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Chapter Four
Astrid
I can’t believe there’s a burly Viking dragon in my house.
He’s so completely not my type. Not that it matters what my type is. He’s here to protect me. Purely professional. Why am I even thinking that?
I close the door behind him, feeling a flutter of nerves in my chest. Which is something that never happens to me. But this is so awkward—I have a total stranger in my house. A stranger I just wrestled with in the snow for over a quarter hour. I’m pretty much at a complete loss for where to go from here.
“Uh… I’m going to get a glass of wine. Want one?” I turn and stride for the kitchen before he can answer. Fuck. That makes it sound like I’m hitting on him. What is wrong with me??
As I grab a bottle of cabernet off my wine rack, I force myself to take a deep breath so my hands don’t shake. This whole situation has me flustered in the worst possible way. Footsteps coming up behind me announce my bodyguard.
“I never drink on the job,” he says, but he offers a small smile. “Thanks, though.”
I uncork the bottle, pour myself a glass, and take a big sip before trying to say anything else. Erik watches me as I lean back against the countertop. His eyes are a really amazing shade of green, like jade, but a bit lighter.
“So, I don’t know how this works,” I admit. “I’ve never had a bodyguard before.”
“I’ll stay out of your hair,” Erik says. “Just try to pretend I’m not here.”
My eyes drift over him. He’s got to be six-foot-four and ripped as hell. Now that his jacket is off, I can see tattoos peeking out from under his form-fitting Henley—at the base of his wrists, along his collarbone. Most of them are runic, which of course piques my interest since that’s my magical specialty. He’s one of those dudes that can rock longish hair and look amazing. It falls about halfway to his shoulders, straight and thick, in a shade between sandy and strawberry blonde.
It’s literally impossible to forget he’s here.
I take another sip of wine. “Well, if you’re going to be here, I suppose I should find out more about the Night Guild and what they want with me.”
“Oh, you’re interested in that now, are you?” He wears a slight smirk on his face.
“I mean, you practically begged me to stay.” I roll my eyes. “If I have to have a complete stranger in my house, I might as well know why.”
Erik’s expression grows serious. “I don’t know why yet,” he says after a moment. “When we raided the nearby lab, I found a bunch of files. Yours was one. And my colleagues also found your grimoire at another Night Guild facility.”
My whole body stiffens. “My grimoire?”
Memories spin through my head. A few months ago, some local punks had broken into my house and damaged a bunch of stuff. They’d spraypainted the words ‘witch’ and ‘devil worshipper’ on the walls. And they’d stolen my grimoire.
Or so I’d thought.
“What is it?” Erik asks, crossing his arms over his chest. He shifts his weight like he’s going to step towards me, but he stops himself.
I tell him what happened. “Maybe it wasn’t local teens after all,” I say softly when I finish.
Erik looks mad, his brows furrowed and the veins in his neck popping out. “Clearly the Guild wanted everyone to think that.”
“That means they were in my house…” I trail off, a wave of horror moving over me. “But why just steal my grimoire? If they wanted me, why not do something about it then?”
“We don’t know much yet,” Erik says. “They only just came up on the Raven Society’s radar about a month ago. There are still a lot of unknowns.”
“That’s not exactly comforting,” I say.
“Would you rather I lied to you?” His green gaze burns into mine.
I shake my head, letting out a sigh. “No. I want the truth.”
“The Night Guild operated in secrecy for so long, making it nearly impossible for anyone to find out who was running the organization,” he says. “They have facilities all around the world. We only know of a handful right now. But that’s a lot more than we knew about a few weeks ago.”
“You make it sound like you found out who’s running the show,” I say. “What changed?”
