Page 7 of Charmed By Destiny

“No. No, I’m good. Thank you.”

“Of course. If I can help you with anything, let me know. It might take Gabe a few minutes, I’m not sure where he is right now. You can have a seat if you like.”

“There’s no rush,” Luke assured the inspirit. He took the man’s advice to heart and headed past the carved wooden desk. Luke parked his ass on a curved couch and listened to the faint sound of slot machines coming from the casino. That was at least a familiar noise, and since Foxe didn’t bother with the machines, Luke could appreciate the melodic chimes without them triggering any memories of rapid escapes from motels or the guilt in his necromancer’s eyes.

Luke sat for countless minutes with his small duffel containing his few possessions between his feet as he watched people come and go. His attention was drawn to the front door as a sleek black town car pulled up to the front of the casino. It was difficult to see much through the two rows of doors, but a tall man emerged.

He entered the casino at a swift clip. The blond had broad shoulders, and Luke wondered how the fuck an inspirit got so jacked. He locked his gaze on Luke and charged toward him. Luke gulped and unconsciously rose to his feet. A second tingle of information struck Luke. For a second, he didn’t know what it meant. He wasn’t around inspirits and necromancers often.

But his brain screamed out that it was the soulmate connection. Whoever this man was, his soul had bonded fully with another. Luke wasn’t sure what to make of it or if he could trust his own senses.

“Mr. Wynnter?” the man asked, his voice curt.

“Yes.”

Something changed in his green eyes, and a hint of friendliness peeked through his steely gaze. “Hi, I’m Gabe Wolfebrier.”

“Lucas Wynnter. Everyone calls me Luke,” he babbled.

“I apologize, but we’ve had to shuffle things around a bit this morning. Do you mind waiting here with me for a couple of minutes?”

“No problem.”

Luke wasn’t sure what they were waiting for, but a few seconds later, a stunning woman with dark skin and pretty braids charged into the lobby. She wore a flowing purple-and-white dress with heeled sandals. The inspirit headed straight for the sitting area where Luke and Gabe stood.

“Rhonda, you didn’t have to rush,” Gabe chided.

“Nonsense.” She turned to Luke and smiled brightly. “Hi, I’m Rhonda Donovan. Don’t let Gabe intimidate you, he’s really a big teddy bear.”

Gabe snorted. “Yeah, right.”

Luke shook her offered hand and couldn’t imagine Gabe as the snuggly kind, but his heart was also still hammering in his chest thanks to his nerves.

“I’m Luke Wynnter, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Welcome to the Marwood family,” Rhonda replied. “I need to head outside or Gabe will bitch at me for keeping Eric waiting, but we’ll talk later.”

Without a clue what she was talking about, Luke nodded and smiled like a dolt. At least her sunny presence left him with the impression that the Marwoods were friendly.

“Come on, I’ll take you upstairs to meet Clark Marwood,” Gabe said. “He owns all this.”

Swallowing to dislodge the thick lump in his throat, Luke once again bobbed his head. He hadn’t expected to meet the owner, and he hoped to hell he could fool these people. Luke was counting on some latent acting skills to convince everyone he’d been abandoned. If that didn’t work, he was about to be tossed out on his ass.

How could he explain that kind of failure to Foxe?

Chapter 4

An eternity passed as Luke wandered behind Gabe to a quiet but just as fancy part of the resort. Gabe was kind to the employees they passed, but not overly sociable. Luke worried it was his presence making the inspirit brusque. Did the inspirits working for the Marwoods resent the way their benefactors picked up strays? With so little experience outside of the bubble he’d inhabited with Foxe, Luke wasn’t sure how to feel or what to think.

And worrying that Gabe was annoyed he had to lead Luke around was far easier to dwell on than his fear of being caught as a liar or fraud. Luke shuffled behind Gabe through a set of double black doors into a large exquisite office. A dark-haired man in an equally dark suit rose from his chair and extended his hand to Luke.

“Lucas Wynnter, this is Clark Marwood,” Gabe said.

The tingle of a soulbond was back, and Luke wondered why Foxe hadn’t mentioned he could sense the combining of two people meant for each other. Mere minutes had passed since Luke had met Gabe and experienced the sensation, and it was already altering his thinking. Maybe soulmates were real. If they were, Luke hoped he had one somewhere. Did everyone get one?

Why the fuck was he worried about that when he had so many other things to deal with?

“Lucas, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Clark commented.

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