One Mark: Steamy Friends to Lovers Paranormal Romance (Blackwell Djinn)

by Nikki Kardnov

  Regardless, if they really had been friends, Rose would have never let the wish go sour.

  “I want to use my other two wishes and be done with this,” Lola said.

  Rose jutted her chin toward Thorin. “He tell you what to say?”

  “No.”

  Thorin sent a look over his shoulder at her. They were clearly found out, but as long as Lola didn’t verify Rose’s suspicions, they would be good. Right?

  She hoped so.

  “I don’t want to risk having another wish go south,” Lola said. “So…” She scooped up the books and held one in each hand. “I, Lola St. James, wish to invoke my second wish. My wish is that I want the cover of this book in my hand to be brown.”

  Rose scowled.

  A phantom wind kicked up in the room sending the curtains fluttering. The air was perfumed with the sweet scent of what Lola thought must be Rose’s magic.

  And then, as if dipped in dye, the book in her left hand slowly shifted to the color brown.

  “Wish granted,” Rose said.

  Lola held up the second book, the one in her right hand. “I, Lola St. James, wish to invoke my third and final wish. My wish is that I want this book to be red.”

  Rose’s mouth quirked up at the corner.

  The wind came back. The cover of the second book slowly shifted from black to red, but in an instant, it was burning hot like the coil on an electric stove.

  “Shit!” The book singed Lola’s hand and she threw it across the room.

  White hot pain shot through Lola’s arm. When she held her hand up, there was a perfect imprint of the book’s cover.

  “Christ, Rose!” Thorin shouted.

  “Lola St. James,” Rose said, her brow arched, “your wish is granted and our deal is done.”

  Thorin stepped back in front of Lola. His scent, that woodsy, musky scent overtook Rose’s sweeter magic.

  “Now go,” he said. “And let’s put this behind us.”

  Rose ignored him and stared right at Lola. “You have no idea what you’ve just done.”

  Lola said nothing.

  Probably she didn’t understand all of the intricacies of the magic, the rules, the repercussions. But Rose started it. Anyone could see that. And if anyone questioned it, Lola would tell them exactly how it went down.

  “This isn’t over,” Rose said when she looked at Thorin next. “This has only just begun.”

  Without her magic now, she turned for the door and stormed through it, slamming it behind her.

  Lola nodded at the still burning book. It was gonna leave an imprint on her floor. “What happened with that?” Her hand was beginning to really sting now. The skin was an angry red.

  “You said red. Not purple. And Rose found a loophole.”

  “Crap.” Lola tore the flowers from a vase on the dining table and then tossed the water onto the book. It hissed and steamed and then cooled to a burnt red.

  Thorin went to the kitchen and tore open the drawer where her Turkish tea towels were stored. He once made fun of her for having Turkish tea towels that she refused to use because they were so damn expensive.

  He put the corner of the towel between his teeth and tore it in half.

  “Hey!”

  He disappeared into the bathroom and came back to her a second later with a bottle of antibiotic ointment.

  Gingerly, he took her wounded hand in his and covered the burn with a run of ointment, then wound it up in the torn towel.

  “I guess all things considered, it could have been worse than a burnt hand.”

  But Thorin looked down at her, concern pinching at his brows, and said, “Pack a bag. You’re coming to Blackwell House and I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Chapter 17

  THORIN

  Not for the first time, and likely not the last, Thorin had to ask himself, What the fuck have you done?

  He knew trouble was coming.

  Northman djinn were not known for backing down.

  And they certainly weren’t known for sensibility.

  Rose would be fuming. And she’d tell her brothers what had transpired. And Adonis, after last night’s attack, would be fuming too. Soon they’d all be fuming and looking for their own brand of justice.

  Fucking hell.

  But first things first.

  He needed to get Lola somewhere safe. The safest place he knew was Blackwell House where they would be surrounded by a state-of-the-art security system and two caeli-bound djinn.

  Speaking of which, he should alert his brothers, let them know what might be coming—

  “Thorin!” Lola shouted. “Are you listening to me?”

  “Sorry. What did you say?”

  “I said, I’ll be fine here. Really. My building has a doorman and a locked front door. Rose can’t get back in now that she can’t do that magic thingy.”

  Thorin snorted. “Do you really think a doorman—a mortal—and a deadbolt are going to stop Northman djinn from getting in? Any of them could become invoked at any time and then deadbolts will be useless.”

  Lola harrumphed and pushed out her bottom lip in a bit of a pout. She was trying not to be difficult, Thorin could tell, trying to avoid storming off like she had last night and then gotten herself entangled in the kind of trouble she didn’t fully understand.

  She was cute when she was like this. And also gratingly stubborn.

  “Lo,” he said.

  “I’ll be fine, really. I can take care of myself.”

  “In many regards, I fully believe that to be the case, but not now when we’re dealing with centuries-old djinn and their ongoing feud with my family.”

  Fucking Northman djinn anyway.

  Why would Rose instigate a fight all these years later?

  It didn’t make any sense.

  And Adonis, the asshole, did he really think he could threaten someone in Thorin’s sphere and get away with it?

  Thorin’s blood began to boil.

  He tightened his hands into fists. Veins swelled around his knuckles.

  He was going to kill them.

  He would show them—

  “Thorin,” Lola said. “Are you all right?”

  He took a breath. He was the water. His anger the rock.

  He tried to turn it into a mantra but fucking hell, it was difficult. He didn’t want to scare Lola. He didn’t—he fucking couldn’t—lose control in front of her.

  “Please go pack a bag,” he said evenly.

  She regarded him through the fringe of her blonde bangs.

  For a moment, he thought she would continue the stand off. For a moment, he worried what he’d do if she did.

  He wondered if maybe she was right, if she was safer here away from him.

  He wanted to believe that his rage—his monster—had a conscience and would never hurt Lola, but if his past was any indication, his monster didn’t think. It only acted.

  “All right,” Lola finally said. “I’ll come.”

  He let out a breath and his shoulders sunk. “Thank you.”

  As she passed him, she squeezed his arm and met his gaze. The tension in him dissipated almost immediately, like a boa constrictor loosening its coils.

  “Give me ten minutes to gather some things and I’ll be ready.”

  After she disappeared into the bedroom, Thorin collapsed back to the sofa. He took off the beanie and ran his hands back through his hair.

  Lola would be safer at Blackwell House while they sorted this mess with the Northman, but if she was to leave there unscathed when the battle was won, Thorin needed to keep his distance, hold her at arm’s length.

  It was the best thing for her.

  And for him.

  Chapter 18

  LOLA

  While Lola conceded to Thorin’s demands and agreed to go to Blackwell House and stay there until the dust had settled, she refused to allow Thorin to drive her.

  There was nothing more symbolic of her freedom than her car.

  Her pa
rents had still been together when she started driver’s training at fifteen and her mom bought her an Audi before she was even an officially licensed driver. She’d loved that car. Whenever she needed to escape the stillness of their giant beach house, the car was her way out.

  Her first summer with it, she and a bunch of friends drove up the coast and rented a cottage on Nantucket and had the most blissfully parent-free weekend of their lives.

  Once her parents separated and divorce proceedings began, things turned ugly. Lola never, not for a second, worried about her own finances or the loss of her belongings. Her parents might have turned vicious toward each other, and yeah, sometimes they pitted her in the middle, but it wasn’t like she was at fault. So why worry about the battle over money?

  And then, she went shopping one night in the middle of January. She was looking for a new scarf to match her new coat. She’d been all over town and couldn’t find the right color or pattern. She went to the quaint downtown shopping district of Silvercove and finally found what she was looking for. It was a beautiful cashmere scarf with a red, black, and khaki plaid pattern. It matched her trench coat perfectly.

  But when she got to the register, her credit card wouldn’t work.

  “It says this account has been closed,” the cashier said.

  Lola rolled her eyes. Her parents must have been switching accounts or something. No big deal.

  She left and walked around the shop to the parking lot and—

  Her car was gone.

  She just stood there in the blustery cold staring at the empty parking lot wondering for a hot second if she’d parked somewhere else and forgot.

  So, she walked around the building. Then down the street.

  Finally, toes numb, nose running, she dug out her cell phone and tried calling her mom. One ring into the call, an automated message came on that said, “This phone is no longer in service.”

  Tears had bit at her eyes once she realized what the real problem was. She hadn’t lost her car. Someone had taken it. And that someone was her dad.

  She had to go back to the same shop that had turned down her credit card and beg to borrow their phone. Her mom’s cell phone wasn’t in service either so Lola tried her dad’s but he didn’t pick up.

  It was a friend who finally came to her rescue. And Lola vowed ever since then that she would never allow herself to be without wheels that she owned.

  A car was her way out.

  Regardless of what came for her, at least she’d have that.

  Now, she followed Thorin in his Tesla down the winding driveway of Blackwell House. The driveway curved once it came alongside the house and went back behind a grove of trees to a five-stall garage that was an echo of the house’s grandeur.

  Red’s Jeep was backed up to one of the bay doors. There were no other cars in the driveway and Lola suspected that now that Dae and Poe had their magic at all times, they had little use for four wheels.

  Thorin opened the third bay door with a remote and drove his car inside. Lola parked alongside the garage on a pad of pavement reserved for visitors.

  Bag slung over her shoulder, she went around front and met Thorin at the open garage door as he punched in a code to close it behind him.

  From the side of the house, Lola heard a familiar squeal of delight.

  Ashley raced toward her, arms open wide.

  Lola had texted her before they left her loft, but it was possible Thorin had also told his brothers what was going on. Likely everyone in the house now knew how stupid Lola had been.

  Ashley wrapped Lola in a hug. She smelled like Dae, warm and spicy and cozy, but also like herself, sweet and clean, like the best laundry soap money could buy. “I’m happy you’re staying over.”

  “Even though the reason is because I made a deal with a Northman djinn and made a horrible wish and now have to suffer the consequences of said wish and put everyone else in danger?”

  Ashley tightened her arms. “I’m happy no matter the reasons.”

  “I should have stayed last night,” Lola said as the hug went on and on. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

  Ashley finally pulled away. “If I’ve learned anything since being with Dae, it’s that you can’t doubt yourself and you also can’t go back and change what has happened. You just have to go through it.”

  “Funny, Thorin said the same thing not too long ago.”

  Behind them, Thorin’s phone dinged. He checked the message and scowled. “I’m being summoned by Red. Ashley, will you show Lo to a room?”

  Ashley raised her eyebrows. “Any particular one?”

  “Any one will do,” he said distantly.

  Was Lola just imaging it or was Thorin suddenly acting weird?

  After he’d left, the screen door clicking shut behind him, Lola said, “I think he’s mad at me and he has every right.”

  Ashley waved her worries away. “Thorin is a big old teddy bear most days, but sometimes when he gets wound up, he goes cold and distant to keep himself in line.”

  “In line? What does that mean?”

  “I don’t really know. That’s just what Dae said. He said out of all his brothers, Thorin is the most like a domesticated wolf.”

  Lola laughed.

  “I’m serious!” Ashley went on. “He’s loving and affectionate and loyal. But sometimes he just needs to go wild. Come on.” Ashley headed for the door. “I’ll put you in the room across from Thorin’s. It doesn’t have a view of the garden, but its bathtub is practically pool-sized and Oddie is extremely good about stocking the house with expensive bath salts and the most delicious smelling bath milk.”

  “You’re speaking my language,” Lola said. “It’s been forever since I took a hot bath, and honestly, I could really use one right about now.” They stepped inside the house and emerged from a mudroom into the backside of the kitchen. Oddie was there at the island, the blender out and an array of veggies and fruits spread before her.

  “Hey,” Oddie said. “Good to see you, Lo.”

  “You guys can stop pretending this is a good thing.”

  Oddie tilted her head to look at Lola, her perfect ponytail coiling around her shoulder. “Well, all right. If you insist. Ashley said a green smoothie might make you feel better, so I’m preparing one now. You can go up and get settled into your room.”

  “You guys are being way too nice to me. You do realize this is my fault?”

  Ashley squeezed her hand. “Don’t say that.”

  Oddie rolled her eyes. “Do you really think a Northman djinn would have sought you out if it wasn’t for your connection to the Blackwells? Absolutely not. So no, it’s not entirely your fault. You are a mortal, just like us, who found herself swept into a situation with rules she did not understand and consequences far out of her reach of understanding.”

  Lola turned to Ashley. “Have I ever told you how much I like Oddie?”

  The air crackled behind Ashley. Dae popped up out of nowhere. “Hello, love,” he said and Ashley nuzzled into the crook of his arm while Lola yelped and backpedaled.

  “Are you all right, darling?” Dae asked.

  “You…it’s…you…”

  Dae frowned. “Yes? I’m what?”

  “Lo?” Ashley took a step toward her. “What’s wrong?”

  Lola stumbled into the cabinets on the far wall. She sucked in a breath to try to settle the rapid beating of her heart. “Did Thorin tell you what I wished for?”

  Dae shook his head. “I’ve only just arrived.” His mood immediately turned foul. “What did those bastards do to you?”

  “It’s okay.” Lola put her hands on her knees and breathed in deeply. She used to meditate and practice yoga regularly, but with Thorin and the new exhibit, she’d gotten out of her routine. Now she was cursing herself for not staying more disciplined. It definitely would have helped right about now.

  “I wished to see men exactly as they are,” she said.

  Everyone in the room took a moment to di
gest what that meant.

  “So…right now, Dae…he’s…there’s a shifting red and orange mist around him. Thorin was glowing. But Dae isn’t. Though his eyes are glowing red. For a split second, I thought he was another nightmare like I saw earlier. It…it just caught me off guard is all. Is that how you see him, Ash?”

  “No. I only see his magic when he uses it. And it’s more glittery neon red.”

  A pinch of concern appeared between Dae’s eyes. “Do you see anything else?” he asked Lola.

  “No, thank God.”

  “Is she seeing your magic?” Ashley asked.

  “I’m not using magic right now,” Dae answered. “But we could test it. Tell me what you see now, Lo.”

  Dae snapped his fingers and a green apple appeared in his hand.

  “An apple?” she said. Was this a trick question?

  “So no glittering red magic?” Ashley asked.

  Lola shook her head. “Just the red cloud around Dae. It’s brighter now though. Like the saturation has been bumped up.”

  “Interesting,” Dae said. “You’ve wished for something quite unique, it would seem.” Dae kissed Ashley on the cheek. “While I’d love to dissect this more, I need to go see Red and my brothers. But Lo, we’ll get to the bottom of all this. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  “He can’t die,” Oddie pointed out. “Just so you know how serious he is about that promise.”

  “Yes, well. The meaning is quite real.” He planted a chaste kiss on Lola’s cheek. “You are family, darling, as I’ve said many times before. And we always protect family.”

  Chapter 19

  THORIN

  Thorin found Red, Mad, and Poe in the basement. They rarely came down here. When Blackwell House had been built over two hundred years ago, basements had only been used for storage, so there were hardly any windows and the stone ceiling was ridiculously low. So low that Thorin had to hunch when he made his way from the steps to the very back storage room.

  One thing they had had the foresight to include in the building plans was an airtight, soundproof collection room with runes carved into the stone walls and onto the stone floor. It was where they kept all of their most precious, most valuable belongings that couldn’t be bought at a department store.