by Maya Daniels
Elijah was a predator.
There was no way around that.
Anyone who mistook the easygoing front he showed to the world for anything other than that would live to regret it down the road. That, I had no doubt. I’d made many mistakes in my life, but stupid I was not. The arrogant jerk chuckled low in his throat, turning his face toward me just enough so I could see his wink. As usual, it did stupid things to me. My heart tripped over itself, stuttering in my chest and ricocheting from my ribs to the spine and back. Scratch that. I wasn’t just stupid; I was idiotic when this guy was around. Seriously Brigit, get a hold of yourself, you dumbass. I wholeheartedly agreed with the voice in my head.
“I will tell you how it works if you tell me about your magic.”
Muttering low so we weren’t overheard by the hordes of people passing around us, he took my elbow, turning me to face a shop window. As I was spun around, I saw Crystal stopping at the crossroad, swiveling her head left and right as she watched for oncoming cars. I didn’t even notice she was there.
With a groan, I tugged my arm from his hold and pressed the bridge of my nose with a thumb and forefinger, praying for some miracle to give me my brain back. Dark spots danced behind my closed eyelids from the pressure I applied. What the hell was the matter with me? I couldn’t think straight around this guy and I started thinking he might be doing some spells or something to muddle my head.
“At least pretend you are interested.” Elijah spoke from the corner of his mouth, and my eyes snapped open, my hand dropping to my side.
A burst of colors screamed at me from behind the store window. Sexy bras and panties were stretched over faceless plastic mannequins as if a damn rainbow decided to make this its final stop for eternal rest and exploded all over everything. Lace, silk, garters, thigh highs, handcuffs, whips, you name it … they all taunted me, while Elijah grinned from ear to ear, looking too pleased with himself. I wasn’t exactly a shy person, per se, but that curl of full lips on his stupidly handsome face made heat rise from my neck and cover me to the top of my head.
“I think that copper set, with the push-up bra and garter belt will look great on you.” I blurted out, “The color will open you up,” cringing internally I bit on the inside of my mouth to keep it shut.
Throwing his head back, he barked a laugh before steering me around and nudging me to walk in front of him. Crystal had crossed the street to our side and was on the move again. Another thing I failed to notice.
“You really are something, Brigit.” Snickering, he shook his head, strands of chestnut hair dancing around his face. My fingers twitched with the need to brush them away from his high cheekbones.
Yeah, I’m an idiot who needs to get her head out of her ass, I thought. “I know, right?” is what I said out loud.
“What are you planning on doing with her after we see what’s she’s up to?” Jerking his chin forward, he indicated the young woman we were following.
I guessed we were past the topic of his tracking and my magic.
Who would’ve guessed? Am I right, or am I right?
“Someone is worried about her and wants her back home safe. It must be nice to have a family.” My shoulder rolled in a shrug. “I would’ve finished my job as soon as I saw her, but I’m doing you a favor by playing James Bond and following her across the city. You’re welcome, by the way.” That last part I said with my nose in the air, sniffing as if I was put out by it.
“How will I ever be able to repay you for the boon you granted me, M’Lady?” the jerk drawled, and I couldn’t stop the smile stretching my lips if my life depended on it.
“You can start by telling me how you track?” Phrasing it like a question, I snorted when I saw the shrewd look on his face. “Or not.”
“The ability to track has been in my bloodline for generations.” Not expecting an answer, I blinked at him owlishly. “I’ve never cared about how it works or why, just that it does.”
“So, you are a hired gun who can track people who have magic?” The assumption wasn’t really a stab in the dark. The way he dressed, the way he moved … it all shouted merc from miles away.
“Hired gun would indicate that someone is paying me to do my job.” With his hand hovering over my lower back, he guided me around a corner, not losing sight of Crystal. “As it stands, I do it of my own free will.”
“Look at you all vigilante like.” Hating the fact that I found him fascinating, I kept talking despite everything in me yelling to get as far away from Elijah Hawthorne as possible. “What are you in your other life? A billionaire businessman bored from spending an infinite amount of money on one night stands by buying them nose and boob jobs? Uhhh, do you have a dungeon too for sexy times?” My wiggling eyebrows and attempt at a joke died an untimely death.
“You could say that, minus the nose and boob jobs, as you call them. For the dungeon you’ll have to check for yourself one day.” He looked so serious that my grin froze before slipping off my face and leaving a tingling feeling on my lips. “I think we can both agree I don’t need to pay a woman to get her in my bed, Brigit.”
“Okay, wow.” It was rare, if ever, that I’d been left speechless. This was one of those times. Dungeon jab aside, I felt like fidgeting. “I didn’t mean to insult you …” I trailed off when he burst out laughing, his eyes twinkling with humor. I narrowed my eyes on him. “You were pulling my leg,” I accused him, stabbing a finger at his face.
“Oh no, it was all true, I just find the shocked look on your face hilarious.” Elijah’s barking was drawing attention from everyone around us, making me even more uncomfortable.
“Stop yelling!” Hissing at him, my eyes darted around to see if Crystal noticed. She didn’t, and was still walking ahead of us, but I was pissed at myself for this whole situation. “I can’t believe I actually fell for it.”
“I’m not lying, everything I said is true.” At my focused glare, both of his hands lifted to the side in the universal sign of surrender. “Apart from not getting paid. Only an idiot would do anything for free.”
“Paid by whom?” I still didn’t believe a word coming out of his mouth. “The President of the United States?”
“Why would a human pay me to track magic?” His hand flew to his chest, and he jerked his head back as if the idea of a human asking him to do anything appalled him. “By the Mage’s Guild, of course.”
All the blood drained from my body and pooled at my feet. The noise coming from the people around us—the honking of the cars, the buzz of the voices—all faded to the background, leaving only a horrible humming grating on my ears, and it was like I was standing in the middle of train tracks with a speeding train heading right for me. Numbness spread over my limbs, leaving me trembling where I stood. My vision tunneled, and my body shivered while magic swirled in the center of my chest.
I had been right, and I’d definitely been tricked.
The mages must’ve found out about me, and they sent him to drag me to their guild for questioning … or execution… maybe, depending on how the mood struck them at the time.
“Brigit?” Elijah reached for me.
Everything snapped into focus so fast it left me slightly dizzy. Before his fingers made contact with my arm, I threw my hands forward and sent a blast of power straight at his stomach, punching him like a two-hundred-pound boxer. All the air gushed through his lips as he flew through the air, his back slamming into the wall of the building behind him. I had only one thought screaming in my head.
Run.
Spinning on my heel, I bolted down the street, forgetting Crystal and five-hundred-thousand dollars. I was barreling through people, sending them stumbling left and right.
My life was worth more than that.
As it turned out, it really was worth more.
I just didn’t know how much more at the time.
7
I certainly wished I’d done more cardio in my life. Running from the bad guy taught me one thing for sure: I need
ed to exercise more because a stich was forming between my ribs and it was almost doubling me over. How could I be a badass if I couldn’t run half a mile without bending over, grabbing my knees, and sucking in air like water in a drought?
Keeping my face forward, I darted quick glances periodically over my shoulder, but there was no sign of Elijah following me. Good. Keep that devils spawn far away from me.
Working for the Mage’s Guild. What a dick. And to tell me as if I’d accept it? Fuck that.
Deal or no deal, there would be no more working with Elijah Hawthorne. I’d find Crystal on my own if it was the last thing I did.
Scanning the street, I couldn’t believe where my mindless feet had taken me. There I stood, directly outside my favorite Pub. It was still early, so there wasn’t a crowd yet, and I ducked inside, the frantic bell going ballistic over my head to announce my entrance.
Pete held a rag at the bar, washing the counters as if preparing for a sizeable crowd to descend on him at any moment. Honestly, I had no doubt there would be. Since I’d started coming here, there had been many updates to the place, and walking in made me feel like I was literally entering a pub in Ireland. With no trace of magic, this place was actually magical in its own way. The warm coloring and environment wrapped around me, slowing my erratic heartbeat in no time at all.
“Brig, what you doing here so early? And it’s not Friday, either,” Pete said in greeting, and I rushed forward, knowing I probably looked more than disheveled.
“Pete, I need your help,” I blurted out, not sure why in that moment I felt like he was the only person I could trust. I knew bits and pieces about his life, but I didn’t know much.
Definitely not enough to have to stop myself from telling him about magic and mages and everything else that almost slipped right out of my mouth.
“What’s going on?” he asked, concern etched between the soothing calmness of his dulcet tone. His eyes scanned me from head to waist, which was all he could see with the counter blocking the rest of me from view, and I saw the moment he realized something was really wrong. “Tell me, Brig. You don’t look like yourself.”
I leaned against the counter, breathing heavily, and I didn’t move my hand out of the way when he wrapped his fingers around it. “Probably because I’m not myself.” Throwing my options around in my head, I finally decided to just spit it out. “I need a place to hide out for a bit. Do you know anywhere I could lay low for a couple of days?”
His eyebrows went up in question. “A place to hide? What kind of trouble are you in? You don’t seem like you’d need to hide from many people.”
I offered a small smile at the compliment hidden between his words. “You’re right. I don’t usually, but you see …” I trailed off, thinking what a human guy would believe. It would help if I’d ever dated any. Finally, though, my mind landed on a good enough lie, and one I could pull off, along with half of the women in the world I was sure. “Okay, so, here’s what happened.” Lowering my voice, I met his eyes, making sure I projected a fragileness I would never actually feel. “There’s this guy, and we went on one date, and he’s stalking me. I need to disappear until the police take him in, and they are on his tail, they just haven’t caught him yet.”
There. That would do it.
The creases around Pete’s eyes softened as he took me in, as if he’d heard this same thing many times before. Maybe he had.
“Brig, I’m gonna be really honest with you right now. I know a place that nobody really knows about, but it’s a dump, and I hate that you’ll have to be staying there, but it will be what you need right now. It’s so depleted no one would be caught dead going there, not unless they were held at gun point.” he told me simply, and I gave him a nod. “For some reason, I want to help you. Nah. It’s not for some reason. You remind me of my sister.”
The emotion in his voice alerted me that something happened to his sister, that she wasn’t with him anymore, so I asked, “What happened to her?” In retrospect, I generally didn’t ask questions like that. I didn’t get personal, but right then, it was instinctual.
After clearing his throat, Pete met my eyes, and I could’ve sworn that there were tears pooling in them, but he blinked and there was no trace left. “She was killed. A long time ago. I don’t really like to talk about it.”
With a firm nod, I shrugged. “Bad things happen way too often in this world, huh?” It was stupid to say, but I couldn’t take it back, so I just stared at him hoping there was no pity visible in my gaze.
“Yeah, she just fell in with the wrong crowd is all,” he told me, looking toward the door at a customer entering, the chirp of the bell cascading through the almost-empty place.
Sandwiching his hand between both of mine and resting them on the counter, I gave it a squeeze. “Well, thank you for helping me. Where do I need to go?”
Pete stepped away for a moment, turning his back on me. When he faced me again, he handed me the corner of a piece of paper, the edges tattered and uneven as if he’d ripped it. The address written on it wasn’t too far out, so it would be an easy hike.
“Just go there, and take this.” Reaching in his back pocket, he gave me a black credit card, only his name etched into it in light gray stamps. “There is no limit, and you can pay me back when this is all over. Just stay safe, and I’ll check on you later.”
“How? You don’t have my phone number,” I said coolly, grinning at him. “But I could give it to you, if you want.”
“Brigit Grey, I’ve had your phone number for years. It shows up every time I run your credit card. But, in this instance, I thought I’d just stop by.” He winked, one side of his mouth twisting into a smile. “Unless you don’t want company.”
I smirked. “Company is all right by me, Pete, as long as they don’t ask too many questions. Stop by when your shift is up.”
His gaze fell to the counter at my words, and then his dark eyes met mine. “Sounds good. See ya then.”
Pushing off the bar top I’d been leaning on, I grinded my teeth when my achy leg muscles protested at the movement. I would definitely never be a gym buff, that was for sure. Exiting through the jingling door and resembling a ninety-year-old arthritic patient, I took a right, headed toward the address, and reminded myself that I had to make a quick stop first.
Rounding the train station, I gingerly took the stairs leading down into the main lobby, weaving through the crowd of people like a rat lost in a maze, though I wasn’t lost. I knew exactly where I was headed.
To the lockers.
Shifting through my pocket, I pulled the keys out stopping in front of locker 517. I slid the key into the hole, turned it, and yanked the door open to eye the items inside. One bugout bag, filled to the brim with essentials needed if I was ever on the run.
If the Mage’s Guild ever found me.
Well, found me they did, and in that moment, I was glad I’d had the sense to be prepared for this pivotal time in my life.
I always knew the day would come. Magic was part of me, so there was no escaping that fate. That meant they would want to use me for their benefit, but I had a very big problem with that. A pawn I was not, and I’d never be. Regardless of what I thought, it was what the mages did, judging by everything I’d discovered about the weasels.
I had every intention to make sure I did everything in my power to ensure the day the Mage’s Guild had their hands on me never came. Leave it to a guy to mess up all my plans.
Fucking Elijah Hawthorne …
8
You know what the worst thing that could happen is when on the run?
Your own magic working against you, that was what. After grabbing my bugout bag and scuttering like some roach across the city so I could stay hidden from a certain tracker—or the one who should not be named, as I dubbed him in my head—I was tired, hungry, and in need of a long nap. But finally, I made it to the motel.
Dump had been much too courteous for the place.
The rickety build
ing looked like it might fall over at any moment, held together by a few broken boards that were split down the middle of the entryway. Taking a deep breath, I walked inside, the pungent odor of mildew smacking in the face like a flying fist as soon as I did.
Wow. Nobody would find me, that was for damn sure.
Taking Pete’s credit card out of the small pocket in my bag, I couldn’t believe he’d even given it to me. Sure, he’d known me for a while, but he didn’t know me well enough to trust me with an unlimited credit card. What if I decided to go on a shopping spree? He was nuts.
Or was I for taking it?
And how the hell could a bartender even have one of those anyway?
“I need a room,” I told the woman behind the counter, who was reading a magazine and completely unaware that anyone had entered the room.
“How long? We charge by the hour.” she asked like the hourly rate was not obvious from a mile away, her rotten front teeth making an appearance as she set the magazine on a small counter cluttered to the brim with what looked like phony magazines littered with false stories of Hollywood stars.
“A full night, for now,” I said, handing her the card.
She typed a few things on an outdated computer, fully ignoring what she held between her stained fingers, then slid the card in a makeshift card reader before practically chucking it in my face. “You’re all set. You’re in two.”
“Thanks so much,” I said, snatching the card while turning to leave and almost tripping over a black cat. Luckily for me, I didn’t believe in superstitions, otherwise I would’ve thought I was screwed ten ways to Sunday.
Entering my room, it was not much better than the lobby. Brown carpet hugged the floor, unwoven toward the corners as if it the poor thing was peeling itself in hopes to escape. And let’s be honest, it probably was. A double bed sat in the middle of the room, with a nightstand right beside it and a drawer partially opened, which upon closer inspection I found it was actually broken on one side and probably wouldn’t close.