Emerald (Jewels Cafe Book 9)

by Jade Waltz

  That meant they were probably in their basement, where I wasn’t allowed to go. Okay, they could have their mancave. I’d heard all about the sacred rooms where the “female species” weren’t invited. Whatever.

  It was getting late, and my stomach decided I need to feed it—and fast—or I would die. Dramatic, I know, but yesterday was the shittiest day ever, and it happened to land on my birthday, so I was allowed a free pass. It’s not like I could offend anyone.

  As I walked into the kitchen, everything was clean and put away except a piece of paper on the island. Picking up the note, I scanned its content and smiled. At least Vesuv thought about me. He said they were at a business meeting, and he didn’t want to wake me for dinner, so he prepared a plate for me and left it in the fridge.

  Out of all the brothers, he was the sweetest. His shyness didn’t make him hide in the background, though, especially when he interjected his opinion. Chryso was the more charismatic of the three, but Maw’s dark, brooding presence demanded attention. He may allow Chryso to be the center of attention, but it was clear he was the leader of the group. Both brothers deferred to him, and it seemed he listened to their opinions.

  Did he agree to allow me to stay here for free until my car got repaired? Did I really want to know?

  I sighed.

  He already thought I was an idiot for almost burning down his house because I couldn’t stop myself from checking him out. The last thing I needed to know was he thought I probably got fired from my job for doing something similar. I needed to prove to him that keeping me around wasn’t a mistake, I wasn’t an airhead, and I was capable of providing quality work. The cards were stacked against me. I accepted my old job because there had been nothing else available better at the time, and everyone else had rejected me.

  Perhaps if I could show them how useful I could be to have around and they would hire me…

  I shook my head. No, that was a dangerous thought process. I’d already had enough rejection and shattered dreams. I needed to make sure I wasn’t a bother and be the perfect guest.

  The meal Vesuv left me looked like it was from a fancy restaurant, and the salmon was as delicious as it looked. I hadn’t had quality food in a while. I washed my dishes and put them away, yet there were no signs of them. It was too early to go to bed, and there wasn’t anything to watch on the television. I wasn’t in the mood to watch the endless holiday-themed shows and movies. They were all cheesy and blurred together.

  There was one thing that would make the night better—cookies. They weren’t any in the house I could find, and it would help settle the itch to do something. The smell of the cookies may lure the hiding men from their basement—who could resist chewy and warm cookies fresh from the oven?

  Ten dozen cookies later and not a peep. It was now one in the morning. Who had meetings this late at night? What kind of investments did they have that required this much constant focus? Even the leaders of major companies and nations needed breaks.

  If they weren’t going to take care of themselves, I would. I loaded up a pile of cookies onto a large plate and put the rest away. I made sure there were enough of a variety for them to try before walking to the basement door.

  I knocked a few times and listened, but only the sounds of the blowing wind outside filled the silence. I knocked again but got the same results.

  They said I wasn’t allowed in the basement, but what if something was wrong? Someone should have replied by now.

  I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. “Hello?”

  Soft sounds of lasers filled the air. “Chryso? Vesuv? Maw? Anyone there?”

  I waited a few seconds, and no one answered.

  It was now or never.

  Carefully, I walked down the dark stairway and opened the heavy metal door.

  “What the fuck?”

  Inside was like a freaky science-fiction movie, filled with high-tech computers and incredible things. There were two landing pads with lasers and lights beaming from it. Nearby was a huge container filled with treasure as if they’d stolen a dragon’s treasure and was storing it in a metallic box. I glanced at the computer displays and didn’t know what language it was, but one thing for sure, it looked like Wing Dings.

  Who studied Wing Dings?

  The sounds of a hot tub bubbling came from off to the side. There were three different pools filled with something that wasn’t water. Two of the pools contained a cloudy, shimmering silver liquid, which looked like melted glitter, and the other was translucent neon-green.

  What the fuck did I get myself into?

  My hands began to shake as the plate of cookies fell out of my grasp. They were either drug dealers or something. I refused to believe what they were doing was normal, but it all made sense—the mansion alone in the woods away from civilization, the high-tech equipment throughout the house, and the rule to never go into the basement.

  Telling someone to never do something was like placing a big red button next to a curious child. They will touch it. And right now? Something was clearly wrong with those three, and I needed to get out of there.

  It was clear they weren’t around, but how did they leave the house when there were no tracks to be seen? By helicopter? Were they that rich? Did they know a pilot crazy enough to fly in high winds a blizzard still dumping tons of thick snow outside?

  All I know is I needed to get out of there. Who knew what they did with those pools, and how did they get so much jewelry, gems, and random pieces of treasure? They had to be the leaders of a mafia or cult, but it didn’t matter because I was never going to see them again.

  Leaving the cookies behind, I hurried up the stairs. There was no time, every moment counted. I rushed into my bedroom and threw my belongings haphazardly into my bags. One by one, I stacked the straps on my shoulders and left my room, looking like a pack mule.

  If my car was broken, I would need to take one of theirs and ditch it the first opportunity, then take a rideshare until I found a place to settle. It would be difficult, but one thing for sure, I couldn’t stay here with the underground operation they were running. I knew this place was unrealistic, too good to be true—caring, hot, and wealthy brothers, managing an exclusive bed-and-breakfast. I should have seen the red flags.

  Why was it always the hot ones? The crazy-hot scale proved it was accurate once again.

  I searched the cabinets and the drawers, all the typical places people put their keys. Where the fuck would they be? Storming into the garage, I scanned the walls. How hadn’t I noticed the key hooks by the entrance? I glanced at the five choices and decided the Jeep Gladiator would be the best option. One by one, I went through the key fobs, pushing the unlock button until the Jeep responded.

  Popping open the back-seat door, I threw my belongings onto the bench and slammed the door before climbing into the front seat. My hands trembled, making the simple task of placing the key into ignition difficult, finally succeeding after a few failed attempts. Pressing the garage door opener, I watched it open as I blasted the heat before pulling out.

  The weather was nasty, making vision almost impossible in the blurry whiteness. The winds drowned the fans inside as it kept slamming into the side, pushing the vehicle, making it difficult to steer. I took my time driving along the road as the thick snow made the beam of lights and windshield wipers useless.

  Was I a bad person for not waiting for them to return? Possibly. Up until the basement, none of them had triggered any warning signs, but that was before I saw their basement. Warning bells went off instantly as I went into fight-or-flight mode. The things I saw were unnatural, and I wasn’t going to stick around to see what they might do to me.

  I needed to dump the vehicle as soon as possible. I couldn’t afford to be thrown in jail—for a hot second, the thought about getting caught crossed my mind. If they ended up pressing charges, I would have a place to stay for a while. Kind of depressing to have such a thought, but my options were limited. If they reported me, I could
n’t do the same back to them. They were rich enough to clean up their basement in no time, leaving no trace behind.

  I was a fool for trusting them. For an unknown reason, I felt comfortable around them—like I finally belonged. Was it an unconscious yearning to form new relationships? Now that I was free from my old job and ex-friends, I was alone. Maybe my vulnerability was a result of yesterday, and it would go away over time. Whatever it was, I needed to box it up and shove it away until I was safely away and out of trouble.

  Minutes passed, and I was starting to get worried. The blizzard wasn’t letting up, and the roads were getting worse with each passing moment. The traction was sketchy at best, the jeep fishtailing more the farther I went.

  I glanced at the rearview mirror, checking to see if someone was crazy enough to be following me. Something large and black dashed behind me, moving so fast, it was almost a blur.

  What the fuck was that?

  I returned my gaze to the road, only to see a smaller black blur cross in front of me. I slammed on my breaks as I scrambled to swerve around the object. The jeep skidded sideways as it came closer to the black creature. A scream ripped from my throat as I gripped the steering wheel for dear life. A loud thud sounded on the passenger side of the jeep.

  Time seemed to stop as the car twisted in midair, only to slam onto the ground. The airbags inflated, protecting my thrashing body as the jeep spun countless times. My head banged on the headrest, blackening my vision as we rolled down the hill, bouncing off trees. Windows shattered, and I covered my face, protecting my eyes from the broken shards.

  Suddenly, I was slammed against the door as something burst through my window, stabbing me in the side. Intense pain flooded me as the jeep folded, enveloping me in my seat, my head smacking into the roof as darkness claimed me.

  Chryso scanned the ocean floor with his geotrans unit, searching for any precious valuables remaining below. Usually, they explored sunken ships left untouched, gathering anything of worth. There were many vessels that had sunk in places too deep or buried within trenches, left undiscovered. Earthlings still had issues traveling deep in their oceans. While they were finally able to explore some of Earth’s deepest trenches, being able to recover from most of the ocean floor was impossible for them.

  That is where the Alzaqi excelled. They were mainly an oceanic species, surfacing rarely. Their home planet, Alza, was mainly aquatic with only a few landmasses. When their scientists became interested in exploring the stars, they began to build bases on the islands and over time, a spaceport. They used hard metals found on their ocean floor, creating a space fleet.

  Their warriors spent most of their time trading with other alien species and defending what was theirs. That started the slow decline of the population since most of the breeders wanted to fight alongside their sisters when they weren’t ovulating. It was up to their warriors to protect them from invaders. Many species wanted access to Alza’s waters, while others wanted the rare materials.

  The Alzaqi on Earth spent many years, adapting to the planet's life as they tried to remain hidden from its natives. After spending most of their time living on the ocean floor, they focused on evolving their technology to leave less of an impact on Earth’s balance. Earthlings liked saying, “Don’t mess with Mother Nature,” and the Alzaqi were afraid their Mother Nature was the same as most CEG’s species belief in the Fates and the Stars. They didn’t want to accidentally anger whoever it was, fearing they would ruin their chances to remain on Earth.

  Using their new Alzaqi terraforming and teleporting technology, they were able to use their geotrans units to scan an area for what was buried. They were able to select and teleport what they wanted from the ocean floor or ship to their basement’s collector, leaving everything around the item undamaged. The container would then auto-sort its contents into smaller bins, to go over and use later.

  Chryso’s triad were the only treasure hunters stationed in Silver Springs. There were only two other triads interested in doing what they did, and both triads were on other parts of Earth as a means to help support their local Alzaqi communities.

  Tonight, they decided to return to a deep trench that housed an overabundance of rare stones and metals. Around this time, every year, Earthlings had a high demand for jewelry, and it lasted until February. Saire warned them about the abnormally high demand for engagement rings created by the mating spell cast by the amateur witch at Jewels Cafe. Cosmic Gems was going through their supplies almost faster than what they could bring in and create.

  It was vital for them to gather as much as they could because they didn’t know when the next time they could stealthily return while Emerald was staying with them.

  Deep down, Chryso hoped they could introduce her to the secret world that was always around and explain to her what they were. If she accepted their differences, they could continue with their bubble mating dance. Once mated, they could quickly return to gather more valuable material without needing to worry about Emerald.

  He needed to stop. Thinking such thoughts were dangerous, especially with Maw still resistant to accepting what had happened.

  Chryso put his focus on their mission as he tried to not think about how easy it was to talk to her as he explained his garden. He battled thoughts of their future with Emerald as he continued to scan and teleport what was found.

  He winced from a sudden sharpness within him.

  Something was wrong.

  Chryso rubbed his chest as he tried to relieve the annoying pinging in his chest that was slowly building in intensity as seconds passed. He’d never felt this before. He glanced over to his brothers, who had halted their scans, doing the same thing with confused looks on their faces.

  “Are you both feeling different too?”

  “Vesuv,” Maw barked. “What is happening to us?”

  Vesuv pulled his hand away from his chest and inspected it, his icy blue eyes glowing in the darkness. “There is nothing in my studies which follow these characteristics…” His gaze locked onto Chryso. “Do you think the spell has something to do with it?”

  “You think it has something to do with Emerald?” Maw asked as he inspected his hand.

  “It’s a theory. How else would you explain it?”

  “We have gathered well over enough gems to last us into the new year…”

  “We can go back,” Maw sighed. “We have left Emerald alone long enough, I fear we may not have a house left to return to.”

  Chryso nodded as he turned off his geotrans unit and tapped on his wristband, teleporting to their base pad as his disguise shimmered into place. He stepped to the side, allowing room for his brothers as they soon followed.

  “Well, at least the house is still in one piece,” Maw murmured, searching the room.

  “You have little faith in her,” Chryso mumbled, rolling his eyes.

  “What is this?” Vesuv walked over to the mess near the stairway. “Cookies?”

  Chryso took in a deep breath. There was a faint hint of Emerald’s scent. “It can’t be.” He rushed over to Vesuv’s side and scanned the reminds of a broken plate and cookies on the basement floor.

  “She broke one of our rules… to give us cookies?” Maw asked in disbelief. “And now, she discovered our basement.”

  “No. No. No. Why would she do this?”

  “I don’t know… but we need to find her.” Chryso stepped over the mess and winced. “This pain in my chest is only getting worse.”

  “She must be in trouble,” Vesuv explained. “If the spell was based on the supes’ mating bond, it is safe to say something is wrong with her.”

  Chryso rushed upstairs and followed Emerald’s fresh scent trail, his brothers close behind him as they searched the house.

  There were dozens of cookies in the kitchen that hadn’t been there before. They rushed upstairs, only to find Emerald’s bedroom door wide open. Chryso skidded to a stop in shock.

  “It can’t be.”

  “What?” M
aw asked, stepping beside him.

  “She’s gone.”

  The room was bare as if no one had stayed there, the bed made like they’d left it. Slowly, they walked around the room, inspecting it. She’d left nothing behind.

  “Why would she leave?”

  “Where would she go?”

  “How would she…” Maw growled. “The garage.”

  They rushed out of the room to the garage, slamming open the door.

  “Stars… That female! She took my vehicle!” The Jeep Gladiator was missing.

  Vesuv checked his wristband and growled. “Our teletrodes have been destroyed. They aren’t registering on the scanner.” He glanced at the garage door. “Thankfully, the GPS tracking system is working. We won’t be able to teleport to her or summon the vehicle here, but we can go after her.”

  “Then that is what we’ll do.” Chryso grabbed the keys to their custom all-wheel-drive truck and jumped into the driver’s seat. Vesuv climbed into the passenger side as Maw jumped in behind him. He turned the truck on, feeling the roar of the engine purr as he blasted the heat and opened the garage door to a curtain of whiteness. Chryso carefully traveled down their driveway as he tried to make out the road in front of him.

  “Who in their right mind would drive in the worst blizzard in decades?” Maw scuffed.

  “Our mate…”

  “She isn’t our mate,” Maw barked. “Perhaps we should allow natural selection to happen.”

  Vesuv spun around. “That isn’t something to joke about, and you know it.”

  “Maw. You can’t say you don’t feel the growing pain inside you.”

  “Chryso is right. You can’t deny the proof she is meant for us.”

  Maw fell silent as they continued their journey through the rough terrain. Vesuv grumbled to himself as he switched his wristband’s 3D projection on and typed frantically on display.

  “She hasn’t moved since we left,” Vesuv reported. “She might be in more trouble than we thought.”