by Peter Glenn
Have Artifact, Will Travel
Immortality Curse Book 5
Peter Glenn
Copyright © 2021 by Peter Glenn
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
HAVE ARTIFACT, WILL TRAVEL
First edition. June 24, 2021.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
Written by Peter Glenn.
Cover created by Miblart.
Created with Vellum
This book is dedicated to my daughter Zoey.
What can I say about you, Zoey? You’re the best daughter a guy could ever ask for. You’re always bright and cheery, and she always tells me about what a good job I’m doing as a writer, even when I don’t feel like I’m the best at it.
Thanks, Zoey. This one’s for you.
Second, I’d like to thank my editor Chris Bailey and my beta reader Amanda Bailey. Damian wouldn’t shine without your input.
Lastly, I’d like to thank Miblart for their overall awesome job on the cover like always.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Author’s Notes
Also by Peter Glenn
1
“Nice night, don’t you think?” LaLuna asked me.
I looked over at her, staring into her glittering blue eyes. She had a bright smile on her face as she nudged her head toward the sky. My own eyes followed her gaze upward. The stars were visible up above, which was a little unusual for May in Seattle. Most of May tended to be overcast, but for whatever reason, the skies were free and clear tonight.
“Sure,” I said back like a dork.
Sure? That’s the best I could come up with? How was she even still with me?
I felt my cheeks start to redden, so I scrunched my neck to try and hide them under my shirt collar. Eight months into a relationship, and I was still saying the stupidest things and blushing. I was like a damn teenager.
LaLuna was my girlfriend. She was also a fae guardian. Well, almost a fae guardian. Technically, she was still in training, though I had a feeling that by now she was at least as powerful as your typical fully-fledged guardian.
We’d met about eight months ago when she’d teleported into the middle of Mei’s bar holding a baby in her arms. Talk about an entrance. We’d hit it off pretty well after that, and for the most part, our relationship had been smooth sailing outside of the Valentine’s Day incident, but we tried not to talk about that anymore. No one needed to be reminded of that.
At any rate, we had just finished a dinner date. I’d taken her to Pho ‘Que, our favorite dining spot. They served up Eastern/Western fusion cuisine like pho filled with smoked meats, hence the name. Plus it was fun to say it and shock random people, but that was beside the point.
My stomach roiled a little in complaint as I thought back to dinner. I’d eaten too much, but I wasn’t worried about it. It was a long ride back to LaLuna’s home in Ravensdale. Hopefully by the time we got there, I’d be feeling up to extracurricular activities once again.
“Whatcha thinking about?” LaLuna asked, breaking me out of my inner thoughts.
“Huh?” I said, my head darting up. I only then noticed that I’d almost smacked into a light pole. Now that would have been embarrassing.
“Oh, nothing much,” I told her. My cheeks burned even brighter. I didn’t want to tell her that I’d been thinking about shagging her just then. Not that I knew why, exactly. Like I said, we’d been together for a while by now. I really should be over my nerves.
But there you have it.
“Well, I know what I’m thinking about,” LaLuna said. Her eyes were wide and bright under the streetlight. She raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“Oh?” A wry grin crossed my lips.
“Mm-hmm.” She gave me her best sultry gaze.
“Do tell.”
LaLuna leaned in close and whispered something into my ear. I won’t tell you what it was exactly—there could be kids listening to this story, for goodness’ sake—but let’s just say it got my juices flowing.
I felt all at once aroused and energized by her suggestion. The stomach pain of moments ago was completely forgotten.
“Yes, please,” I told her. I pulled out my phone and fumbled around for my Ryde app to summon a car. “Once we get back to your place, we’re definitely doing that second thing.”
LaLuna frowned at me. “What if I don’t want to wait that long?”
“Not wait that… long?” I gave her a confused look, and my cheeks burned even brighter. “What, do you want to find a bush or something?”
I mean, I wouldn’t argue. The scandal of the whole thing was a bit of a turn on. Plus, I was pretty sure I’d take her in the middle of the street if she’d let me. But I hadn’t taken her for that type of person.
“No, silly.” LaLuna chuckled. She nodded in the direction of a nearby building. “We’re almost to your apartment, aren’t we? Maybe we could... spend the night there instead?”
“My apartment?” My blood froze, and all the desire went out of me in a split second. A shiver ran down my spine, even though it was about sixty out, and it wasn’t really that cold. Heck, I wasn’t even wearing a jacket.
“Wh-whatever would we want to go there for?”
“For option two, remember? Or do I need to remind you again?” She raised her brow again as she said that last bit.
“Uh… no, no you don’t.” I did want option two. It had been ages since we’d tried that particular number, and I really did enjoy it.
I bit my lip. Here I was with a girl that wanted me as much as I wanted her, and I was hedging why? Because my apartment is a bit messy? Maybe it would be okay. Maybe she wouldn’t mind. I mean, her place was never completely clean, right?
Or was it? I thought back to the last time I’d been there, which was only last week. Sure, there’d been a couple toys on the floor, but that was Grace’s fault. Nothing else had really been out of place.
Grace was the fae baby LaLuna had been holding when I’d met her. I loved that little girl, too, but she wasn’t exactly known for her cleanliness. Of course, she was only about nine months old, so I couldn’t really blame her.
But the rest of LaLuna’s place, especially the bedroom, well… if I were being honest, those places were pretty spotless. I had never taken LaLuna for a clean freak, but it was pretty clear she didn’t like big messes much, either. And my apartment was a gigantic mess.
Nope, going to my apartment was a bad idea.
I fumbled with the Ryde app again. There was a car about two minutes away from us. I just had to convince LaLuna it was for the best.
I turned to face her. “Look, I want option two. Really, I do. But I think it’d go better at your place.” I held up my phone to her eye level. “There’s a car just two minutes away. Let’s just take it back to your place and–”
“But I want you now, Damian.”
Heat rose from my nether region, and I felt myself stir at
the very suggestion. I ran a shaky hand through my hair and gave off a nervous laugh. “It’s only like forty minutes to your house, and we can fool around a little in the back of the car as a warmup.” I added with a wide smile.
She gave me a flat look. “You know I don’t really like people watching.”
Valid point. I’d been right after all. “But I like your bed better than mine. It’s comfy in all the right spots. Think of the after-cuddle.” I was starting to get desperate.
LaLuna put her hands on her hips. “Do you want me or not? Because I’m not sure this,” she pointed at her own chest, “is willing to wait forty minutes to find out.”
My eyes trailed over in the direction of my apartment, then back to LaLuna. She was starting to fume a little, which was a bad sign. If I didn’t do something fast, I would lose out on option two. And who knew when she’d be in the mood for that again?
Like I said, we hadn’t done it in a while.
“Uh…” I was acting like an idiot. What could it hurt? “I guess we can go to–”
Her expression warmed in an instant, and she hugged me tight. “Thank you.”
“Sure,” I said again. Then wanted to smack myself for it. What was with me tonight?
LaLuna’s hand inched toward mine, and I took it, feeling the warmth of her fingers as they wrapped around my own. Gosh, her hands felt amazing. I started to think about what those hands would be doing in a few minutes and felt heat rise to my cheeks once more.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I blurted out.
LaLuna pulled away. She laughed slightly and shook her head, then we got moving, holding hands all the while. It really wasn’t that far to my apartment building—she’d been right about that—so we made the rest of the walk in no time at all. Every few seconds, I’d peek over at LaLuna, and she’d stare at me with that suggestive look of hers, and I’d swoon a little more inside, thinking about what would be happening real soon.
“Truth be told,” LaLuna said, her tone turning serious. I pushed my way through the door to my apartment complex. “I’ve been a little unsettled at my house in Ravensdale ever since the car incident.”
She was talking about when someone had keyed the car outside her house back in February. We’d killed the person responsible a little later, but LaLuna and Grace were technically on the run from a bad fae named Regin who wanted them both dead, so I could understand her nervousness. If one person had found her, who’s to say another couldn’t do the same?
“Well it’s no trouble,” I told her. It was, but I wasn’t going to admit that. Not now that she was opening up to me. I waved a hand at her. “You’ll be safe and sound at my place tonight.”
Another thought came to me. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change course. “But do you have a babysitter until morning? We could always–”
She grabbed my face in her hand and turned it to face her. “It’s fine, Damian. Let’s just go. I can barely stand it already.”
My desire stirred again. “You got it.”
The two of us piled into the elevator, and I pressed the button for the seventh floor. That was my floor. There were twelve floors in this building, so the seventh floor wasn’t anything special. Nothing was special about my apartment, in fact. Other than the fact that it was a mess.
I started to worry about LaLuna’s reaction, and if it would dim her mood right as she leaned against me. I could feel her warmth pressed tight up against my body. It was intoxicating in a way I couldn’t quite describe, but also strangely comforting.
LaLuna’s form started to relax, and it was only then that I realized she’d been tense this whole time. Just how worried was she? Maybe I’d talk to Mei about it later.
I turned to look at her, and she stared up into my eyes, smiling. The simple act melted my heart. Lousy apartment or no, she’d be safe with me tonight. And satisfied, too, I reminded myself as I felt my arousal stir once more.
Option two here we come.
The elevator whirred as it rose into the building. Seconds later, it dinged, and the door opened. I extended one hand into the hallway beyond. “After you, milady.”
LaLuna shook her head again. “I don’t know which one is yours, remember? I’ve never been here before.”
“Oh yeah.” I let out a nervous laugh. “Right.” I shuffled off the elevator and extended my hand to her instead, which she readily accepted. “Well let’s get going, then.”
Hand in hand, we walked down the dimly lit hallway toward my apartment door. There was no one else stirring or milling about at this hour, so we had the place to ourselves.
Suddenly, I felt extremely self-conscious, and I started noticing every small crack in the ceiling or odd stain on the hallway carpet. My little apartment complex seemed woefully inadequate for a woman of LaLuna’s caliber. What was I doing bringing her here again?
But she didn’t seem to notice, or at least she didn’t remark that she’d noticed anything. I’d have to take it as a win.
Still, what would she think when we finally reached my apartment, and it looked worse than the outside?
I felt my heart flutter as it beat faster and faster the closer we got to my door. Finally, we were there. “Well, here we are,” I said, practically choking on every word. I pointed toward my apartment door with a small flourish.
“Good,” LaLuna replied. Her eyes narrowed, and she shot me a look that was filled with desire. “Because I’m not sure I can wait much longer.”
Without warning, she leaned in for a kiss, planting her lips against mine.
Her mouth was hot and greedy, probing my own lips with their desire. I returned the kiss just as passionately as fire stirred in my groin and my heart went wild. My lips parted slightly, and her tongue entered my mouth, interlocking with my own in a wild dance of pleasure and arousal. Every rational thought left my head, replaced with an overwhelming desire. My only thought was for LaLuna. Nothing else mattered. Just her. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything.
She pulled back a second later, her lips hovering just close enough to almost touch. I could sense her smiling as she looked deep into my eyes, her gaze full of the same desire that I held for her.
My breath came out in spurts as I tried in vain to slow my heart rate back to something resembling normal. “That was…”
“Amazing?” she whispered.
“Uh huh.”
I pushed forward, eager to kiss her again, but her hand slid up before I could reach her lips, and one slender finger blocked my attempt.
“Open the door so we can finish this in private,” LaLuna insisted.
Well, well, well. How was I supposed to turn down a request like that?
I slid my own hand down into my front pocket and hunted for my keys. A lot of apartment buildings these days had electronic locks where you just entered a code to let yourself into your room, but mine wasn’t new or fancy enough for all that, so I still had the old-fashioned key lock.
My fingers hit something metallic, and I pulled on it. Peering down, I could tell I’d found the right object. It was my keyring.
LaLuna was still hovering over me, so I glanced back up at her and gave her a knowing smile, then reluctantly turned to face my door.
I was so full of desire my hands were trembling in anticipation, and the simple act of putting a key in a lock was almost beyond me. In the end, it took way more maneuvering than it should have, but I finally managed to slide the small bit of metal into the opening and gave it a swift turn.
The lock didn’t want to budge.
“Come on, stupid thing,” I mumbled. “Work already.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d had trouble with the lock. It had been acting up lately. I kept trying to remember to tell the landlord about it and get him up here to look at it, but I was also a week behind on rent, so I figured I should at least catch up on that before I bugged him.
“What was that?” LaLuna asked, looking over my shoulder.
“Nothing, sweetie.”
I gave the key another tug and felt it move just a little. “Come on.”
“Having a little... performance anxiety?” LaLuna offered.
“Something like that,” I called back to her, chuckling slightly.
I twisted the key so hard I swore it would break off and finally heard the click of the lock disengaging. Thank goodness.
“All good,” I said, turning back around to face her.
LaLuna smiled back at me. Her eyes trailed down to my midsection, and then back up to my face. Her brows raised. “I sure hope so.”
I gave the door handle a good squeeze, and the door swung open on me so fast I almost fell into the apartment. I hadn’t even realized I’d been leaning against the door until that moment.
Thankfully, I recovered quickly enough that I don’t think LaLuna noticed.
My pulse quickened once more as thoughts filled my head about what LaLuna, and I would be doing soon enough in my dingy little apartment. I kept staring into her eyes as my hand fumbled for the light switch so the two of us could see.
Not that we’d need it for long, I hoped, but one almost tripping attempt on the way to the bedroom was enough for one night.
We both plunged into my apartment as I kept searching for that damn switch. LaLuna swung the door shut behind us, and it was almost fully dark. There was a little light coming in from my one window that faced the outside, but not enough to do much.
Finally, I found the light switch as LaLuna surprised me with another kiss. Her arms wrapped around my chest and pulled me in close as her lips enveloped my own. She tasted sweet and a little smoky from the dinner earlier. An intoxicating mix if I’d ever known one.
I leaned into the kiss and wrapped my free hand around her as well while flicking the light switch on with the other.