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“Hi, Risa,” Manny, one of our newer waiters, said as I walked in.
“How’s things going today?”
“A particularly insane lunch rush has been followed by this lovely lull.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” I said with a smile, “because it won’t last long.”
The afternoon rush usually hit between five and seven, when werewolves hungry from the afternoon spent at the werewolf sex club Blue Moon came in to eat, and those on their way to the club came in to fuel up.
I looked around for a moment, then added, “Where’s Linda?”
“Apparently one of the kitchen hands didn’t turn up today, so Tao’s asked Linda to help with the dishes while we’re slow.”
I cursed softly. If there was one position we couldn’t seem to keep filled long term, it was the damn kitchen hand. It paid well enough, but it was hot, grubby work, and it seemed the younger generation weren’t inclined that way—it was all middle management and high starting salaries for them, or it was nothing.
Which was a comment Mom often used to make. I smiled, even as the wistful ache that she was gone swept through me again. No matter how close I was to my aunt Riley, she wasn’t Mom and never could be.
I grabbed the banister and headed up. “I’ve got to go do some paperwork, Manny, but give me a yell the minute it gets busy down here.”
He nodded, and I continued on up to the office.
I was near the top of the stairs when the kitchen exploded in flames.
Chapter 4
There was a gigantic whoosh; then the kitchen doors burst open and a fist of flame punched through them. I ducked instinctively, but the flames were sucked back into the kitchen almost as soon as they’d appeared.>It was a fierceness that had me trembling, because it wasn’t entirely anger. Lust burned in the deeper recesses of his eyes, and it was growing stronger by the moment.
I might be tired, I might have the mother of all headaches developing thanks to Amaya and the events of the day so far, but it seemed even that wasn’t enough to stop the growing hum of desire.
Although it wasn’t like I had many other options with which to satisfy my needs. With Azriel intent on remaining a monk, my only other possibilities were Jak—the man who not only betrayed the trust I’d placed in him by writing a newspaper article about my mother that basically called her a fraud who lied about her background, but who broke my heart in the process—or I could head down to Franklin’s, a private wolf club where I was a long-term member. And while I did have a regular partner there, his touch had lost some of its appeal since Lucian and Azriel had come into my life.
A smile teased Lucian’s lips. Despite his claim to the contrary, he was obviously catching at least some of my thoughts. I tugged my hand free from his and strode toward my car.
He was back beside me in a heartbeat. “In answer to your question, yes, I have been researching ways to mute the tracker, and yes, I was at your home to discuss one possibility.”
I opened the car door but didn’t climb in. “And what is the possibility?”
“A dark sorcerer, but not one who uses blood magic.”
“Any sorcerer who trades with darkness is not a wise choice,” Azriel said. Though his voice retained its usual even tone, his distaste and annoyance still shivered through me.
Which was odd. It was almost as if the chi connection had somehow deepened, allowing me greater access to the ebb and flow of his emotions. And from what I’d gathered, that shouldn’t have been the case.
Unless it was a sign that assimilation was a whole lot closer than we’d presumed.
No.
I glanced at him. If it’s not assimilation, then what is it?
He gave me the mental equivalent of a shrug and my annoyance surged. Some things, it seemed, would never change.
“We haven’t even had the chance to explore our options with the Brindle witches yet,” I said to Lucian.
And since they were some of the most powerful witches in the land, you’d have to think they should be able to come up with something.
“What you bear in your heart is unlike anything the Brindle witches have seen before,” Lucian commented. “It is Aedh in origin, and their magic far exceeds anything ever seen here on earth.”
“By that logic,” Azriel said, before I could even open my mouth, “a dark sorcerer will be of as little use as the Brindle witches.”
