Page 54 of Don't Tempt Me (Nora Jacobs 4)

“We’ll figure this out,” Parker says. “But until we do, we’ll just keep one or two of us with you at all times to snap you out of it if you lose control.”

His promise, as much as I love him for it, doesn’t make me feel better. “And if I unleash my power on one of you? I couldn’t live with myself if I did that”—I wave toward the unconscious man slumped in his chair—“to one of you.”

“Youwon’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

I look to Director West for backup. She’s much more levelheaded. She’ll see things my way.

She grimaces. “They’re right. We can just make sure to keep people with you for now.” My jaw drops, and she sighs. “We need you too badly, Jacobs. We need this case solved. You don’t understand how important mythics are, or what could happen if this collector figures out some way to use their power.”

“So far, you’ve only hurt men you considered a threat,” Parker says, taking my hand. “Your siren is possessive, correct?”

I nod warily. “Very.”

“And she’s protective, right? At least of what she considers hers? That’s why she went after Mitchell, right? Because he hurt Oliver?”

“Yes, but—”

“She won’t hurt us,” he insists with a firm nod. He waves his hand toward Sabin as if to prove his point. “She attacked him, but she didn’t even try for Nick. Not even after he knocked you to the ground.”

He’s right. But I still don’t like gambling with their safety. He cups my face in his hands and gives me a sweet kiss. “I promise we’ll figure this out, just as soon as we find the missing mythics. Who knows, maybe one of them will have answers. They are the most powerful magic users in the world. Nick’s too much of a restless cowboy to really be disciplined in magical history.” Nick snorts in agreement. “But the gryphons and unicorns are usually fountains of knowledge. It’s worth a try.”

I sigh. I’m still terrified I’m going to hurt someone I love, or even just someone innocent, but Parker makes a compelling argument. Maybe the mythics will have answers. And even if they don’t, there’s a missing child. I can’t refuse that case. “All right. Let’s head over to that storage unit. Maybe I can pick up some clues.”

Parker and Director West walk us to the front doors, but neither puts on their coats. I frown at Parker. “You’re not coming?”

Parker casts an almost wistful look toward the door, but shakes his head and gives me a small smile. “Gorgeous is your partner. I’m not a field agent. I’m training with the director to take over her position on the night shift so that she can go back to mostly daylight hours.”

“Oh.” That’s a little disappointing, but I should have realized the deputy director would be office bound like Director West.

Parker sees my disappointment and smiles softly. He takes the coat from my hands and helps me into it. “Gorgeous will keep you safe.”

I nod. I’m bummed he’s not coming, but he’s right. If anyone can watch my back, it’s the ornery, fire-breathing dragon.

“What happened to your new coat?” Parker asks as he zips me into Charlie’s too-big-for-me coat.

“It was covered in Oliver’s blood. I threw it out. I think I’m cursed.” I wince. “More cursed.”

Parker sighs and tucks my scarf inside my loose coat. “We’ll find you a new one that fits properly tomorrow evening.”

One more thing to put on the to-do list.

I kiss him good-bye, and then Gorgeous leads me out to his car. Gone are the motorcycle and the sports cars, and in their place is his winter vehicle—a huge white Ford pickup truck that I’m sure is top-of-the-line everything. It’s the only American-made car I’ve ever seen him drive, but I have no doubt it’s the most expensive truck on the market and has all the luxury bells and whistles. It’s so big I feel like I’m flying above the road on the way to the storage place.

We drive up to the self-storage place Sabin mentioned before I tried to devour his soul. Only half of the sign out front is lit up, and there’s only a faint glow flickering in the security booth. The guard must be watching TV. He barely gives us a glance as we punch in the gate code Sabin gave us and head to unit 119. I don’t even remember Sabin giving us that information. I was too sucked in by my power. Good thing Nick was taking notes.

For once, the clouds are gone, allowing the moon to cast enough light for those of us without night vision to see in the dark. The weather is just as freezing as always, though. I don’t even want to know what the wind chill factor is right now. I tighten the drawstrings on Charlie’s hood and pull my scarf up over my mouth and nose. I seriously hate winter. It makes sense that I’m a summer fey.

There’s a lock on the unit, and we don’t have the key. Nick reaches out to pulverize it with his bare hand, but I stop him. “Let me try it first.”

He pulls back, and I regretfully take off my warm glove. The padlock feels like ice, but I’m instantly sucked into an imprint.

Sabin is holding the padlock in his hand. He pulls down the door of the unit and kicks it in frustration. “Damn it!”

“Enough!” Galina rebukes. “Don’t draw attention to us.”

Sabin doesn’t seem to care who sees or hears him—not that there’s anyone around. “Two-hundred thousand dollars?” he roars. “It’s pathetic! We could have gotten double that for the blood and four times that for the scales. We should have just gone to the sorcerers, like I suggested.”

---