Livvy had made sure to advertise with these cool artistic pop-ups on each table. A cut-out of the logo, promoting our first-timer discount, was on a swivel that turned slowly like a music box. I thought she’d created it with magic, but she said no; it was a simple techie thing she’d seen recently.
“Hey, hotties!” Evie headed toward us with Mateo in tow. They were more dressed up, too. Mateo wore dark jeans and a gray button-down while Evie wore a blue wrap-dress with long sleeves. This was dressing up for Evie since her regular attire was almost always jeans and a novelty T-shirt with some sarcastic expression or something from one of her fandoms she adored.
We were fortunate that the weather was mild this weekend. Louisiana weather was notoriously bipolar. One day she thought she was spring, forcing open May-blooming plants in the middle of January. Then the next day, she said nah, how about a pipe-freezing rain? And dropped the temp into the twenties. Then two days later, we’d be back to pleasant fall weather.
This was why our plants never knew what the fuck to do and leaves started falling in October, stopping and starting, all the way through February. Today, she was being kind, giving us that California cool breeze in the lower sixties.
“This place looks fantastic,” Evie practically squealed, running up and giving me a tight hug. “You did it!”
“Well, actually, Livvy did all this.”
Evie laughed, which made Mateo grin where he stood behind her. “I mean the shop.” She hooked her arm with Mateo’s and peered up at him. “And thanks for that kickass Star Wars tattoo.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Love it,” she said, still beaming up at Mateo. “He said he couldn’t wait till Valentine’s Day because there was no way we weren’t getting naked before then, so…” She shrugged, as in fill in the details.
So apparently, the raging libido thing wasn’t exclusive to Nico.
Without a word, Mateo leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to her mouth. That man worshipped the ground she walked on. It made my insides warm and melty and had me wishing my man was here already.
Another flutter of nerves shot through my body. Tonight was momentous in that it was the official opening of Empress Ink to the public, but also because I had some questions for Nico. I also had a few things to say to him. One in particular that had my heart doing somersaults at random.
“Holy hell,” came the muttered words in a familiar, deep voice behind us.
I turned to find the devil himself devouring me with his gaze. They’d gone wolf-green in a flash, brightening further as I walked toward him, my smile broadcasting how that look made me feel.
He was devastatingly handsome in black slacks and black button-down, cuffs rolled up to his forearms, his hair messily styled. He was the kind of handsome you’d expect in an expensive cologne commercial that was cut with a montage of hot scenes and overlayed by some obscure French narration.
He stood at the edge of the dance floor under one of the string of lights, which cast his bronze skin and the sharp angles of his face with a warm glow. He crooked his finger at me.
“Come here.”
Whoa. His voice had rumbled low and deep. Far be it from me to keep a hot werewolf waiting. I walked over, taking my time as his gaze wandered down my bare legs, back up to my breasts, skating over the exposure of my chest and neck due to the deep vee of the dress, then finally landed back on my eyes when I stopped right in front of him.
“You look—”
His mouth was on mine, my body pressed to his in a heartbeat. One of his hands skimmed across my back to my opposite hip. The other was under my hair, wrapping my nape, while he kissed the living fuck out of me.
I’m not lying. I’d felt him being possessive in the past, but his teeth and tongue were marking me, stroking into my mouth, nipping at my lips, and then back inside again. All the while, a growl rumbled from his chest, vibrating against my own. So arousing.
I whimpered when he finally drew back, breaking the kiss on a wet suction. He stared at me, both of us a little breathless before he pressed his forehead to mine and closed his eyes.
“Violet.”
I had my hands at his waist, my nails curled into his shirt, probably wrinkling it.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“You look”—he swallowed, licking his lips—“edible.”
“Well, hell, I would’ve worn a dress for you sooner if I knew it would get that kind of reaction.”
He chuckled. “Sorry.”
“No apologies necessary. Now I expect that level of greeting every day, though.”
“Hey, Nico.”
We both turned toward the stage to the singer who was speaking into the mic.
“How about we get started with something sweet for your girl?” He winked then looked back at the bass player who played the beginning chords of “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.
Nico laced his fingers with mine and led me onto the dancefloor. Once he swung me into his arms, a hand at the small of my back, one in the middle of my shoulder blades, he went back to admiring my dress, my face. I laced my fingers at his neck and did the same to him, both of us smiling and not saying a word.
The second I thought about the conversation I wanted to have with him, that unbidden rush of nerves flooded my bloodstream.
He frowned probably hearing my accelerated heartbeat. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I cleared my throat, trying to remember how I’d wanted to say this. It was the perfect moment: romantic ambience, soulful song, hot guy in my arms. “I wanted to talk to you tonight.”
“Yeah?” He tilted his head in a curious expression, that frown still scrunching his brow.
“Mmhmm. I wanted to tell you something.” I inhaled a deep breath, staring at his chest to avoid his gaze.
A tight squeeze, then his mouth was at my temple while we swayed softly. “Tell me.”
It took me a solid minute to get my courage up, but Nico waited patiently, holding me tightly in his arms.
“So, I’m good at divining for other people. But apparently I’m total shit at seeing my own future.”
He didn’t say anything. Just watched me, our faces close, our bodies closer. Wrapped in his warmth and affection, I found the courage to finally tell him.
“When you first came here last year, I did my own reading about you. About us. And um, I read the cards wrong.” I glanced up to find that infinite patience still on his face. “I thought we’d be bad together. Like really bad, according to my interpretation.”
One hand wrapped my neck under my hair, and then he gave me a gentle squeeze. “Then what happened?”
“That night you came home from your full moon trip, it hit me. I finally saw in the cards what I was supposed to see.”
“And what was that?”
I swallowed hard, staring into the most beautiful face I’d ever seen. My heart tripped faster because those were the thoughts of someone completely and utterly in love.
“That you and I are meant to be,” I whispered.
His comforting hold on my nape tightened as he grazed his lips against mine. “Yeah, baby. We are.” He kissed me a little deeper then—
“Violet!”
We both looked over to see Livvy, dressed to the nines in a black minidress and thigh-high, high-heeled boots, signature red lipstick on. “I need you!”
She waves me over in a hurry. Sighing, I pull Nico down for a quick kiss on his perfect mouth. He looked a little frustrated, like he wanted to tell me something else.
“Hold that thought,” I told him with a smile, completely believing we’d have at least one more quiet minute before things got crazy. Boy, was I wrong.
Three hours later, and the party was kicking ass, so I didn’t get back to that conversation with Nico as I’d hoped. Tonight in private at his place would work better anyway. I wanted to continue that conversation. For the first time in my life, I wanted to pour my heart out to a guy. It had me a little giddy.
> Looking around at our street party, I was sure that every bar on Magazine must be empty, because our party had extended well beyond the barricades and rolled all the way down our side street.
I’d been making the rounds all night to make sure everything was running smoothly. Right now, I was pushing a dolly with another box of T-shirts from the shop out to the merch table where Sean, Lindsey, and Tom had been hanging most the night. Not just to sell the T-shirts—which we’d been selling super cheap at cost under Livvy’s advisement to get people wearing and promoting around town—but to meet potential customers and hand out business cards.
I set the dolly upright on the curb right behind Sean.
“I’ve got it,” he said, leaning over and picking up the box.
The band was rocking, and the laughter and chatter of everyone filled the street with lively energy. It was a huge success.
As if to confirm my thoughts, Tom walked over with brows raised. “I’ve booked ten clients for this coming month tonight, and at least twenty more said they’d come to look at my portfolio soon.”
“Yes,” beamed Lindsey on my other side. “I haven’t gotten quite as many as Tom, but it looks like I’ll be booked pretty solid the next few weeks.”
I didn’t miss the charged look the two gave one another, and I sighed with relief that Lindsey wasn’t hung up or hurt about Nico. It was a brief crush, and who could blame her? But I sure didn’t want that to mess up having a very talented artist working for me.
I threw my arms around both their shoulders. “Thank you both for taking a chance with me. Together, we’ll have this business booming.”
Tom patted my back and sighed in that droll way of his before easing out of my embrace. He really wasn’t the hugging type. “Woman, you knew this was going to be a success.”
“Not really. But now I do.”
A trill of familiar laughter drew my gaze beyond the merch table to the outside of the shop where Clara was leaning next to Henry Blackwater. He had both hands in his jeans pockets, his back to the brick building, one foot propped on the wall, his gaze fixed on Clara. She faced him, gesturing toward something in the crowd of people, then said something animatedly before laughing again. The grave grim who I’d never seen smile at any time quirked up one side of his mouth as he watched and listened intently.
I patted Tom and Lindsey on the shoulder then meandered up to Sean who was all business, this kid, folding shirts and setting them on display with rapid movements.
“Hey. What’s going on over there?” I pointed casually to Clara and Henry.
Sean tilted his devious grin my way and arched his brow. “Looks pretty obvious to me.”
“Does it?”
“Your sister is flirting with my brother.” He shrugged. “Girls can’t help it really. He’s got that bad-boy magnetism. Runs in the family.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes and telling Sean that he wasn’t a bad boy, but my eyes were too fixed on Henry Blackwater. I didn’t know him well, only of him in the neighborhood.
There was definitely an aura of darkness around the guy, and I didn’t mean his grim reaper magic that they all wore like a cloak. Something else. Something not quite right or normal. It had pinged on my psychic level more than once, but it was still too elusive to grab hold of and define what it meant.
And what was Clara doing? I watched her more closely, recognizing that there was a subtle flush to her cheeks when she glanced back at the crowd. There was also a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.
“Shit.”
She was definitely flirting. I made a mental note to interrogate her later. But now, I needed to find Nico. The night had run away from us. He’d been socializing with everyone and playing the good host like me, helping out Finnie and JJ when needed. I glanced across the dancefloor and saw him standing next to Mateo, both of them taller than most people in the crowd.
“Text me if y’all need anything,” I told Sean, making my way through the thick cluster of people near the stage.
The band had been doing a great job of keeping to upbeat classics most the night but were now slowing it down a little. Southern Sun had the couples on the floor, so I had to do a little dodging to maneuver my way through.
I was halfway across when a hand wrapped around my wrist. I looked over my shoulder right as someone jerked me back, spinning my body to face him. I landed into a hard chest. Shane. In complete shock, I pushed off his chest, but he held tight. I could knock him on his ass with telekinesis, but since we were surrounded by humans, that wouldn’t be a wise move. Besides, he wouldn’t actually hurt me or anyone here in this crowd. I hoped not anyway.
“What do you want?”
His mischievous grin held that same hint of malice as the last time we’d had a conversation in my shop.
“I want a lot of things, Miss Savoie.”
He stared down at me, his gaze flicking up and around the crowd stealthily as though he was keeping tabs on multiple places. Probably checking out exits so he wouldn’t get his face pummeled by Nico, because that’s what was going to happen pretty damn soon.
His grip was merciless as he kept me tight against his body, both my arms pinned between us as I tried to keep some distance. And failed.
I glared up at him, voice still steady. “Why don’t you share your thoughts and tell me a few of those things?”
His gaze, bright and laced with wolf magic, swung back down to me. “Don’t worry, beautiful. You’re going to know all about it soon. Whether you want to or not.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”
Dipping his head to my ear, he said, “It doesn’t need to be unpleasant. Just go along, and you’ll be perfectly fine.”
“You might want to get your mouth away from my neck before my boyfriend finally sees you and rips out your tongue.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“So you’re not only psychotic, you’re suicidal?”
He lifted his head away and laughed, an amused expression on his face. “I actually like you.” Then he glanced back across the crowd and smiled wide, revealing his sharp extended canines. “Looks like your boyfriend’s coming to rip out my throat as we speak.”
Careening my neck over my shoulder, I could see Nico and Mateo storming this way, murder in their eyes.
Shane gripped my jaw and forced my head back around to face him. “See you soon, beautiful.” Then he planted a kiss on my lips, nipping my lip enough to sting.
“Ow! What the hell?” I reached up and touched the dab of blood on my lip.
He pushed me out of his arms and tore off through the crowd in the opposite direction. A couple of people shouted “hey, man” and “watch it” as Shane booked it on the sidewalk. Mateo was fast on his heels, while Nico came straight to me. He cupped my face, hands shaking, and brushed his thumb over my lip where I’d been bitten, his pad coming away streaked with blood.
“Are you okay?”
Holy fuck! His wolf was one hundred percent in his voice, his eyes blazing with eerie energy, and I could see his canines sliding out as he partially shifted. If anyone looked him dead-on right now, they’d know he wasn’t human.
“I’m fine, fine! Go help Mateo.”
I knew that’s what he needed to do anyway. Without another word, he was gone, faster than I’d ever seen a man run, leaping over the barricade like an Olympic champion. Then another streak of black was right behind Nico. Henry Blackwater. Before I could take three breaths, the three of them disappeared around the corner of Magazine Street.
The band had faltered for a minute when there was sudden violence in the crowd, but I walked over and leaned up to the singer from the edge of the stage. “Something upbeat please. To get the crowd going again.”
He nodded with a wink. “Sure thing.”
“Hey, guys. How about an oldie but a goodie?” he yelled into the mic, launching into something fun and fast-tempo.
Needing a drink, I moved around to walk behind the st
age to avoid the crowd, the quickest route to where JJ and Finnie were still serving. The second I rounded the stage, stepping between it and the wooden fence, two things happened at once. The empress on my forearm burned like a demon had snapped his whip, slapping me to alertness with stinging pain, then giant burly arms wrapped around me from behind.
“Gotcha,” whispered a deep, growly voice.
“Wha—?”
Before I could even get the word out, a sharp pain struck my head, and I slipped into the black.
Chapter 25
~NICO~
* * *
I was going to kill that motherfucker.
He was half a block ahead of Mateo, who was only a few yards ahead of me now, my wolf pushing to the surface, urging me to catch my prey and fuck him up beyond recognition.
Even so, I hadn’t fully shifted, and I’d managed to keep my cool long enough to check on Violet. When my wolf had wanted to rip through my skin, I’d somehow quelled the beast long enough to ensure she was alright before joining the chase, keeping him calm enough to think straight. Barely.
A car pulled out from a side street as Shane crossed, leaping up and running over the hood, not losing stride. The owner of the car stared as the three of us maneuvered into the street itself, right behind Shane, so we could avoid sidewalk traffic and pick up speed. He was headed for the French Quarter, and we had to get him before he melded with the Mardi Gras tourist crowd. He’d definitely get lost in that sea of madness.
While rage scraped against my rib cage, my mind remained calm. I knew it was Violet’s spelled tattoo. Magic tingled outward from the point on my ribs where I’d had her tattoo a Celtic knot on me yesterday, washing me with a coolness that bled into my bones. Violet’s tattoo charm was the only way I was able to think straight after seeing Shane grab then forcibly kiss my mate.
What the hell was Shane playing at? Why was he taunting me? I couldn’t wait to find out after I beat him bloody.
A horn blared at us as it passed. I’m sure we were freaking out drivers. It was full dark, and I doubt we looked close to sane tearing down the street after Shane.
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