Ashley always wished she could be. Fearless. Smart. Independent. Eclectic. It wasn’t unusual for Lola to show up to a coffee date wearing a linen jumpsuit, hair in a messy bun, tortoise shell glasses slipping on the thin bridge of her nose. And then later that same night, arrive at a gallery event in a billowy evening dress, hair perfectly coiffed and looking like a foreign princess.
When she arr
ived at Ashley’s house less than a half hour after she’d called, Lola’s arms were overburdened with garment bags and her shoulder sagged from the weight of a shoe bag slung over it.
“Thank you so much,” Ashley said as she took a handful of bags from Lola’s arms. “You have no idea how much you’re saving me right now.”
“Well, when you said you were going on a date with Dae Blackwell, how could I say no?”
“It’s not a date.”
“Please don’t be so pessimistic.”
“I’m not! Besides, I’m still technically married and...”
“Don’t say it.” Lola dropped the rest of her stuff on the couch. “Don’t say that you’re hoping you and James get back together after he did the things he did.”
“Everyone makes mistakes, Lo.”
Lola huffed. “No, men make mistakes. A lot of them. All of the time. And what James did was not a mistake anyway. It was a choice that he made, knowing it would cause you irreparable damage.”
“I’m not sure I would go that far—”
Ashley had to trail after Lola as she disappeared into the kitchen. She opened the fridge, checked the contents, then quickly slammed it shut again. “Is this what you’re eating? Old pizza and edible cookie dough?”
“Well, I—”
Lola didn’t let her finish. She grabbed her by the arm and gently tugged her to the living room and like Mary Poppins and her bag of infinite possibilities, Lola pulled out a pouch of homemade granola bars, then a bag of fresh mixed veggies, and lastly, a cold thermos full of what looked to be a green smoothie.
“Here.” Lola thrust the food at her. “Please nourish yourself. Your mind will thank you for it.”
The granola bars did look rather tasty. Ashley opened the pouch and took in a deep breath and smelled.. “What are in these?”
“Chickpeas and kidney beans.”
“Lola!”
Lola started pulling heels from the very same bag and pairing them up on the bay windowsill. “Just take a bite.”
So Ashley did. And...okay, maybe they were pretty good. The smell was strong, but the taste was sweet, like honey and lemons.
“See.” Lola bent over, pulled her hair forward, and twisted it into a bun. Using the hair tie on her bony wrist, she secured it in place. “The smoothie is strawberry banana with kale, spinach, flax and bee pollen.”
“Mmmm. I can’t wait.”
Lola made a face at the sarcasm, but let it slide. “When are you going to fill me in on how this came to be? I mean, Dae Blackwell? If you’re dipping back into the pool of men, you landed a whale.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then how is it?”
Ashley wanted to tell Lola the truth, that Dae was a djinn and was able to grant wishes. That she’d gone to Blackwell House on a whim and left with a deal. If anyone would believe that story without proof it was Lola. But Ashley wanted to pretend for right now that she was just a normal girl who had somehow managed to catch the attention of an extremely sexy, powerful man.
“Well tell me you’ll at least sleep with him?” Lola said. “I’ve heard rumor of Dae’s sexual prowess.”
“Lola!”
“Don’t look at me like that. Sex is part of nature. You are part of nature. Quit denying yourself pleasure.”
Now Ashley’s face was practically on fire with embarrassment.
Ashley was not the type of woman to be open about her sex life with anyone other than her spouse and her doctor. But Lola was the polar opposite. She would tell anyone anything. Probably because she had a very strict code she followed. She only had sex with men she didn’t plan on liking.
“Feelings muddy the waters,” she’d once told Ashley. “And I don’t need a long-term relationship to find happiness. I’m happy on my own.”
Ashley had always admired that about her friend. There was no one more fiercely independent.
“I don’t plan to sleep with him,” Ashley said. “I just…I like being around him, if I’m being honest. But I made a vow to my husband—”
“Which he already broke.”
“And I can’t give up on my marriage so easily.”
“Despite your husband having already done so.”
Ashley’s face fell. She sucked in a breath. Of course, the night she was served divorce papers, she’d called Lola sobbing to tell her. Lola had been out of town doing a workshop, so she’d done her best to console Ashley over the phone. She’d just arrived back in town late Sunday night, so this was the first time they were seeing each other since Ashley’s life really imploded.
Lola would always take Ashley’s side, but right now, that’s not what she wanted. She wanted support, not defiant loyalty.
“Maybe that came out a bit harsh,” Lola amended.
“Thanks. I mean…I know it’s the truth. I just…”
“Let’s move on to better things,” Lola said. “Like what you might wear tonight. Is it formal? Casual?”
“Dae didn’t say.” Ashley winced. “He said to wear something sexy.”
“Good god. That man is good.” Lola riffled through several garment bags and pulled one out of the pile. When she unzipped it, she revealed a beautiful black dress with a bodice made of black lace. “The skirt is just above the knees, so it’s comfortable, but still sexy. And the lace gives the appearance that you’re naked beneath it, but it’s just a taupe silk lining.”
Ashley ran her fingers over the front. The lace wasn’t picky, like she thought it would be, and the skirt wasn’t heavy or constricting. “I’ll try this one.”
Lola pulled the bag off, shedding it like a skin. She handed Ashley the dress by the hanger, then offered a pair of extremely high heels. Ash took the ensemble to the bedroom and lay the dress on the bed. On the very same bed that she’d shared with James for the last seven years.
It was these little things that always hit her the hardest and came out of nowhere. The bed. The cologne. The stupid wine corker he’d insisted on buying at that souvenir shop in Michigan.
Shaking the thoughts away, she pulled off her shirt and jeans and stepped into the dress. It fit beautifully. The one thing that her and Lola did share was body size. Neither of them was particularly skinny. Realistic, is what Lola liked to say.
With a bit of wiggling, she was able to reach the zipper and pull it. She slipped into the heels and checked her reflection for the second time that day. And for the second time that day, she actually felt sexy. She felt oddly unlike herself, but more right than she had in a really long time.
“Umm...hey Ash,” Lola called. “I think you might want to get out here.”
Lola pulled the door open and peeked out. “Why?”
“James is here.”
“He...what?!” She hurried from the room and down the hall to the living room window. She tried to pull the curtains back in a way that wasn’t conspicuous, but totally was because James was right outside the front door, fist raised to knock. The wavering curtains pulled his attention to her and their eyes met.
“Hello, love,” someone said behind her.
Ashley yelped and snapped the curtains closed. “Dae! What are you doing here?”
Lola stood behind him, blinking. “How did he...where did....”
He whistled when Ashley turned to face him. “Good god.” He sounded a little breathless, and Ash was happy to notice, he seemed surprised, too. She wouldn’t have thought it was possible to surprise Dae Blackwell.
“You look...”
James knocked loudly. Dae followed the sound with his gaze.
“Ashley!” James yelled. “Please let me in.”
Dae raised a brow. “Well, it looks like I’ve done my job well, haven’t I now?”
Ashley made her way for the door and then thought better of it. How was she supposed to explain a Blackwell in her living room? Especially when she’d left the office this morning with someone who looked like Matthew.
James knocked again. Lola sat on the sofa’s edge
and put her chin in her hand, rapt with attention.
“I have no idea what is even happening right now but this is far more entertaining than anything I’ve witnessed in a really long time.”
Dae nodded at the door. “Are you going to answer that?”
“Absolutely not,” Ashley said in a whisper that bordered on a shout.
The dress suddenly felt clingy and wrong.
She did not want these worlds to collide. Though she’d only technically known Dae less than twenty-four hours it already felt like that part of her life was completely separate from the part that was married to James and binge-watched Netflix and sometimes made frozen pizza for dinner.
She didn’t want Dae to know how basic and mundane her real life was. And while she wanted James to think she’d moved on to bigger and better things (ahem, a Blackwell), she suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about it, like she was being too damn obvious. Like she was trying too damn hard to show him up.
“Ashley, please let me in. I know you’re in there.”
“Here,” Dae said, “allow me.”
“No!”
In the span of a breath, Dae disappeared from sight and popped up behind her. She could hear the air crackling with magic. Her nose filled with his sweet, cinnamon-y smell.
Ashley whirled around in time to see his hand on the doorknob. “No! Wait—”
Dae smiled at her. And while he didn’t say it, she knew it was implied: this is what you signed up for. This is what you wished for.
He was just doing his job after all.
Dae pulled the door open and smiled at James when he came to a halt in the doorway. “Hello,” Dae said. “Can we help you?”
“What the—”
James straightened his spine and rolled back his shoulders. He looked past Dae to Ashley, shooting her an accusing look. “What is he doing at our house?”
“Umm...he, uh...” Ashley licked her lips. None of the thousand excuses running through her head were good ones, plausible ones.
“Ashley and I are going out tonight,” Dae said, smooth as silk. “She wanted my opinion on attire, so...here I am.”
“Excuse me?” James shoved past Dae, but he hesitated uncomfortably by the wingback chair and looked around like he suddenly realized he did not belong there. The house was no longer his house. Not since he packed his bags and left.
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