Page 29 of A Touch of Brimstone

He nodded. More beats of silence. Damn, he was exhausting.

“What?”

“Awakening,” he whispered in a breath. “A story for another time.” And that was the only thing he offered. He returned the book to the counter. “What are your work hours again?”

“Ten to three.” Before I could question him more, he plucked strands of hair from my head and was out the door. Just so very selective about demonstrations of propriety. Who just snatches hair from someone’s head without warning them?

He knelt, allowing his fingers to glide just above the threshold, then he dropped the hairs over it. They ignited into a quick burst of flames. Upon his command, a rust-colored shimmer of light flared and disappeared.

“It’s a temporary protective field. Once you cross the threshold, it will be disabled. No one can get in.” There was a moment of hesitation. “The Caster may be able to break it, but it will be with great effort. You should be safe.”

I went to bed but sleep didn’t come easily. I had no idea what to do with all the new information. The most pressing thing: Could my life return to normal after this?

9

The next morning, I tried to be more optimistic. Dominic would find the Dark Caster, the prisoners would be returned, and I’d spend my life forgetting everything I’d learned, or at the very least pretending that people I passed on the streets weren’t more than what they appeared to be. Which was what I was doing as I walked to work. Scrutinizing everyone I passed, wondering. Were they a shifter, witch, vampire, seer, or whatever Anand, Helena, and Dominic were?

Thinking about the people in the latter category tugged at my curiosity, but admittedly, there was comfort in not knowing. Every curtain pulled back revealed something more portentous, making the new world I was exposed to disturbing.

A blond man sidled up next to me as I hitched up the overnight bag I’d brought with me in case I stayed too long in… damn, in the Underworld. I’m just hanging out in the Underworld, like it’s an overnight trip to my Nana Reed’s. Ugh, what is my life now?

“What, Kane?”

“Such hostility,” he drawled.

“I get that way when people abduct me and then attempt to bite me. I’m so irrational that way,” I snarked back.

“Perhaps my past action warranted your response.”

“Perhaps?” I stopped to look at him, hoping to see some regret, shame, or basic remorse. Nothing. He held my gaze, his dark eyes narrowing, a hypnotic beat to them, pulling me to him. My eyes remained transfixed, unable to pull free from his.

“Luna.” His voice was satin smooth and demanded compliance that I gave wholeheartedly. Pulled into the depths of his eyes, I was unable to do anything but look at him and be attentive to his commands.

“Do you hear me, Luna?” he asked, his voice a gentle caress.

“Yes.”

Pleased, he gave me a small smile. “I need you to do something for me, Luna.”

“Okay,” I agreed, warming comfort wrapping around me, a contrast to the withering brush of wind just moments ago. This heat I desired to the point of necessity. Like breath. Pleasing him became a priority.

“Good,” he whispered. “I want—”

His mouth gaped open. He tore his eyes from me and looked down at his chest, where the tip of a bloodstained stake peeked out and then disappeared.

He whipped around to find Anand baring his teeth.

“That’s a bad injury. You’re going to need to feed or…” Anand let his words trail off, providing an insinuating brow. The vampire looked at me and then back at the wound.

“The stake’s made from Dracaena cinnabari, the dragon blood tree,” Anand provided with a dark sneer. Kane looked down at his hand; it was drying and turning a grayish color.

A scream caught in my throat as I shuffled back. Anand had stabbed Kane in the middle of the street. None of this was normal. None of it. Instinct had me wanting to flee from the violence.

“Luna, don’t run,” Anand ordered, his eyes still on the vampire. There was a hint of warning in his voice. As quickly as he had attacked, the vampire would be able to track and subdue me. I placed my bag in front of me as if it could be used as an adequate barrier to protect me from Anand.

“I hope I am the one to kill you,” Kane gritted out through clenched teeth.

“A fervent wish that many have made,” Anand shot back as Kane clutched his chest and darted out of sight. Anand pulled a small vial from the pocket of his jeans, opened it, sprinkled it over the stake, and whispered something. The stain lifted from the wood and dissipated into the air. Placing the stake in his back pocket, he tugged his shirt down to conceal it and started walking.

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