AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
London
November
Ronan
There’s a bloody unwelcome sight.
I wander into the Witch’s Brew with Raiden, my twin brother, close behind. The rowdy London pub always draws a boisterous, eclectic crowd: athletic types, businessmen, goth girls…and many of magickind’s unmated. A surprise, considering its owner, Kari Keswick, is pure human.
It’s that very woman I watch now, all swinging golden curls and enormous blue eyes, as she leans over the bar, her brief blue T-shirt exposing a band of soft skin at her midriff as she whispers to a wizard. He’s big, with hair as dark as night and moody gray eyes. He has the look of a predator. Tynan Someone-or-other. Why the fuck is he single-mindedly focused on my Kari?
She’s not yours, you barmy bastard. She can’t be.
Fighting a gust of wind, I slam the pub’s door. She doesn’t look my way, merely grips Tynan’s shoulder as she stares softly into his eyes with a smile.
This fury poisoning my blood as I curl my fingers into fists must be the wretched emotion humans call jealousy. Though I’d rather swallow battery acid, I can’t stem my violent urge.
If that bastard touches Kari, I will kill him.
“You’ll burn holes in her if you stare any harder,” Raiden drawls beside me.
“For the past month, that tosser has all but rubbed against her as if he’s marking his territory.”
“So? It’s not as if you’ll spend tonight alone. In fact…” My twin scans the room—until his stare stops near the back. “I see two splendid possibilities by the window. Let’s go.”
Raiden sees such possibilities every place, and he’s rarely wrong. Even if I won’t spend the night alone, I’m dying to spend it with Kari. But she’ll refuse me, as she has for countless months in the two years I’ve known her.
Until recently, I assumed she didn’t want to cross the human-wizard line…presuming she even knows magickind exists. But given her present coziness with Tynan, she likely does. Which means her refusal is personal.
I seethe.
“In a moment.” I stomp toward the bar.
Raiden grabs my arm. “Forget her.”
Doesn’t he think I’ve tried?
I jerk free. “Shove off.”
“What the devil is wrong with you? Kari is hardly the most beautiful female you’ve shagged. Last week’s blonde was more stunning by half. What was her name?”
I have no idea, and that’s the problem. I despise waking up in a different bed, beside a different body, every morning. At barely ninety, I’m young by magickind’s standards. But I don’t want to live this way for ten more minutes, much less nine long centuries.
“Kari is different.” She’s special. “I’ve nearly gone mad trying to discern why.”
Raiden snorts. “She’s the only woman who’s ever told you ‘no.’ There are plenty who won’t. Pick one and move on.”
As if all women are interchangeable. But for Raiden—and the rest of the Wolvsey wizards—they are.
Why am I different?
“Chat up the women by the window,” I tell my brother. “I’m popping over to the bar to say hello.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re wasting your time. Kari looks…busy.”
I turn back to find her pressing her soft pink lips against the big wizard’s stubbled cheek. The sight rips through my gut. She looks so delicate and fair against his strong, sun-bronzed face.
