by Lauren Dane
“Why, Conchobar MacNessa, I do get the feeling that you are growing attached to this human female. How long has it been that you’ve been watching?” This did not sound like his usual banter regarding women. Aine was amused and a bit worried as well.
He tried not to meet her eyes but it was a losing battle, she was on to him. “It has been six months in their time. And she is an admirable person, especially for a human. I do not wish her to be harmed in this. There is something else here at work, something dark.”
The Queen pursed her lovely lips and thought about the situation. She’d heard the slight tremor in his voice when he’d spoken of the human woman being harmed. She knew of his feelings of failure regarding his father and although she knew them to be inaccurate, she also knew that guilt didn’t work by logic. She could only trust Con’s superior judgment and send out a wish to the fates that the situation did not end up harming her friend and councilor.
She made her choice and nodded at him. “Make contact with the human, Con. Do not tell her what you are but get her to involve you in the search. You will be able to guide her in the right direction while you keep me apprised of the situation.”
Triumphant, Con hid his predatory smile and bowed to the Queen and left quickly.
* * * * *
The next day Em sat down to a lovely breakfast on the terrace while reading a fashion magazine. She had some scholarly business to attend to and would be meeting with Mrs. Belton about the ancient magical text later that evening but for the rest of the day she planned to shop and be frivolous. It would be the first step in letting the outside Em reflect the inside Em.
To do so, she ordered a car and headed out. Saving quite a pretty penny on her hotel bill had left her with a windfall and she wanted to splurge. She bought a cashmere sweater for Aidan, a silk scarf at Hermès for Lee and a tie and suspender set for Alex. She’d picked up things for everyone else and handed off the packages to the driver, who placed them in the trunk, or rather the boot, of the car when she realized that she hadn’t bought herself anything yet.
Three hours later she arrived back at the hotel and sat in the bedroom of the penthouse and slid her hands over the purchases she’d made that afternoon—silk panties, lacy bras, a pair of knee-high, stiletto-heeled leather boots that she’d had to have the moment she spied them in the window, the short skirt that landed mid-thigh, several lovely blouses and a few cashmere sweaters of her own. And the silver hoop earrings that had called to her when she was shopping through an outdoor market.
She napped and got up, showered and got ready. She decided to wear the sexy boots and skirt with a blood-red cashmere sweater. After all, they were gorgeous and she was going to be out, even if it was just a dinner with another scholar.
While waiting in the lobby she began to feel silly for putting on the bright red lipstick before she’d come downstairs. It had been a last-minute lark, her lips were red and shiny and, she thought, pretty sexy against her pale skin and dark hair. Then again, she was a bit put off by looking sexy and it made her nervous that she’d picked up some pretty racy feelings from the bellman and the concierge when she’d come into the lobby.
She was clenching her hands in her lap and had just about talked herself into going into the restroom to take the lipstick off when she saw a small, birdlike woman with short blonde hair and big blue eyes behind gigantic glasses walk into the lobby. Right away Em could feel the other woman’s power and knew she was a witch too. It had to be Adelade Belton. The woman was probably in her early eighties but she looked to be about fifty and she carried herself with confidence. Em liked that.
She stood and walked toward the other woman with a hesitant smile, one you give someone just before you ask if you know them. Beneath that, the two witches sized each other up. Em picked up wariness from her, a bit of admiration, even a bit of fear. She liked the lipstick and the boots.
Em felt better then and gave a wave in greeting. “Hello, Mrs. Belton?” The woman nodded and held out her hands to Em. “It’s lovely to see you, to meet you at last after we’ve spoken so many times,” Em said, clasping hands with the other woman.
“You too, dear. I hope you’re hungry, the restaurant is only a few blocks away and we can talk about the books while we eat,” she said with a smile.
They walked out onto the sidewalk. Em breathed in the air. Every city had a distinctive smell and she was coming to love London’s mix of river, exhaust and food stalls. As they began to walk she turned to Mrs. Belton. “London is such a lovely city. I can’t believe I don’t…”
The air was knocked out of her and she stumbled as she collided with someone. She looked up and into the face of an extraordinarily handsome man with caramel-colored hair that just began to brush the collar of the fisherman’s sweater he had on. He gave her a sexy smile and steadied her with large hands.
“Oh, pardon me,” he said, still wearing that smile. Her stomach tightened, her nipples hardened and suddenly her silky panties felt tight and wet as her pussy bloomed. She gazed into his honey-brown eyes and felt as if she were falling.
“Are you all right, dear?” Mrs. Belton asked.
Em had to clear her throat twice before any sound could come out. “Yes, yes of course. Please excuse me, I wasn’t looking where I was walking,” she said to the gorgeous hunk of man candy in front of her. She wanted to giggle once she thought that but held back.
“It was my fault entirely. Can I treat you two ladies to dinner to make up for my appalling behavior?” he asked. His voice carried a soft Irish accent.
Em had to physically step back to fight the urge to bury her face in his sweater and breathe him in. This is what became of being a twenty-five-year-old virgin, she thought to herself, you start having to fight the urge to bury your face in the sweaters of strange men you bump into on the street.
“Oh please don’t worry about it. I’m fine,” Em said, proud that she’d kept her face away from his sweater and hadn’t sounded like a bad Marilyn Monroe imitation. She looked to the other woman. “Shall we get going now?”
“Wait,” he said and she stood rooted to the spot. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Emily, Em Charvez,” she said softly, without even planning to.
He took her hand and kissed it. “Em, I’m so pleased to meet you. I’m Con, Con MacNessa.”
“Pleased to meet you, too.”
“Dinner?”
“Oh, well, I… That is, we, Mrs. Belton and I, are…” Good heavens, could she sound any more witless? This man simply took away her ability to think clearly. She took a deep breath. “I’m afraid that Mrs. Belton and I are going to be discussing business,” she finished.
“Ah, I see. Well then, perhaps an after-dinner drink, Em? I really must tell you I don’t plan to give up until you agree.” He gave a charming smile.
“Doesn’t that sound nice? You two young people should most definitely have a drink after dinner. Con, we are eating at The Oak Room, we should be done in two hours.” Mrs. Belton wore a small smile as she watched the two young people together. She waved at Con as she drew a speechless Em along with her.
* * * * *
Con stood as he watched Emily walk away on those fuck-me heels. “Jaysus,” he breathed out. Just a brush against her, the smell of her skin, the shiny red lips, and his body was on fire, his blood was singing, coursing through his body, his cock hard and pressing against the zipper of his jeans.
As sure as he’d ever been of anything in the ten thousand years he’d been alive, he knew that lithe, sexy Em was meant to be his woman. He leaned back against the wall and ran his fingers through his hair and had to ignore the women who slowed as they walked past and gave him blatant looks, looks of invitation. He smiled to himself, there’d be no more of that. He’d laughed when his brother had told him that when he met his wife all other women ceased to appeal to him. Con knew Magda and loved her, she was a fetching woman, a woman of great power, but he hadn’t been able to imagine that any woman would
be good enough to make him stop finding other women to fill his bed. He gave a wry smile. It looked as if he were going to have to eat those words. He’d also have to deal with the fact that he’d just lost his heart after guarding it so closely the last several thousand years.
Con loved women. He’d spent millennia bedding them, seducing them, bringing them pleasure as he took his own. Females of every type, human, Faerie, vampire, he’d even had a shapeshifter or two, it didn’t matter, he loved them all. Loved the way they tasted, how their skin felt. He loved the little sounds of pleasure they made, the way their power felt. But when compared to his sultry Em, all of those other women seemed flat, colorless. Her wide, hazel green eyes, those long lashes, her creamy skin. He loved her hair. He didn’t usually like short hair on women but hers looked tousled, like she’d just rolled out of bed. Her breasts were full, at least a C cup, but the rest of her was long and lean, athletic. He wanted those legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust his cock deep into her pussy, her lips open to receive his kisses, his hands on her breasts, palming her nipples.
He whistled as he headed to The Belleville, where he’d called ahead and had a suite readied. Apparently the penthouse was in use, a friend of Aidan’s no doubt, but a suite would do just fine. He hadn’t seen his friend the vampire in at least fifty years but he’d heard through the grapevine that he’d recently found his mate. Small world.
* * * * *
Once they were seated in the restaurant and had ordered, Em and Adelade—she’d been ordered to call the older woman by her first name—got down to business.
“I sense that this visit is more than just a basic information request about my library,” Adelade said.
Em smiled. “You’re right, I didn’t want to talk about it over the phone and I’m not sure this public a venue is the best place either.”
Adelade looked concerned but moved her wrist and said something under her breath and the sounds of the room faded. “I’ve invoked a privacy spell.”
“Well, you know that we are the Compact holders in New Orleans?”
“Yes. I understand your sister had quite a job on her hands defending against a dark mage last year. I’m sorry you lost Elise, she was an amazing woman,” Adelade said softly. Adelade had been friends with Em’s great-aunt for thirty years. The witch dreamer had come to her several times for help with research and other matters regarding the magical world’s governance over the years. Elise had also used Adelade’s connections to make diplomatic arrangements when she needed to deal with other magical families and organizations for one reason or another. When Adelade had gotten the news that a dark mage had murdered Elise it had sent her reeling and she was certain that the rest of the Charvez family felt her absence quite keenly.
Em blinked back tears, thinking of the great-aunt she’d loved so much. “Thank you. I know you and she were friends, it meant a lot to us to get your letter. We don’t quite feel whole without her. It’s something our family is still dealing with.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Two years ago I started a research project. I wanted to create a master list of the magical tomes that exist in the most well-known libraries, yours included.
“As I began to compile the list, I kept track of the most rare and dangerous of those books. Some of the books on the list are real, some based on old tales that haven’t necessarily been proven to exist yet. Sometimes all I had was a mention in the margins of another book or a story about some legendary tome. My research hit snags here and there as I traced the books all around the globe throughout our history. Your records are quite helpful, by the way,” she said as she looked up at Adelade, who blushed with pride.
“When the dark mage that Lee vanquished came to New Orleans, he was using a very old magic. As it turns out, he knew this magic because he was old himself—a former god who’d been cast out and made human as punishment.
“So six months ago, after the whole thing ended, I started looking into the base of his magic and found some really interesting stuff. My brother-in-law, Alex, has some relatives who are practicing the dark arts and as a result of some trial, their library was taken in a property settlement and awarded to Alex. He, in turn, gave me access to all of it.”
“I’d heard. You must know, I was quite jealous, my dear. That collection is rumored to be one of the best libraries of dark magic tomes in recorded history. I’ve been trying to enlarge my own collection of dark magic texts but as you know, there’s not a whole lot of goodwill that exists between practitioners on the path of light and dark magic users. If your brother-in-law ever decides to sell the collection you must contact me!” Adelade’s face was lit up with the same kind of booklust that Em had and it endeared her to Em.
“Oh, Adelade, this collection is simply incredible. Some of it scared the hell out of me and I’m glad to say those books are now out of the reach of those who practice on the dark path. But so much knowledge, so much talent, the library simply hummed with it all.” Em’s face was dreamy.
“Anyway, if you can believe it, Alex’s grandfather had a complete set of the Necromancer’s Journals! I was researching through them and I kept coming across the same symbols in reference to an ancient tome or spell, something that I believe, if my translation is correct, is called The Shifting Veil, which supposedly contains a spellbook and ritual list for chaotic magic.”
Em stopped speaking when the server brought their food. Once they’d eaten a bit she continued.
“Of course you see that chaotic magic of this type is the kind that can dissolve the Compact that we are bound by as well as other magical agreements and accords. I have reason to believe that the demon lord who attempted to break the Compact before is still looking for a way to do it. I must find this book.”
Adelade had listened to Em intently. “And you think I have this book.”
“Two things bring me your way, first—I traced some books from a collection that may have contained this book to an auction where you purchased at least part of it. According to the spotty records anyway. And second—yours is the most comprehensive collection of magical books in the world. It makes sense to come to you about this,” Em said as she ate.
Adelade interrupted, “My collection is catalogued. If this book were in my collection it would be noted. You’re welcome to come out and look, of course, but if I had it, I’m fairly sure I’d know,” Adelade offered.
“I know, and it’s a great catalogue and I’ve been able to use part of your process with the Carter Collection. But I’ve looked and yes, it’s not there by this name. But when I was looking into your collection I noticed that you have a rather large collection of dead language tomes and I’d like to check them over.”
“Yes, I have a rather large collection of books that we just don’t know what they are. They are in languages that no one can decipher. I suppose one of them could be the book you seek. The question being that if experts can’t translate them, how can you?”
“I don’t know for sure. I have some of the runic markings that accompanied the mention of this book. You know, of course, considering how old these books are that many of the volumes are handwritten. The markings I found in the Journals were written in the margins. I was hoping that I could match them somehow. I have a way with languages.”
Adelade nodded. “A way? From what I understand, a gift is a better way to describe it. In any case, it sounds like a bloody time-consuming job. You are aware that there are probably at least a hundred books and manuscripts in that part of my library?”
Em nodded. “I figured as much. I’ll try to stay out of your way and not bother you. I realize that I’m asking you to let me into your home and your collection and that would inconvenience you. I do appreciate it. I just can’t give up and take the chance of this getting out and harming my family.”
Adelade reached across the table and squeezed Em’s hand. “It’s no bother. I would be honored to have someone who loves books as much as you do in my library. A library isn’t meant to be lock
ed up, these books are meant to be seen and learned from. Come out whenever you wish, I’ll alert my staff to make everything available to you should I be out when you call. In return, you have to allow me to visit to take a look through the Carter Collection.”
Em smiled. “You’ve got a deal.”
They spent the rest of the meal talking about the other books that Em had seen in her studies until Adelade looked up suddenly and smiled slyly. She stood.
“Well, dear, please come and see me soon. I’ll be sure everything is ready. I look forward to talking with you again soon.” Adelade gave her a kiss on her cheek and Em stood up to walk out with her when she turned to see Con standing there wearing that sexy smile.
“Mrs. Belton, shall I escort you to a cab?” Con asked, bowing over her hand and kissing it.
Adelade blushed and winked at Em. “Oh no, thank you, dear. I will get home my own way.”
Em smiled, knowing that Adelade’s “way” most likely would be magical and a cab was probably already waiting out there by calling spell or some such. Em waved and watched her leave after thanking her once more for her help.
Em looked back toward Con and blushed. “You really don’t owe me anything, you know.”
He pulled out her chair and helped her back into it, pulling his close with a hooked foot and sitting in it. “I know. I want to buy you a drink, Em. I want to know you.”
For some reason, that shot straight to her gut. Things tightened low, moisture pooled and she had the strangest sense of already knowing Con MacNessa. She shook it off. “All right. I’ll have a vodka tonic.”
He gave her that smile again, the one that weakened her knees, and a server appeared instantly. She took their drink order and also brushed her breasts across Con’s arm and shoulder several times until he’d had to physically turn himself from her and toward Em, who was glaring at the other woman.
“Does this happen a lot?” she asked, annoyed.