Page 20 of Crimson Shadows
“Hmm.” He steps back and drops whatever spell he had over me, making me breathe out in relief.
It was like a vice around my soul.
When he moves away, I see the third speaker. A really cute looking guy with pure white hair and white eyes, dressed in black combat pants and a black tee, grins at me and appears way more friendly than these other two aloof and menacing creatures in front of me.
“Hurry along now, boys,” he says. “You don’t want to get on Randall Black’s bad side by messing with his daughter, do you?”
Corvus and Zephyr exchange a look, then move fluidly away from me as if they were made of water or the very air around them. The relief I feel makes me lightheaded.
“My apologies, Miss Black,” Corvus says smoothly, though his eyes still gleam with predatory interest. “We were merely welcoming you to MistHallow.”
“Some welcome,” I mutter, finding my voice at last.
Zephyr chuckles, a low sound that sends a skitter of pure lust through my veins. “We’ll be seeing you around, Miss Black,” he purrs, before both he and Corvus saunter out of the library.
I let out a shaky breath, my knees feeling weak. The white-haired guy approaches me. “You okay there?” he asks, genuine concern in his voice.
I nod, still a bit shaken. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Don’t mind those two. Their bark is worse than their bite.” He guffaws at his own joke.
“Well,” I huff. “Excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
“Yeah, probably better that you don’t. Corvus and Zephyr are both dangerous and ambitious, along with a good old dose of trouble. But then, aren’t we all?” His smile turns more malevolent when he says that.
“And you are?” I snap.
“Zaiah. At your service, mi’lady.” He bows low, and something about this entire interaction is creeping me the fuck out. He looks up with a wink. “Don’t you wish you were stronger so next time you could shake off the compulsion?”
“Compulsion,” I murmur. Is that what Corvus was doing to me? Compelling me.
“Hmm. Don’t you?”
I frown. “Don’t I what?”
“Wish you were stronger?” He blinks at me.
“What are you?” I ask suspiciously.
He grins again, all friendly-like. “Okay, you caught me. I’m a djinn. Dude has to try, you know?”
“No, I don’t know. And don’t do that again. I don’t wish anything, and I never will.”
“We’ll see,” he says with a laugh and snaps his fingers, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
“Fuck,” I mutter after this encounter that has left me rattled but more in need of information than ever before. I turn back to the bookshelves, only to find that the stacks have rearranged themselves, and I’m now even more lost than I was. One thing is for sure. I need to get up to speed and with Flash-like abilities before Corvus or Zephyr comes at me again. Next time, I don’t think I’ll get off so lightly.
9
ZEPHYR
Contemplatively leaningagainst one of the many trees in this forest, south of the main campus, I narrow my eyes at the top floor of the library, visible from my spot. Corvus is dangling precariously over my head in bat form, but as long as he doesn’t shit on me, I don’t particularly give a fuck.
“Randall Black’s daughter,” I murmur, unable to get that out of my head.
“The supernatural world’s best kept secret,” Zaiah says, blinking in next to me.
I give him a lazy once-over, not startled by his sudden appearance as he would hope. “Yetyouknew and didn’t tell us. Sneaky djinn.”
