Chapter 11 Rosie #2
“It’s ground-shaking every time,” I say with a little laugh, trying to play off the shock of it.
Jack stands there in a daze, lifting his hand and for the first time, seeing the golden strands of my magic swirling over him like glittering threads along his skin.
I need to act like I’ve done this a dozen times, but I’m sure I’m failing, and looking at Jack’s face and wide eyes, I know I totally and completely fucked this up.
I should have warned him; I should never have assumed we could sneak in without this step.
“What—” Jack starts, but I turn to my new enemy, Dan, instead with a smile.
“Are we done here?” He looks at me skeptically, reading me before finally nodding.
Thankfully, while gargoyles are good guards, they aren’t the best at human interaction, much less reading a lie.
Now, if a vampire were working as the guard, we’d be totally fucked since they can sense an elevated heartbeat and smell minor changes in your pheromones.
Before Jack can blow our cover, I nod to Dan, grab Jack’s hand, and drag him toward the doors that lead into the club.
“What the fuck was that?” he demands through gritted teeth, and I put a finger to my lips as we walk quickly. The hallway branches off up ahead, and I just have to get us there. When we reach the cutoff, I look left and right, then grab his wrist and tug him into a dark corner.
“Listen, I’m going to say this now, and we have very little time because I believe there was a group of dragons behind us and they have insanely good hearing—” His eyes go wide, but we don’t have time for me to explain another supernatural species.
He can pick my brain until kingdom come if and when we make it out of here with what we need.
“Dra—”
“Right now, you don’t ask me a single question.
You act like this is all normal. I should have given you more of a heads-up, but I didn’t, and now we can’t go back.
Not for nothing, but this is why I wanted to do this myself.
I will answer as many questions as I can once we’re home, but right now, all that matters is that you’re my human guest. I just marked you with a kiss bond, so no one else will mess with you. You are safe.”
“That kiss—”
I groan into the universe. I should have known there was no way he would just accept what I was saying as truth without at least a little questioning.
“Was magic. Yes. Please, Jack. I can’t think of another easy way to get the ingredient we need besides this, and if you get me kicked out by revealing I brought an unbonded human in here with me, I’m kicked out forever.
Please. Just… trust me.” He stares at me for long moments, and I expect him to argue.
To ask how or why he should trust me, to question what an unbonded human is, fuck, to ask about the dragons, whose steps I can hear down the long, echoey hall.
I have done nothing to earn his trust, so he doesn’t owe me anything. We both know that.
Long moments pass where my heart beats erratically. The way we’re standing, I think I could play off the pulse the dragons hear as lust, but not if Jack starts fighting me. But finally, he nods, and my nerves slow, a breath I didn’t realize I was holding releasing from my lips.
“Okay. But after,” he starts, letting the rest of his sentence hang silently between us.
After, he wants answers. That’s fair, so I nod in agreement.
“You’ll get all of the answers.” And then, because I can’t resist it, because the bond is fresh and I’m now confirming firsthand just how much it messes with your emotions, I push to my toes and press my lips to his.
Again, that wash of golden glow moves over us, the threads tightening to pull us closer.
I fight the suddenly consuming urge to part my lips, to taste him on my tongue, knowing this is a battle I’ll fight for at least another week.
Until it fades, this urge is going to be almost undeniable, unstoppable, from what I understand.
My body tightens when I feel people moving behind us, talking loudly and joking, but Jack takes the opportunity to pull me closer and kiss me again.
Deeper and needier. His lips move over mine like we’ve done this a dozen times before, kissing me hot and heavy until the footsteps fade, a quiet laugh following them.
Even though I know it’s the bond and possibly even his own effort to act casual when other supernatural beings were coming close, I can’t help but let the feeling of it settle into the pit of my stomach.
“What was that for?” I ask once he lets me go, and I step back.
“I… I don’t know. One of them was looking at your ass and I… I’m so sorry, Rosie. I didn’t—” I give him a soft, understanding smile, shaking my head and reaching up to rest my hand on his cheek, that need to touch him so fresh in my veins. His stubble scratches at the palm of my hand.
“It’s totally fine. It’s the bond. I’ll explain later.
For now, you just need to know that since you’re bonded you’ll see magic.
Again, a security measure. It will be all over the club, and I need you to not look too shocked.
In theory, you’ve been bonded before and this is all run-of-the-mill.
” His eyes go wide, but he nods instead of arguing, so I tip my head inside.
“Let’s go.” He nods again, and as we move, he slides his hand into mine, the gold of the bond magic playing between our fingers, easing the ache in my chest.
We move into the bar, and my pounding heart eases when I see Casey, the siren bartender my sisters and I are friends with.
“Casey!” I shout, genuine relief filling me as she smiles wide. I was hoping against hope that she would be the person on shift today, but considering nothing is going to plan, I figured I shouldn’t count on it. “How are you?”
“Haven’t seen you in here in a while. How are things going?” Her eyes shift to my guest, and her smile widens. “Well, it seems.” I give her a small smile.
“It might be the world’s longest story.” She raises an eyebrow, and I sigh. “I’ll call you. You can come over and we can have a slumber party.”
“That long of a story, huh?”
I let out a little laugh, thinking about having to actually tell my sisters all of this eventually, before nodding.
“You have no idea.”
She looks from me to Jack again—Jack, who looks more confused by the moment—before she shrugs and nods.
“So what are you two doing here?”
“I’m here on a mission,” I say, leaning forward, my voice lowering conspiratorially.
“You always seem to be,” she replies, her smile widening.
“What do you need now? Some crazy ingredient?” I wish I could cast a silencing bubble, but spell-casting is against the rules at the club.
Too many issues arose over the years as different supernaturals used their powers or magic, leading the owner to decide it would be safer to cut everyone off.
You don’t have to hide yourself here, but there are rules in place to make sure everyone stays safe in the general spaces.
Sirens, like Casey, can’t sing, and shifters must stay in their human form.
Vampires aren’t allowed to bite, and witches can’t use their magic.
“I’m trying to break a family curse,” I whisper, tipping my head to Jack, “that his dead grandfather put on my family.” Her brow furrows.
“Is he not… normal?” The golden glow from our kiss indicates a normal human, not someone with magic. I tip my head, then shake it, not wanting to waste time fully explaining.
“It’s a long story. Slumber party, remember?” She nods, and I continue. “Anyway, I conjured up his grandfather, and we’re working on helping him pass to the other side so he can help me break the curse.”
“The love one?” she asks, and I nod. I forgot that I told her all about it one night when I drank a bit too much, then swore her to secrecy with my magic in the alleyway outside. She takes in Jack and me, clearly trying to decode what’s happening. “Are you two… ?”
I shake my head quickly. “God. No. No, not at all. He’s my neighbor.
” She tips her head to the side like she’s sifting through my words for a lie before she shrugs, seeming to accept what I said as truth.
Because I don’t want to make things weird, I explain further.
“He’s a normie. The only way to get a norm in is a kiss bond, as you know.
I tried to sneak him in, but Dan stopped me, and I had to claim him. ”
“Dan’s such a dick,” Casey says with an eyeroll, and I nod. “Okay, so what’s next? What do you need?”
“Vampire tears,” I say with a cringe.
“You’re joking.”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“How the hell are you going to get that?”
I sigh. “Is Geraldine here?”
She takes me in for a moment before letting out a loud guffaw of a laugh and nodding. “Yeah. That’s a good option, actually.”