Chapter 9
Hours later, I still have no plan and my closed shop is losing precious business by the minute, worsening my mood.
The only good thing to come out of today is discovering that sleeping and eating regularly and drinking something that isn’t tea have permitted me to regenerate enough magic to be able to function again.
So infuriating. Why they haven’t invented a potion that doesn’t wreck the gut to replace such trivial tasks is beyond me.
I glare down the stacks before stretching my arms out towards them. With a long exhale, I attempt to quiet my mind. My voice hums with magic but still rasps. “Transformative object curse-break, cross-reference spider.”
About twenty books come exploding out of the stacks. I scream hoarsely and shield my head with my arms. Hard spines ricochet off my forearms, leaving behind bright red welts. “Shit! Not all at once!”
“Maybe you should be more specific.”
I glare viciously at Lucas. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind, asshole.”
Lucas saunters forward from the stacks with a bowl of the subpar soup I managed to concoct with my limited groceries. He takes a slurp before frowning. With a wince, Lucas’ rings flare to life. The bowl steams.
“Hey!” I point an accusatory finger at him. “What part of ‘no magic’ is your small, male brain not comprehending? You need to let the connection between your rings and body heal.”
“I’m fine.”
I roll my eyes so hard they ache. He disappears into the back room and drags out one of the wooden chairs. Plopping into it, he leans back on the hind two legs and kicks his feet up on my front counter. My lip curls humorlessly and his smirk grows.
Forcing myself to turn away from him, I flick my hand towards the pile of books.
“I’m being vague because I’m finding nothing useful.
” Twenty books spin around me, their spines creaking when they open.
Pages flutter and I run my finger over the words revealed.
My hair shifts in the light breeze. “While you were lazing about in bed, I’ve been hard at work trying to find a way to subdue the spider.
I’ve already tried searching for incantations, but there’s nothing powerful enough to take on The Arachnomicon. ” I send two books back to the stacks.
Lucas chugs the broth and uses the back of his hand to wipe his mouth. “So, are you thinking an amulet?”
I nod distractedly. “Something like that, where we can slap it on the stupid thing to bind it.”
The porcelain clatters when he sets down his empty bowl. “Did you try searching amulet—”
“Obviously!” I set three books on the counter. Only fifteen more to go.
“What about binding chains—”
My temper flares. “How about you flip through the books I set aside instead of telling me to do things I’ve already done?”
His rings glow, and I almost throw a book at him. “With your hands!” I hiss under my breath, “Idiot.”
Lucas huffs a low laugh. “You’re in a mood today.”
My lips thin. In the back of my mind, two weeks resounds like the whisper of death. “Just start reading.”
Lucas makes it all of ten seconds. “Is it because you’re feeling insecure without the vault?”
My shoulders stiffen.
His voice is carefully light. “It’s where we usually hole up to heal. It feels a little weird to be off our feet and not tucked safely away.” When I don’t respond, he tries again, “or is it something else?”
My teeth grind. “Doesn’t sound like you’re reading.” I send another book back to the stacks more harshly than necessary. “The sooner we deal with The Arachnomicon, the better.”
Lucas’ silence is worse than if he had pressed me for an answer. I glance over my shoulder. He dutifully flips through the pages, his rings a dull black. My throat tightens. Forcing a breath into my too-tight chest, I turn away from him.
“Oh shit.” Lucas’ chair slams down on all four feet.
I don’t tear my gaze from the forty-six books hovering around me like a flock of agitated birds. “Did you fall?”
“No. I think I found something.”
Several books crash to the floor. “What?” I smack books out of the way, tripping over a couple more, until I disperse the spell with an angry hiss. The books go flying and I nearly fall into Lucas’ lap. I hover awkwardly over his shoulder and rapidly scan the page. “Where?”
Lucas points. “The Amulet of Acerabus. It can reveal or suppress an entity’s true form…”
But it’s as if Lucas is talking from a great distance away, his description of the amulet echoing. I stare at the illustration of the blue opal with a slitted cat eye and gold trimming that drips over the stone in the shape of fangs. All the air is sucked from my lungs.
“Let me show you something…”
I’m eighteen and wrapped in Valen’s arms. His father is away and we’ve snuck into his office.
My back is pressed against the dark wood door, both of us too impatient to make it much farther into the room.
Valen kisses my neck, teasing moans and soft gasps from my lips.
His hand drags my skirts higher with a delicious twist of his wrist. “… Something that will melt these…” his fingers slide under to run hotly up my leg, “sweet thighs apart…”
Valen’s hand in mine is like a drug, the mischievous look he gives me an addiction. A wall in the back of the dark room, behind the ornate sofa, hides a secret. Magic crackles, the astringent fumes of protection hexes sizzling away. A concealed door swings open.
I gasp, eyes widening, so lost in the past that I don’t fully process Lucas looking up at me. A hidden library, one full of riches, magical books, and artifacts that did in fact melt my thighs apart.
Magic is so thick within the patriarch’s secret room that each breath tingles down my throat, leaving behind a metallic tang the likes of which only amulets produce.
And there are so many amulets among the books.
Rows and rows of shelves are filled to the brim with displays, the gems within the metals sparkling in the low lights.
It is there against a large, open display case that Valen’s head disappears under my skirts for the first time.
His lips trail hotly up my inner thigh, my lungs fighting with the damn corset to get enough air.
His breath against my sex sends shivers exploding over me, a delicious want building in an unbearable pressure.
A soft kiss, then a lick, and I am utterly lost. One hand buries in Valen’s thick hair to hold him in place and my thigh trembles when he pins it against the case to open me more.
He licks faster and faster, encouraged by my bucks and whines.
The pleasure throbs, building, and I reach with my other hand to grip the lip of the heavily laden shelf above my head.
Then Valen’s lips close around my clit and I am done for. I peak so hard that I bring down the shelf of magical artifacts on us. An amulet hits me soundly on the forehead. The gold decorative fangs cut my eyebrow and the glittering blue cat eye mocks me.
“I know that look.”
I blink rapidly, focusing on Lucas’ face, but the lingering feel of Valen’s mouth haunts me. “What?”
Lucas smiles wickedly and taps the illustration. “You know about this. Come on. Spit it out. Where are you sending me?”
All air leaves the room and my heart rate skyrockets. Of course, he would think that. It’s our business plan. I deal with the shop and accounting, Lucas fetches. But not this time. Panic sizzles my blood. He can’t go because he can’t know who I am… or what I’ve done.
And that means going in his stead.
Two weeks. Oh fuck, that’s not enough time to mentally prepare to face the Bauer family and steal from them. Again. Sweat blooms. I’m a fucking idiot. If I’d just made a deal with Valen for the unicorn hair, this wouldn’t be nearly as horrifically awkward.
Temptation pulls on me and I close my eyes briefly. I could send Lucas. He would steal the amulet for me. It’s what he excels at. He’s never failed a retrieval. Ever. Doesn’t matter if it’s a tomb or a vault, Lucas will break in.
My eyes open. It would be so easy to send him in blind, but the tightening in my gut tells me I can’t. Stealing from the Bauers… Fear grips me. I’ve seen Vincentius kill for less while sipping tea in his highly decorative front parlor, his victim writhing like a worm at his feet.
My fingers touch my lips. Maybe we could find a different amulet? But I’ve been researching all morning and found precisely nothing. Besides, I don’t have the luxury of time.
I’m the one who needs to go. Without Lucas. Vincentius will show some leniency with me. Hopefully. It’s my only choice.
“Oh, no. Sorry.” I straighten, stepping away. “I got excited, but I don’t think it’s the same thing.” Surely, he can hear my heart. It’s pounding so loud. I try and fail to take a full breath. “But mark that page. If we can locate it, it could work.”
Jinx! Silence echoes at the end of my familiar bond. I don’t use it often, but I’m once again desperate and out of options. What I wouldn’t give for that to stop being my norm. I keep my face calm, though frustration expands my chest. Jinx! ANSWER ME!
Jinx hisses, For fuck’s sake, I’m napping! And this chat is a waste of energy reserves you don’t have.
I resume the circling books to convince Lucas that I’m looking for other options. We need to talk without Lucas knowing.
More silence greets me and I let out a harsh breath. Is it too much to ask for my familiar to obey me for once? I pretend to look through books, making a growing pile for Lucas to read. Sweat beads across my forehead and I can’t tell if it’s my nerves or the magic overexertion.
Finally, movement in the corner of my eye. Something small, black, and fluffy slinks into the back room. With a flick of my wrist, the books arrange themselves into neat little columns before me. “I’ll be right back.”
Lucas grunts noncommittally and turns the page he’s reading. I slip in after Jinx, my heart in my throat as I look around the space.