Cute to the Bone

by Zenina Masters

  Mistress of shadows meets the cutest shifter she could imagine, and he sweeps her off her feet... eventually.

  Sireno has grown up knowing that she is the key to the magic that keeps her parents apart. It hasn’t been a fun burden to bear when her mom announces that it is time for her to head to the Crossroads to break the binding.

  Aeric has seen Sireno in action, both as a shadow who can lift objects and testifying fearlessly in the Mage Guild courts. Her beauty and wit only match her versatility. Without lying outright, she obfuscated enough to make him doubt what he had witnessed. What a woman.

  Once she is at the Crossroads, she is ready to settle in, but she gets an emergency call. She sends her shadow out to get two shifters out of trouble, but she is shocked when one of them returns to the Crossroads, looking for her.

  With a stunned realization, she finds that she was waiting for him all along.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cute to the Bone

  Copyright © 2020 Zenina Masters

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-2900-3

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

  Look for us online at:

  www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

  Cute to the Bone

  Enchanted Crossroads Book 4

  By

  Zenina Masters

  Dedication

  To the Australian members of the FB reader’s group who assisted me with the conversational niceties.

  Chapter One

  Sireno kicked out at the dummy and sent it rocking. “I don’t understand.”

  Her mother sighed from the doorway. “We held the lottery, and our family has to send someone to the Crossroads to find a mate.”

  She switched to the punching dummy and waited after each hit for it to resume its balance. “So, why not Cousin Timbra?”

  “She’s dating.”

  Sireno grinned and asked, “Limira?”

  “She only dates women.”

  “Tomsin.”

  Her mother crossed her arms and scowled. “He’s twelve. You are our only reasonable option.”

  Sireno kicked the dummy, and he rocked violently to one side. She sighed and took off her gloves. “When do I have to go?”

  “In the next two months. That is when the council will meet again, and you need to be checked in there to satisfy our treaties.”

  Sireno looked at her mother, the lady of the house and head of their family. “It is that important?”

  “It is. We are obligated to tithe a child for apprenticeship to the Kelmens.” Doriano Mithas frowned. “I don’t like it either. Grubby thieves.”

  “What do you think we are, Mom?”

  “Extraction artists.”

  She snorted and laughed at her mother’s turn of phrase.

  “Right. Well, I have a commission tonight. I need to do that extraction for Lady Dellis.”

  “Oh, is that today?”

  Sireno snorted. “Yes. It is today.”

  “You have verified provenance?” Her mother was back into business-manager mode.

  “Of course. It hasn’t been donated by the royal collection. We are good.”

  Her mother nodded. “Excellent. I will have the drop ready.”

  Sireno smiled. “I am just going to have a shower and get something to eat. Don’t want to do what I am trained for on an empty stomach.”

  “Oh, you will be fine. You always are.”

  “There is always a first time for a major screw up.” She smiled brightly and unraveled her hand wraps.

  “Why do you engage in that unsightly activity? This used to be a delightful little room, and now, you have it full of all this... stuff.” Her mother sniffed.

  “While our family skill allows us a certain ease for entering and leaving a room, there is no substitute for physical confidence.” Sireno smiled. “If you know how to throw a punch, you can learn how to dodge one.”

  Her mother tutted. “You are going to be at dinner this Saturday?”

  “Yes, if I am not at the Crossroads.”

  The snort was just as unladylike as the boxing had been, and it showed that the lack of decorum didn’t fall too far from the tree.

  Sireno grabbed her towel and wiped her face before draping it around her neck. “Right, I have to get showered and changed. I will see you this weekend.”

  “We live in the same house, pet.” Her mother snickered.

  “Yes, but I plan on being occupied getting our next extraction in line after this. The house doesn’t pay for itself, Mom.”

  Sireno headed down the hall and to her suite. Getting ready for an evening’s work was always difficult. That is why she did her best work at dusk.

  She checked the surveillance feed that she had hacked into and compared the display with the image in the collection record that the current custodian of the item had for insurance purposes.

  Sireno grabbed the bag that she had for carrying her target item and walked into the mirror room.

  The spell work on the floor glowed as she stepped onto it. Sireno chanted the activation spell that sent light rocketing around the room so that the only place her shadow could go was inside her.

  She inhaled, exhaled, and let her consciousness fall into her shadow. She knew where she needed to be, and her shadow took her there.

  Her shadow moved through the gallery as she looked for the bracelet that had been stolen from her client.

  Sireno didn’t mutter to herself while she drifted through the display of trophies taken from the sexual conquests of the mage in question. He specialized in mimicking glamour, and that led to the women around him making foolish decisions. That would be fine, but he liked to steal trophies from his conquests and put them on display. It was exceptionally tacky, but he was high up in the guild, and no one wanted to call him on it. His skills were too useful to the Mage Guild.

  Sireno’s shadow found the bracelet and noted the traps laid around the bracelet displayed with the name of the lady who had owned it. Very tacky.

  Focusing on the bracelet, she passed her hand through the display that was wired to alarm. Her hand cupped the jewels as she focused, and it came free in her grip. She dumped it into her bag, and footsteps running toward her caught her attention.

  Her shadow looked at the man who was approaching her with a gun on his hip. She took him in in a second. Short hair, hard jaw, bright and focused eyes, and he was intent on her.

  She would have loved to interact with him but not with that look on his face. She stepped away from the display and disappeared. She let the light of the room burn away her shadow and returned home.

  Sireno knelt and breathed in deeply. She held the bag up and withdrew the bracelet
. “Great. One done.”

  The web of spells around her was slowly fading. She got to her feet and went to the delivery box outside the lightroom. She set the bracelet in the box, and it was whisked off to her client.

  Sireno’s knees buckled, and she put the bag away before she staggered to her kitchen. She had to get something to eat, and she had to get that security officer’s gleaming eyes out of her mind.

  As she sat with her sandwich, she chuckled. Wherever his bright gaze was, she bet it was pissed.

  * * * *

  “What do you mean the bracelet is gone?”

  Aeric looked at his client, and he sighed. “I mean, the bracelet is gone. A shadow reached out and lifted it off the stand without tripping the alarms.”

  Mr. Bormil, a balding, middle-aged mage, clenched and released his hands. “Do you know what that is going to cost me?”

  “I am not paid to know about your business. You hired my family to answer the alarm. The visitor tonight did not trip the alarm.” Aeric looked at the mage who was working his way up to a spell.

  “I hired you to protect me.”

  “No, you hired my family to answer an alarm. The contract was very clear. I simply was doing my rounds when I sensed magic.” He smiled as the clock chimed. “Well, it seems my shift is over. I will brief my brother, and you can decide if you want us to remain on duty over your collection.”

  Bormil huffed, and he flicked his fingers, weak sparks coming off. “What the hell?”

  Aeric stepped back and watched as his brother entered the hall. “Tom. There has been an incursion.”

  His elder brother sauntered up to him. “Was there an alarm?”

  “Nope.”

  Tom shrugged. “Not our problem. Not in the contract, Mage Bormil. You wanted us to react to an alarm. That was it. You had confidence that your magic would be able to detect and alert us to any attempts to rob your collection. You only wanted the basics. It looks like that is the end of it.”

  The mage was spluttering. “I need those items. I needed you to watch over them.”

  Aeric shrugged. “We did. I did. I was just not allowed to act without that alarm. Pity. It was a lovely bracelet.”

  The mage scowled. “Who took it?”

  “A shadow.” Aeric smiled. It had been a definitely feminine shadow.

  The mage frowned. “A shadow? What kind of shadow?”

  “The shadow of a bipedal being.”

  The mage got pale. “It was human?”

  “Or fey. I have no idea. I couldn’t make out the ears.” Aeric shrugged. “Whatever. I am off the clock. Good night, Tom.”

  “Night, Aeric.” Tom moved to settle at the desk.

  Aeric left the mansion and headed out the door. In his car and on the highway, he made a call. “Someone has begun to move on the collection. We have to strike now, or he is going to move it all.”

  The agent on the other end of the line groaned. “Do you know which one it was?”

  “It was a shadow walker. Female, about five foot ten.”

  “Oh, thank goodness. I know who that is. She was probably hired by the victim for retrieval. I am impressed that she got past his wards.”

  Aeric snorted. “I have no idea. That is your department. I am just abiding by our agreement to let you know when time was out. It’s out. Mage Bormil is agitated, but he has definitely lost a lot of power.”

  “You can tell?”

  “I can tell. His sparks faded dramatically tonight.”

  “Okay. Tell your people that when we come in, they need to hit the floor.”

  “They know. Whichever one of us is there, they will know what to do. You just go and get those items back.”

  Aeric disconnected the call and drove home. Serving two contracts wasn’t easy, but they could manage it when one of their contracts was as slimy as Mage Bormil. They had restricted the scope of their interactions with him by charging exorbitant fees for anything outside of answering the alarm. Like many wealthy people, he had a very tight purse. He resented paying them, and it showed. That was fine. They had just been there to take an inventory of his treasures anyway.

  It was lovely that some of the victims were finding ways to fight back.

  Chapter Two

  Sireno got the call to attend the mage’s guild two days later.

  Her mother was nervous. “What do you think they want?”

  Sireno braided her hair and then wrapped it up into a wide bun at the base of her skull. “I think they want to ask me why I stole the bracelet.”

  “What are you going to say?”

  Sireno grinned and hugged her mother. “I am going to tell the truth. That the item was stolen via subterfuge and using glamour banned in relations between species, I should know.”

  Her mom blushed. “It wasn’t all like that. He was a gentleman. It was your grandfather that was the ass.”

  “I know, but it does make me a bit of an expert.” She leaned back and made sure that her pointed ears were poking out with the strange angle that her father had bequeathed to her.

  “When do you need to be there?”

  “Three minutes. I had better get going.” She smoothed a hand down her embroidered tunic and picked up her staff.

  She walked out the back door of her mother’s home and raised the staff high, focusing on her destination before bringing the staff down hard.

  Light flashed, the world spun. When she was on the other side, she left the arrivals area, signed in, and headed for the conference room.

  A few familiar faces nodded to her as she strode through the halls. She had left it a little late but still managed to stand in front of the doors to the conference room in time to step in when they were opened for her to enter as a witness.

  Hmm. Not the conference room then. She looked at the full court with the mediator sitting in the judge’s chair, Mage Bormil—fuming—on one side of the court, and the security guy that she had seen was seated with other men who looked a lot like him.

  “Ah, Mage Mithas. Prompt as always.” The judge smiled and beckoned her toward the glyph in front of the bench. “Face me and answer the questions put to you.”

  “Certainly.” She walked in and stood on the glyph. Her staff hummed slightly as the power took hold.

  A voice to her left that she recognized but could not see asked, “Mage Mithas, have you been involved in any illegal activity lately?”

  The energy tightened around her, waiting. “No, I have not been engaged in illegal activity.”

  The magic tightened more and then relaxed.

  The voice on the left paused. “Are you certain?”

  There was a lightning crack and a yelp.

  The judge smiled slightly. “You asked and she answered. Proceed.”

  “Did you steal anything from my client?”

  She paused, and the magic around her paused. “Who is your client?”

  “Mage Bormil! Don’t tell me you don’t know why you are here!” The voice seemed agitated.

  “I was not told why I was summoned here. I was asked to come in to discuss recent events.” She felt the tightness. “Oh, and no, I have never stolen from your client.”

  The judge waited. The courtroom waited, and nothing happened.

  “Were you at my client’s gallery two days ago?”

  She smiled. “No.”

  “Did you send a projection to my client’s gallery?”

  “Ah. Yes. Yes, I did.”

  “What was the purpose of your visit?”

  “To retrieve stolen goods.”

  “Did you?”

  “Of course.” Sireno smiled slightly.

  “No further questions.”

  The judge nodded to Sireno’s right. “Your turn.”

  “Mage Mithas, what is your occupation?”

  “Magical artifact retrieval, specializing in those items that tap into personal energy or the soul.” Sireno grimaced. “I extr
act the items from those who have stolen them and bring them back to the one they have been draining. It is surprisingly common, if distasteful.”

  “Your job is distasteful?”

  “No, the slime that preys on males and females in order to gain a piece that is treasured by their family lines in order to use the item for power. That is the distasteful part.”

  “What do you do to mitigate this effect?”

  Sireno kept facing the judge, and she sighed. “I wait. I wait until one of the victims calls on me for help.”

  “And then?”

  “Then, I verify their story, run magical checks on the provenance of the item to make sure that I am not retrieving something that has been sold. I interview witnesses. I engage in due diligence before action.”

  “So, you were aware of the nature of the acquisition of the item.”

  “I was. It was obtained by devious and dishonest means.”

  The voice asked in a raised voice. “How so?”

  “Folk at the party where the two involved persons met described Mage Bormil as a very different person. Taller, better hygiene, suave, charming, elegant. A veritable god of a man or even one of the elder fey. It is astonishing. No two people had the same version of him that night, but they all saw that my client was besotted.”

  “What was the result of that?”

  “She was missing her item when she snapped out of her stupor later in the night. He had the item, and he wasn’t going to give it back. She asked him, and he refused. He called it a tax of the gullible.”

  There was an audible gasp around her, but she was stating the truth.

  “Now, Mage Mithas, you are half elf, are you not?”

  “I am half mage, half whatever my father was. We are still not precisely sure. He is some sort of fey.”

  “So, you do not have a particular loyalty to the fey, over the mages in this manner?”