by Linsey Hall
The woman stood on the other side of the shop, leaning against a wide wooden desk with her arms crossed over her chest. She had flame red hair flowing in waves to her waist and wore a slinky red catsuit. Matching red heels gave her an extra four inches of height, which was impressive considering she was probably already five ten.
“Melusine.” Tabitha grinned. “I brought you some customers.”
Melusine waved her hand around the space. “Browse at your leisure. Haggle at your own risk.”
“We’re not here to browse.” Though I did like the look of some of the books that were stacked against the shelf nearest to me. And there was a wicked-looking dagger that called my name. “We were sent here by Hedy. She said you could help us with a cursed portal.”
Melusine’s red eyebrows rose. “Now that sounds interesting.”
She gestured me forward with nails that were tipped with black. They matched her eyes, which seemed to see straight through me.
We approached, dodging the cases of shrunken skulls and ancient genie lamps. As I neared, I got a hit of her magic signatures.
The scent of burning wood, the feel of a crackling fire warm on my face. I faltered just briefly.
Dang, she’s strong. No wonder Hedy had sent us here.
Chapter Four
We stopped in front of Melusine, who never took her eyes from my face. It almost looked as if she recognized me.
Weird.
I didn’t like it.
But I shrugged it off and dug into my pocket for the vial of oil that had been scooped off the front of the portal, and handed it over.
She reached for it, but instead of taking the vial, she grabbed my arm.
Her magic flared, suddenly feeling too hot against my face.
“Hey!” I yanked my arm back.
Cade stepped in front of me, jostling me out of the way. “Back up.”
Melusine just laughed and stepped to the side, her dark eyes peering around Cade and landing on me. She smiled, a crafty, pleased smile that made me even more wary.
Then, she stepped back and sized up Cade. Her gaze widened with appreciation.
“Well, hello, god of war.” She danced her fingers over his chest. “I was so distracted by your friend Njord here that I didn’t even notice you.”
“Njord?” I asked.
But she ignored me, raking her gaze over Cade’s tall form. What was it with all the ladies drooling over him? First the Vampire of Venice, and now Melusine?
Inwardly, I winced. I hadn’t been much better. And it sure as heck wasn’t my place to be jealous.
“Could you help us?” Cade asked. “We’ll pay.”
“Oh, and how?” she purred.
“Business, Melusine. We’re here on business.” Cade’s voice was firm.
She rolled her eyes, then straightened. She snapped out her hand. “The vial, please.”
Melusine was suddenly all business—as if a shutter had closed over her flirty side.
I handed it over, and she took it.
“Oh, interesting!” She raised it to her face and peered at it. “Right, let’s go to the back. Tabitha? Will you flip the closed sign? Then you can go.”
“On it.” Tabitha waved goodbye to us, then hurried back to the door to do the job, and we followed Melusine toward the back of the room.
She led us through an arched blue doorway that led into a smaller round room. The ceiling was only two stories above us and domed like the one in the larger room. More pixies floated up there, darting around, their colorful wings blazing like rainbows.
“Illusions,” Melusine said. “Cruel to keep pixies underground.”
Well, at least she had a conscience.
There was a single round table in the middle of the space. It held a large stone basin that was round and shallow. Water gleamed on the surface. I felt a light tug in my chest, so subtle I thought I’d imagined it.
Weird.
I nodded toward the water. “This is all you use for your magic?” I’d never really heard of an Eclektica before.
“I am half Selkie. Hence, the basin of water. It helps me focus my power and read different magics. Create them.”
Half Selkie? The sea creatures lived off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, as far as I knew. And turned into seals. I wanted to ask her if she turned into a seal, but bit my tongue. Asking “do you put on a seal skin and flop into the sea at night?” was probably not polite.
Melusine approached the table and uncorked the vial. Cade and I joined her, standing on the other side of the table so we could get a good view.
She raised the vial to her nose and sniffed delicately, then grimaced.
“Rotten eggs, right?” I said.
“Yes. And evil.” Her gaze met mine. “You said you need help with a portal?”
I nodded. “That stuff coats it. The portal has been closed for centuries, but now it’s covered in that stuff and dark magic is seeping from it, poisoning the enchanted forest at the Undercover Protectorate.”
“Oh, no good.” She shook her head slowly as she poured some of the oil into the basin. It sank deep into the water, unfurling and spreading out like a cloud of darkness.
Melusine hovered her hand over the water, her magic flaring and her eyes glowing a bright silver.
She shuddered and stepped back, rubbing her palm against her sleek red catsuit. Her gaze landed on us. “Right. If you’re going through that portal, you’ll need something to protect you from this curse. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it’s destructive. Deadly for a human to be coated in that oil, I would imagine.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to sign up for that,” I said.
“Can’t say that I blame you.” She walked toward a dark wooden door and pulled it open, riffling around for what I assumed were supplies. Then, she shut the door and turned to us. “I’ll make you a spell that will temporarily protect you from the curse. But it’ll cost.”
Shit. Was this something that could be expensed to the Protectorate? Because I was pretty much broke at this point.
“That’s fine,” Cade said.
I’d have to ask Hedy or Jude about him getting paid back. Although he was an official member. He probably had that sorted.
“Step forward,” Melusine said.
We did as she asked. She nodded at me. “You first.”
I was about to ask what I needed to do when she raised a hand to my chest and hovered it near my heart. She dipped the fingertips of her other hand into the basin of water. Her palm near my chest glowed with red light, and something tugged within me. Then, she moved her hand toward the basin and dipped her fingers in. The glow sank into the inky black water and began to swirl around. It condensed into a tiny amount—no more than a cup—that was thick as oil and glowed red.
Melusine scooped it up in a little vial, then corked it and handed it to me. “Drink that before you go through the portal. It should last a few days.”
I took it. The vial was warm against my hand.
She completed the same ritual with Cade, though his light glowed blue. Finally, she did a similar ritual with a key, dipping it into the remains of the oily water until it glowed gray.
She handed it to Cade. “This will help you unlock the portal. I’ll send you a bill.”
“Aye.”
She escorted us from the room. The main shop was now empty, Tabitha gone.
“Thank you for the help.” I nodded at her, then started for the door. Cade did the same.
“Hold your horses, Njord.”
I turned to her. “Why do you keep calling me that?”
“That’s something you need to figure out.” She went to her desk and riffled through a drawer, then walked toward me. “Here.”
She stuck out her hand. I reached to take whatever she was handing me, and she dropped a small golden stone onto my palm. “That’ll let you come back here without an escort. If you need my help, come back.”
“I need you to tell me why you’re calling me Nj
ord,” I said. “That’d be pretty helpful.”
“Frankly, I have no idea.” She shook her head, confusion in her dark gaze. “But there’s something strange about you. Almost recognizable.”
Dang. That’s not what I’d been hoping for.
“Thanks.” I gave her one last, confused look, and turned. Cade waited for me by the door. I joined him.
“What did she give you?”
I held out my hand. The stone gleamed gold.
“That’s quite an honor,” he said.
“I’ll take it.” I shoved the stone in my pocket as we stepped out onto the darkened street. The Vaults were weird and creepy, but I kinda liked it. And a place like this could be useful.
We headed down the street, back toward the exit. The crowd had grown, as if they’d waited until night to come out. Music spilled from some of the bars, and shops bustled with customers.
It grew quieter toward the end of the street where Amos’s shop and the bookstore were located. As we passed the alley that ran along the side of Amos’s place, a rustling noise caught my ear.
I glanced down the alley just in time to see several figures dart away from the wall and kick down a side door. They rushed inside.
Adrenaline kicked into high gear, the memory of my own home being attacked by Ricketts and his gang spurring me on. Being attacked in your own home was the worst.
“Come on,” I said. “Something’s wrong.”
“What?” Cade asked.
“Some people just broke into Amos’s place.” I darted down the alley, Cade behind me.
“Not friends of his?”
“Do you normally kick down the door when you visit your friends?”
“No.” Cade drew his sword from the ether. “Would you like to lead or me?”
“Me.” I liked that he immediately had my back.
We reached the small wooden door, which had been shut behind the intruders. But there was shouting coming from behind it.
I drew my sword from the ether and opened the door, rushing into the room.
It looked like a utility room, with a long counter and large sink on the back wall. Shelves with empty terrariums lined the other two walls. Two guys were smashing the terrariums while another had Amos in a headlock.
“You’ll never get my shop!” the old man shouted.
Mobster bastards.
I didn’t need to be from The Vaults to know what this was.
“Take the two smashing the place up,” I said. “I’ve got Amos.”
Cade darted toward the jerk who was so busy smashing stuff that he didn’t even see us.
I shouted. “Hey! Pick on someone your own size!”
The guy strangling Amos looked up. He was skinny, with greasy blond hair and not much chin. His beady eyes landed on me and he snarled. “Who the hell are you?”
I immediately named him Rat Man, even though rats were way cuter than him.
“Your worst nightmare.” I tried to give it my best Batman voice, but it really didn’t work. “Just let go of Amos.”
At my side, Cade had already knocked the first guy unconscious and was moving for the second. Rat Man’s gaze darted to Cade and widened.
“Let go of Amos or he’s on you next,” I said. “Though it’s actually me you should be concerned about.”
Rat Man raised a dagger to Amos’s throat. The old man paled.
“Let me outta here or the old man gets it.” Rat Man’s eyes were so wide and panicked that it looked like he’d just as easily mistakenly stab Amos.
If Cade turned on him, he’d probably freak. I could try throwing one of my daggers at him, but moving my arm that fast could startle him too. And my sonic boom was out of the question. It could pulverize Amos.
The sink behind him caught my eye, along with the tall faucet that gleamed in the dim light. Within, water waited.
I could feel it.
“Let me outta here!” Rat Man shrieked.
Yeah, he wasn’t good under pressure.
Screw it.
I called on my new power over water—something I’d kept secret since I’d first used it in Venice—and imagined it shooting out of the faucet so hard it slammed Rat Man in the back of the head.
It did as I commanded. And I could feel it. Feel the pressure and the power. The faucet snapped and a jet of water sprayed out, hard enough to slam Rat Man in the back and throw him onto his front. He lost his grip on Amos, who stumbled to the side.
My gift over water was nothing like Caro’s, who could slice through a man with the water she conjured out of the air.
Rat Man was still totally conscious and in one piece. He groaned and scrambled to his feet, throwing out his hand and blasting his magic at me.
Green slime shot through the air and slammed against my chest. It burned like ant stings as it dripped down to my pants. “Ugh!”
Rat Man ran right for me, trying to get to the door.
I was so grossed out and annoyed that I dropped my sword and hit him with a right hook, smashing my fist into his jaw.
He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes rolling back in his head, and crashed into the ground.
Pain flared in my hand. I shook it. “Dang it!”
“My shop!” Amos yelled.
Cade dropped the unconscious vandal and strode toward the pipe that was still spurting water. He grabbed it and carefully squeezed it closed.
“Whoa,” I muttered.
Cade turned to me. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Just stings like the devil.” I tried to wipe the goop off me, flinging it to the ground. “Not acid, thankfully.”
Amos approached, his wrinkled brow even more creased with confusion. He got right up close to me, peering up with bright eyes. “You are strange.”
I stepped back. “Uh.”
“There is magic within you that is not united.” He sniffed, his nose wrinkling. “Aye. You must fix the conflict within you. Join the two halves, or you won’t last long.”
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “That’s up to you to decide. But thank you for saving my shop.” His gaze darted to the damaged water pipe, but he looked more resigned than angry. “If you ever decide you would like a pygmy toad, you come by. On the house.”
“Thank you.” I did not want a pygmy toad.
“What’s going on here?” An authoritative voice sounded from behind me.
I turned, catching sight of a tall man with golden hair and blue eyes. He was handsome, if you were into Ken dolls.
I wasn’t.
But he carried himself like a fighter, his broad shoulders and chest a clear indicator that he could throw down if necessary.
I didn’t want to throw down. Not at the moment, at least. Not until after I’d had my shower.
“Lawman!” Amos hurried forward. “These good-for-nothing-no-good-miserable-sons-of-dogs came here and tried to scare me out of my shop!”
“Again?” The man shook his head. “You’ve got a valuable piece of real estate here, Amos.” His gaze landed on us. He nodded at Cade, a respectful gesture, then looked at me. “And who are you?”
“Someone in need of a shower.” I looked at Amos. “You all right?”
He nodded, clearly upset about his lost terrariums—for the pygmy toads, I had to assume—then he nodded toward the man he’d called Lawman. “He’ll take it from here.”
“Great.” I gave a thumbs-up. “Then I’m outta here.”
I needed a shower and I needed it quick. I left, passing by Lawman without making eye contact. I didn’t want to meet anyone new, especially not someone going by the name Lawman. He might have something to do with the Order. Though I doubted it. He had more of a vigilante air about him.
Cade joined me out on the street, his gaze quickly taking in my soaked front. “Come on. I live close to here. You can get cleaned up.”
I wanted to say that I’d do it back at the Protectorate, but honestly, this stuff burned like hell. “Thanks.”
> I followed him back through the exit and the book shop. As soon as we stepped onto the street, I sucked in a breath of cool, crisp air.
“This way.” Cade led me down the street, going right and crossing the street toward a three-story building that looked to be at least a few hundred years old. We stopped in front of a green door. “This is my place.”
He unlocked it, and we headed up three flights of stairs, entering another locked door.
“Bathroom is across the living room.” He flipped on the lights to reveal a large space with a high ceiling and windows overlooking Edinburgh Castle. “I’ll leave some clothes outside the door.”
“Thanks.” I raced across the living room, trying to take in as much as possible without dawdling. I was almost crawling out of my skin from the slime.
Cade’s place was big and beautiful, filled with furniture that looked like a decorator had been told that Cade was masculine but classy, with a hint of the outdoorsman.
Which was accurate.
But it was the view that really got me. The castle, sitting high on the cliffs, glittered with golden light from the windows. I wanted to drift closer, take it all in.
No time for that, though.
I raced into the bathroom, which was spacious and modern, and cranked on the water, leaping beneath it without even taking off my boots.
I groaned. “Gonna regret that.”
But at least the cool water was washing the slime away. I struggled out of my clothes, then scrubbed up with the soap that smelled like him. It wasn’t the storm-at-sea scent of his magic, but something fresh and manly. Sandalwood?
Cade was clearly a dude’s dude. But he carried it effortlessly, at least.
I scrubbed until all of the prickling sensation went away, then hopped out and dried off with one of his towels. A neatly folded pile of sweats sat on the floor outside the door, which I scooped up as fast as I could and then darted back into the bathroom.
As I pulled them on, I couldn’t help but feel closer to him.
I was being weird.
This was the shit girlfriends did.
I was so not his girlfriend. Not even close.
I was the colleague who he had wisely rebuffed.
But that didn’t stop me from raising the sweatshirt to my face and taking a big ol’ whiff.