by Luna Joya
He glanced toward the lunch room where the gaming assets’ loud cheering jarred against her quiet inquisition. “Your sister majored in forensic sciences and has a knack for computers.” Hacking, to be precise. The two sisters being on the team made sense. The other FBI special agent who’d been a Ranger sniper fit as well. The reality television celebrity and the blade-happy redhead? Not so much.
Her hands curled into fists. “Tell him.” She directed the last comment to A13. “It’s unfair to keep this from him if you expect him to participate meaningfully.”
The boss and Donovan locked in a stare down, each unwilling to back off. Mark watched the silent posturing. What was he missing here? And had her eyes dimmed to blue-grey again or had he imagined the change in the first place?
Wind jolted through the room, shaking A13’s desk. The SAC slapped his palms flat across the top of his files. Pens clattered to the concrete.
The heavy bank of overhead lights swayed back and forth with a groan. Mark reached for his gun and found an empty space. He blanched. The oddness of the situation had messed with his head. What was he doing? This was Los Angeles. Earthquake. It had to be. What else could cause things to move like that? He searched his memory for emergency protocols. Stay inside. Take cover. Beneath large skylights, Donovan was exposed and vulnerable. He rushed toward her. Another blast knocked him back.
“Stop, Cavan.” The SAC’s voice bled thick with irritation. “Delia Donovan is a witch. Each of the Donovan sisters is an elemental with an inherited call to one element in nature. Hers is air.”
“A witch?” Was he kidding right now? Images of little kids in pointy hats trick-or-treating or an old wart-faced crone with green skin skidded across his brain. Not the hot lawyer who sat before him.
The SAC reached for the strewn pages on the table. “Delia is also a psychometric. She can read the history of an object by making physical contact with it. Specifically, she slips into the mind of someone who touched the same object in the past and can relay impressions. What she described was a real crime. The paper bag was retrieved at the scene. I have the coroner investigator’s report here.”
Mark stared. None of his thoughts were appropriate to ask the SAC. “Sir?”
“Magic.” Donovan slid forward in the chair until the bindings caught her.
Mark’s mouth dropped open. They couldn’t expect him to believe magic was a real thing outside fairy tales. It had to be a trick. Only neither of them laughed. “You’re serious?”
“Very much so.” A13 returned his papers to their neat, orderly stacks.
Mark scrubbed a hand over his face, willing them to stop this nonsense. His instinct was to argue, but maybe confrontation was exactly what Donovan wanted. So he challenged her. Just like he’d done whenever he’d been confronted by bullies in school spoiling for a fight. He hadn’t become a combat pilot without the nerve to back it up.
He’d draw the line in the sand. “Then do it again.”
A twinkle slid through Donovan’s eyes before their color shifted once more. She flicked a finger at him, and he almost fell when a gust ripped through the closed warehouse.
A13 smacked at papers on his desk to keep them from flying. “Enough.”
Mark grabbed for his waistband. Not like his gun was there or would do him much good anyway. What was he going to do? Shoot the problem? Not likely when the source was the bound asset he’d sworn to protect.
His heart rabbited in his chest and clammy sweat pooled on his body. He hadn’t suffered an anxiety attack in years. Not since months after the explosion.
A chair flung itself across the room, screeching to a stop on its side a few feet away from him.
Donovan winced. “Still working on aim, but I thought you might want to sit down. We’ve overwhelmed you. Breathe deeply. The panic will pass.” Her voice came slower, rougher. She sounded like she’d run one of the long-distance races her file had mentioned.
“I’m good,” he snapped and hoped she couldn’t see the way his legs shook, burning with the need for fight or flight.
A strand escaped her tight bun. “You sure, G.I. Joe?”
“Wrong branch, Lawyer Barbie.” He flipped his arm and shoved up the cuff to bare his ink. The one with slashes for his fallen friends. “Marines.”
She bobbed her head once. “Can you untie me now? We’re done.” Her tired, flat tone was even scarier than the peeved one.
He folded his arms across his chest to stop the trembling. “The knife. The rope. We haven’t finished.” Although with the information bomb dropped on him so far, he didn’t want to continue.
“Cavan.” She said his name on a sad sigh, and despite himself, he leaned in to catch the next words in her soft voice. “I wasn’t the one being tested.”
Don’t stop now. Keep reading with your copy of MAGIC TOUCH available now.
And visit LunaJoya.com to keep up with the latest news where you can subscribe to the newsletter for contests, giveaways, new releases, and more.
Don’t miss more of the Legacy series with book two, MAGIC TOUCH, available now, and find more from Luna Joya at www.lunajoya.com
A witch with secrets, her reluctant protector, and a murder to solve. What could possibly go wrong?
Delia Donovan has everything under control. Keep her family’s magical secrets hidden? No problem. Rein in her own witchy powers? Easy. Join a clandestine FBI task force to solve a cold case murder? She’s got it covered. But ignoring the intense sexual chemistry she has with the cocky jerk who heads her security detail? Well, that’s another story.
The last thing Mark Cavan wants on his team is a supernatural Lawyer Barbie who traipses through crime scenes in designer clothes and stilettos. But he needs a magical asset to solve the case, and Delia is the perfect witch for the job.
He’ll just have to somehow ignore his growing attraction to the infuriating woman. Seems doable…right?
It’s not long before Mark learns there’s more to Delia than meets the eye—and Delia realizes that falling for Mark would be the easiest—and most complicated—thing she’s ever done.
But they’ll need to put their feelings on the back burner if they want to catch the murderer…before they become the next victims.
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Acknowledgments
Writing is a solitary adventure. Publishing is not. Thank you to everyone who helped bring the Legacy sisters to the page. First, thank you reader for spending time with my witches.
Thanks to Heather McCorkle for believing in Cami, Tee Tate for being #TeamSam and providing editorial guidance through my panics, and the rest of City Owl’s team and authors. You are an awesome publishing family.
For all the pep talks and “let’s add magic” conversations, thanks to the Tips. Megan, Summer, and Lana—you are my elemental sisters. A huge shout out goes to All the Kissing and #RChat. A very special heartfelt thanks to my sister-in-crime Hannah Felicia for getting my introverted stealth ways. Also, a special “you guys” to my paranormal pack Kat and Nadia, Jen who brings the tough guys, and Poppy who gets my favorite heroine.
A big kiss to my husband for putting up with plot brainstorms and me living in my head. You and Tiny Editor are my heart.
A million hugs to my parents for supporting storytelling so much my mother snuck me in to see Eudora Welty and other authors at symposiums, armed with crayons and snacks.
Finally, thanks to the County of Los Angeles Norwalk Public Library special collection, UCLA Library, and Los Angeles Police Department for access to their resources as well as the Margaret Herrick Library for helping me dream in technicolor.
About the Autho
r
Award-winning author Luna Joya writes hex and sex in The Legacy Series, a witch family saga of romances about kickass heroines and the men who love them.
Fluent in sarcasm and penal code, Luna prosecutes by day and writes at night. She loves history, especially Los Angeles and Hollywood lore. A survivor of traumatic brain injury with steel body parts, she lives in SoCal with her combat veteran husband and their two-pound terror of a rescue pup.
Sign up for the latest news, giveaways, and more: https://lunajoya.com/newsletter/
www.lunajoya.com
About the Publisher
City Owl Press is a cutting edge indie publishing company, bringing the world of romance and speculative fiction to discerning readers.
www.cityowlpress.com
Additional Titles
MAGIC TOUCH
By: Luna Joya
A witch with secrets, her reluctant protector, and a murder to solve. What could possibly go wrong?
A TOUCH OF DARKNESS
By: Yelena Casale & Tina Moss
USA Today Bestselling Authors
Cassie Durrett dreams of the darkness. And lives the nightmare.
Award Winning Urban Fantasy
BLACKBIRD SUMMER
By: Em Shotwell
When the world fears you, being Gifted is a curse.
BLOOD AND MAGIC
By: Melissa Sercia
Gray is a Dhampir—a woman alive, but also dead. With supernatural powers and an insatiable need for blood, her existence is cursed.
BLOOD KING
By: Amber K. Bryant
While Sybille’s ability to summon and guide spirits of the undead to the afterlife pays the bills, it comes with colossal risks, including becoming undead herself.
BOHERMORE
By: Jennifer Rose McMahon
USA Today Bestselling Author
When your dreams become reality, being cursed can be a real nightmare.
CODE BLACK
By: Tina Moss
USA Today Bestselling Author
Gossip mag reporter Sera Benenati knows a thing or two about unearthing secrets...and burying them.
FREYJA’S DAUGHTER
By: Rachel Sullivan
Well behaved women seldom make history, but they still end up as the monsters of folklore.
FROSTBITE
By: Joshua Bader
Getting hired to be a personal wizard for a billionaire may just become a death sentence.
HEART OF MALICE
By: Lisa Edmonds
The first time Moses Murphy’s granddaughter killed on his orders, she was six years old.
HOUSE OF ASH & BRIMSTONE
By: Megan Starks
Hell has come to collect, but Gisele Walker has no plans to pay the debt.
MIDNIGHT DESIRE
By: Shari Nichols
Danger and desire collide to form an unlikely alliance between a witch with a sordid past and a special agent who might be her future.
PURGATORY’S ANGEL
By: B. Hughes-Millman
We all have a dark side where inner demons roam. When devils of our nightmares murder in their sleep, only she can stop them.
SMOKE AND RITUAL
By: Melissa Sercia
The voices haunt her. Their whispers taunt her with a war she never wanted. But Arya Frost has more to contend with than the cryptic voices disturbing her sleep.
TRUTHSIGHT
By: Miriam Greystone
Rowan and Amy must join forces with the creatures who were once her patients and fight to uncover the one secret that may be powerful enough to save them all.
WAKING THE DEAD
By: D. B. Sieders
The road to hell begins when the reaper darkens her door.