Lost Talismans and a Tequila (The Guild Codex: Spellbound Book 7)

by Annette Marie

  Robin Page, our guild’s only demon contractor, and her cousin Amalia.

  I blinked repeatedly. Robin was the mysterious “ally” we were waiting to meet?

  “You’re late,” Ezra observed, his smooth voice blending with the darkness.

  Robin shot an annoyed look at her blond cousin, then took an uncertain step into the clearing, studying me and Aaron carefully. Had she known we’d be part of this rendezvous?

  “Why are we meeting here?” she asked.

  Ezra shrugged. “Some of us prefer open spaces and room to maneuver.”

  I hid a frown. Who was “some of us” supposed to be? Because I’d been in enclosed spaces with Robin before and it hadn’t been a problem.

  “I see.” She folded her hands in front of her, waiting expectantly. “We’re ready to hear your trade.”

  A fresh twist of uncertainty unsettled my gut. Why did I get the feeling I was way out of the loop here?

  Ezra gestured toward the bag I carried over one shoulder, and I passed it to him. He reached inside and pulled out the glossy black cult grimoire.

  “Robin,” he murmured, “it turns out we share an enemy, except I know him as Xever.” He extended the grimoire toward Robin. “This belongs to him.”

  She approached the book, gingerly taking it as though it might morph into a beast and bite her arms off.

  “This is what you want to trade?” she whispered.

  “No, not that.” Ezra gestured to me. “Tori?”

  I’d already passed him the bag with the grimoire, and there was only one other thing he’d told me to bring.

  Doubt flickered through me—but I wouldn’t second-guess him now. I slid my hand into my back pocket and took hold of a fine chain, warmed by my body heat. Lifting it out, I held up the swinging talisman.

  Robin’s eyes went saucer-wide as she tracked its motion, her whole attention focused on it like it was the key to the universe.

  “The amulet,” she breathed, disbelief feathering the words. “Vh’alyir’s Amulet.”

  “That,” Ezra said, “is what we’re here to trade.”

  Her stunned gaze snapped to him. “And what do you want in exchange?”

  “I want you to use that grimoire”—he pointed to the book—“and find a way to break the demon mage contract binding me and Eterran so he can leave my body.”

  My heart screeched to a halt, and it took my brain a moment to catch up.

  I whirled on Ezra, the amulet swinging from my fist, and shrieked, “She knows?”

  Amalia cocked her hip. “Well, duh.”

  “Since when?” I blurted.

  Crimson flared across his pale eye. “Since you went to Enright,” he rumbled in a guttural accent, “leaving Ezra and me to find out what she knew about the amulet.”

  I backpedaled away from him, and Aaron recoiled in the opposite direction with a breathless curse. Eterran had taken control? Just like that? But how—

  Eye still glowing, he turned to Robin and Amalia—and they didn’t so much as flinch. No fear, no surprise, no confusion. They’d seen this before.

  What had Ezra said to Xever? If my demon and I both want the same thing, which of us is in control?

  Holy freaking shit.

  “We have made our offer,” Eterran rumbled. “Will you accept it, or will we finally spill each other’s blood, Zylas?”

  Silence fell across the park.

  I held my breath, confusion buzzing in my head and my nerves prickling with inexplicable apprehension. Stillness lay heavy over us, and even the breeze had died down. Then an almost inaudible sound rolled out of the darkness behind me.

  Low, husky laughter.

  I whipped around. Pulse hammering, I scanned the darkness, seeing only the black shapes of foliage and shrubbery.

  “Escaping your hh’ainun prison …” The voice, suffused with a throaty accent, floated out of the night. “… does not mean escaping the hh’ainun world, Eterran.”

  My head snapped back, gaze flashing upward.

  In the branches of a tree, a pair of magma eyes glowed. A dark shape uncoiled, then dropped from the high boughs and landed with a soft thump in front of me. His thin tail lashing, the demon straightened, glowing eyes fixing on mine.

  Not all that long ago, I’d taken a good long look into this demon’s eyes. His lithe, humanoid shape was strangely unnerving, and something about him had never sat right with me. All demons were frightening, but this one had made me twitchy in a different way.

  Looking into his eyes now, I knew why he’d unsettled me—because staring back at me was a pair of demon eyes bright with cunning intelligence and lucid ferocity.

  This demon was no mindless puppet.

  His lips curved up, revealing sharply pointed canines. Terror flashed through me and I lurched backward in a frantic scramble. The demon glided after me with prowling steps more graceful than any contracted beast.

  My back thumped against a warm body—Ezra. His heady scent filled my nose as he laid a hand on my waist.

  “Tori, Aaron,” he murmured, “meet Zylas.”

  The demon’s sharp smile widened, and his tail snapped against the ground. I trembled, instinct screaming at me to flee from the predator standing almost on my toes.

  From somewhere on my left, a soft female sigh fluttered through the quiet. “Zylas, could you try not to terrify her?”

  At her exasperated question, the demon slid back half a step, and I took a couple small, gasping breaths.

  “No fun,” he growled quietly. “When do I get to scare hh’ainun, na? Never.”

  “At least you don’t have to pretend to be enslaved right now,” Robin retorted.

  Another snap of that barbed tail.

  Pretend? Had she said he pretended to be enslaved in a contract? All those times I’d seen him out of her infernus, his stare blank and motions wooden, he’d been pretending?

  I inhaled again, battling a wave of lightheadedness.

  “Well?” Ezra’s voice rumbled against my back—except that guttural accent had returned, meaning I was leaning against Eterran, not Ezra. “Do you accept the trade, Zylas?”

  The demon’s eyes narrowed. Robin walked to his side, the grimoire cradled against her chest, and he flicked a glance at her before refocusing on Ezra. “One condition, Dh’irath.”

  “What is that?”

  “When you are free, you will bring no harm on me or my hh’ainun.”

  Ezra—or Eterran—nudged me aside so I was no longer between him and Zylas. Facing the demon, he raised his left arm, and crimson veins raced across his hand and up his wrist.

  Zylas lifted his left arm, and the same magic snaked up the demon’s hand.

  They pressed their palms together, outstretched fingers aligning. One hand bronze-skinned and human, the other reddish toffee with dark claws tipping his fingers. The scarlet magic radiating from their skin sizzled on contact and the air around them chilled, electric with deadly power.

  “Enpedēra dīn nā,” Zylas said, the alien words flowing with the cadence of a chant.

  “Enpedēra dīn nā,” Eterran answered.

  The crimson light flared, then died away, and the demon and demon mage lowered their hands.

  Great. Just wonderful. Robin’s demon was not only uncontracted enough to walk and talk under his own power, but he had control of his magic too. My gaze snapped between her and Zylas, and I wasn’t sure which I wanted to do more: demand answers in a hysterical shriek or run screaming in the opposite direction.

  Off to one side, Aaron stood two steps away from Amalia. They were watching us—Amalia with an impatient arch to her eyebrows, and Aaron with an expression somewhere between shell-shocked and grimly resolved. I knew how he felt. When I’d walked into the park, I’d been confident that no matter what “allies” Ezra had in mind for us, I could handle them—but now, I felt so far out of my depth I might as well have been swimming the Mariana Trench.

  I froze as magma eyes turned to me. Zylas extende
d his hand again, palm turned up expectantly.

  “Give it to me, hh’ainun.”

  I realized I was clutching the demonic amulet against my chest, the medallion hidden under my hands. Sucking in a wild breath, I glanced questioningly at Ezra.

  A faint red gleam lit his pale left eye, but it was the human who spoke. “It’s okay. You can give it to him.”

  “But he’s …”

  “It belongs to him, Tori.” He glanced at the demon. “Zylas et Vh’alyir, King of the Twelfth House. The Amulet of Vh’alyir is his.”

  My stare shot to Robin. That’s why she’d been searching for it? That’s how she’d come to have a perfect drawing of its front and back?

  Cradling the cult grimoire in her arms, she nodded, a small, reassuring smile on her lips. The timid girl I’d first met, who’d flinched and stammered through every conversation, was nowhere in sight as she waited beside her lethal and—as far as I could tell—completely out-of-control demon.

  Even though I was intimidated as hell, the hope that had rekindled in my heart, so fragile after we’d stumbled and faltered and failed so much, flared bright and steady. Refocusing on the demon, I straightened my spine and unclamped my hands from my chest.

  The medallion, its center marked with the same sigil etched on Zylas’s armor, swung gently from its chain as I extended my hand.

  Shrewd crimson eyes assessed me, then a triumphant grin flashed across the demon’s face. The expression was at once disconcertingly human and savage in a way that only a demon could be. Somehow, he had become our ally? Were this deadly being and his contractor Ezra’s only hope? Did we dare trust them?

  I had no answers, and it didn’t matter anyway. This was Ezra’s life, Ezra’s fate, and Ezra’s decision. The deal was done …

  Zylas’s hand closed around the amulet, pulling the chain from my fingers.

  … and there was no going back.

  Tori’s adventure concludes in

  DAMNED SOULS AND A SANGRIA

  The Guild Codex: Spellbound / Eight

  - Pre-order now on Amazon -

  Coming October 2, 2020

  Don’t miss the finale to Robin’s story in

  DELIVERING EVIL FOR EXPERTS

  The Guild Codex: Demonized / Four

  - Pre-order now on Amazon -

  Coming October 16, 2020

  And introducing …

  WARPING MINDS & OTHER MISDEMEANORS

  The Guild Codex: Warped / One

  An all-new Guild Codex series featuring MagiPol’s most unlikely agent, Kit Morris.

  - Pre-order now on Amazon -

  Coming August 7, 2020

  [ READ ME! ]

  Heya! Annette Marie here. Do you see that awesomeness just above? Yeah, that’s three new Guild Codex releases! I need to share two quick explanations about them.

  First, Tori’s and Robin’s stories continue to intertwine more with each book, meaning some spoilers are inevitable. To avoid spoilers, the ideal reading order for the two finales is Damned Souls and a Sangria (Tori) followed by Delivering Evil for Experts (Robin).

  You don’t need to read both series to enjoy them, but I wanted to give you the heads-up. ;)

  The second explanation: there’s a new Guild Series! Warped intertwines with Spellbound and Demonized in a different way, but you don’t want to miss the tale of MagiPol’s most unlikely agent, Kit Morris.

  Especially since Kit and his partner won’t be sitting on the sidelines when the Court of the Red Queen makes its next move…

  Interested in more? I share bonus content, exclusive giveaways, and even witty commentary in my monthly-ish newsletter. Plus I’ll keep you up to date on all things Guild Codex. Sign up here!

  Please review! Reader reviews play an important role in a book’s success by helping other readers discover stories they might enjoy. Please consider taking a moment to leave a review for Lost Talismans and a Tequila on Amazon!

  Want to chat? I love hearing from readers, so if you’d like to say hi, ask a question, or chat with me and other readers, come visit my Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/annettemarie

  Feedback: Problem with this ebook? Let us know at info@darkowlfantasy.com

  DAMNED SOULS AND A SANGRIA

  The Guild Codex: Spellbound / Eight

  Once upon a time, I was your average spunky redhead with the lamest employment history ever, a shaky relationship with my only family member, and no idea what I was doing with my life.

  Now, I'm a pseudo mythic with the best bartending job in the world, the most amazing (and hot) best friends I never knew I needed, and a guild of misfit magic-users who've become my extended family.

  And I'm about to lose it all.

  In my desperation to save Ezra, I stumbled into a web of ruthless deception—and seriously pissed off a sleeping hydra. Now its every murderous head is turned toward me and my guild, and I don't know how to stop it. I'm not sure I can.

  I'm not sure anyone can.

  But if we don't, we're all doomed—Ezra, Aaron, Kai, and my beloved guild.

  - Pre-order now on Amazon -

  Coming Oct 2, 2020

  Prepare to step behind the mythical curtain with MagiPol’s most unlikely agent.

  WARPING MINDS & OTHER MISDEMEANORS

  The Guild Codex: Warped / One

  My name is Kit Morris, and welcome to my warped life.

  Picture the scene: Me, an average guy with psychic powers—not that my abilities are in any way average—just trying to scrape by in a harsh world. So maybe I've conned a few people, but did I really deserve to be thrown in MPD jail alongside magic-wielding serial killers?

  According to Agent Lienna Shen, one-hundred-percent yes.

  But her hardass attitude and “Arcana prodigy” status aren’t enough to bring down my former best friend, who slipped through the MPD’s fingers and is days away from unleashing untold horrors upon the city. Or he’s going to steal something. I don’t really know.

  Whatever he’s up to, that’s why I’m sitting in an interrogation room with Lienna. And that’s why I just offered myself as her temporary new partner for the purposes of thwarting my ex-accomplice.

  And that’s how I’m going to escape. I might even help with the case before I cut and run.

  - Pre-order now on Amazon -

  Coming August 7, 2020

  THE GUILD CODEX: DEMONIZED

  Sister series to The Guild Codex: Spellbound

  Introducing the Crow and Hammer’s newest recruit …

  Meet Robin Page: outcast sorceress, mythic history buff, unapologetic bookworm, and the last person you’d expect to command the rarest demon in the long history of summoning. Though she holds his leash, this demon can’t be controlled.

  But can he be tamed?

  - See The Guild Codex: Demonized on Amazon -

  DELIVERING EVIL FOR EXPERTS

  The Guild Codex: Demonized / Four

  I promised to avenge my parents.

  But their killer is still on the loose, and he's stolen more than my parents' lives. Now, as he draws closer to his mysterious goals, he's poised to destroy what little I have left.

  I promised to translate an ancient grimoire.

  But it holds the secrets of my family—and the secret history of demon summoning. I fear its answers as much as I need them. Who was the foremother of Demonica … and who am I?

  I promised to send my demon home.

  But the way he watches me, the way he protects me, the way he touches me⁠—how can I cast him away forever? I swore I would do this for him, but can I? Should I?

  But I promised—and I will keep my promises even if they cost me my heart, my soul, and my life.

  - Pre-order now on Amazon -

  Coming Oct 16, 2020

  THE STEEL & STONE SERIES

  YA urban fantasy by Annette Marie

  When everyone wants you dead, good help is really hard to find …

  Piper knows the first rule for an apprentice Consul i
s don’t trust daemons. But when she’s framed for the theft of the deadly Sahar Stone, she ends up with two troublesome daemons as her only allies: Lyre, a hotter-than-hell incubus who isn’t as harmless as he seems, and Ash, a draconian mercenary with a seriously bad reputation. Trusting them might be her biggest mistake yet.

  - See the Steel & Stone Series on Amazon -

  The Spell Weaver Trilogy

  Urban fantasy by Annette Marie

  The only thing more dangerous than the denizens of the Underworld ... is stealing from them.

  Living in exile among humans, Clio has picked up all sorts of interesting skills. But pilfering magic from the Underworld’s deadliest spell weavers? Not so much.