Chapter 12

 

It was a cliché that male Albah either worked in medicine or in law enforcement, but many did because that was where they could use their magic instead of hiding it. As Julian did his rounds at the hospital, easing the pain or helping the damaged skin heal, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had to believe that magic was a good thing.

That he could do good.

Last night had been better than good.

This morning had been even better. He wanted to rush through the day and get back to Leira. The clock was ticking until everything went wrong and nothing they were doing was changing it. He wished he’d never gone to that meeting. That he’d called up and said that he was finishing too late and that he’d catch up later. But he knew that wouldn’t have been enough to stop this from happening.

Emily was the key.

Somehow, the moment he’d broken up with her everything had changed. He almost wished that she’d attacked him and gotten on with it instead of playing him for a fool and faking a relationship with him.

Now he was the one having to fake the relationship because of the love spell she’d done. He’d sent her an e-mail this morning and when he’d checked at lunchtime, she’d replied. He would have to hide the disgust he felt. That was all he felt for her now. She’d killed even the memory of what they’d had. Tonight instead of having dinner with Leira and talking about magic, he’d be pretending that he wanted Emily back.

He hated deception.

But if he didn’t do this, Emily was still running the show. It was time to treat her to her own medicine and see how she liked to be the pawn in a game. The only trouble was that this game ended in death if he fucked up.

He spent the hour between work and meeting Emily buying something new to wear. At some point he would have to purchase a whole new wardrobe. That was, of course, assuming he survived long enough to need them. He needed to find somewhere to live so he had a place to keep his new clothes. He couldn’t keep staying with Leira—even though he wanted to.

He put on the silver chain he’d been given as a child. From it hung a small curved disk. It could be a shield or a scrying bowl, depending on if the wearer was male or female. The disk was barely bigger than his thumbprint. He hadn’t felt the need to wear it in many years, had stopped when he’d moved to Sydney. It had tarnished in his wallet, but that didn’t matter.

The chain, though light, was heavy around his neck. He made sure it was hidden under his shirt. He had to remember he was meant to be under the influence of the love spell. He’d decided the best way to do that was to act as though breaking up with her had been a mistake and that he really missed her.

Which was about as far from the truth as he could get.

He wished he’d never gotten with her in the first place. Of all the women in the bar it had been her that he’d settled on. Or, more correctly, her gaze had landed on him and she’d found a way to make sure that he left with her, and only her.

She’d been stringing him along for months and he’d been fooled. Perhaps it wouldn’t take much for her to think she once again had him in hand.

By the time he was ready to meet Emily it was almost dark. He walked down the road to the café where they were meeting. It was busy with the after-work crowd, a place he’d been too many times with her before.

Not a place he’d ever come again after this was over.

Emily was already waiting for him, pretending to read the menu. He waited for a moment before going in. She looked so innocent, as though she could do no evil and yet she wanted to wipe out his people for no other reason than they had magic.

He had to remember there was no reasoning with the Guardians.

But Emily was an initiate, if his father was right. She hadn’t made her first kill yet. So there was still a chance. As long as he didn’t become her first kill.

Julian forced his lip to turn up into something that resembled a smile and not a pained grimace. Then he walked over and sat opposite her. “Hi.”

“Hey, babe.” She smiled as though she hadn’t left iron in his kitchen, or in his bed, or set fire to his house. How would she explain that if he asked? But her gaze was cool; there was no lust or even pleasure. Had he been blind to the calculating expression or had she hidden it? “I heard about your place. I was so worried and then you didn’t call.”

“My phone got stolen from the hospital.” It had happened to other people. “Then I’ve been busy dealing with the cops and insurance.” That the fire had originated in his place was cause for suspicion. She had done this to his life.

Was she planning on ruining everything just to see him wriggle like a worm on a hook? Was this love spell just part of that?

She nodded, but there was suspicion in her gaze. “That has to be rough. How about I get dinner?”

Once he would have argued and he’d have insisted on paying, but today he let that slide. “That would be great, Em.” He smiled and meant it. Picking up the bill was the least she could do. He even leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Even though Leira knew he was here and the game they were playing, it still felt like cheating.

They ordered. And Emily asked about work and his family—that was no surprise. “Are you staying with them?”

“No, it’s easier for me to stay in a motel close to work than stay with Dad.” If she’d been hoping he’d run home, she was wrong. “How about your family? Are they missing you and waiting for you to go home? You hardly talk about your mother and never about your father.”

Emily shrugged. “I don’t know my father. My mother, she’s the kind of woman that you obey. She has high standards.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “I was thinking of extending my visa so we could spend more time together.”

They had agreed that there was a time limit to what they had, but he was supposed to be under a spell and falling for her. He would have to agree even though he’d much prefer she got booted out of the country. “Maybe once I buy a new place we could think about living together?”

Too much?

It wasn’t the question that he wanted to be asking. He wanted to know how she’d become a Guardian. Why she wanted to kill him…or mess with him? What was her plan? But he had to bite his tongue. He was here to convince her that the spell had worked and get something of hers so Leira could do her thing.

He hated that he was sitting here being as deceptive as Emily.

She smiled and the wariness was gone from her eyes.

For the first time, he wondered if she really did like him. She’d started causing trouble the moment he’d ended it. He glanced at the tattoo on her inner wrist. But how did she think it was ever going to work? She was a Guardian and he was Albah, the less than human creatures she was sworn to kill.

Unless she was thinking about defecting, of not making the kill.

Would the Guardians let her walk if she failed? At the moment, she hadn’t hurt anyone, just been a pain in his ass. Kind of like the last month of their relationship, but dialed up to ten.

He reached over and took her hand. “Are you in some kind of trouble back home?”

Around her wrist was a gold chain. Several charms hung from it. He’d seen it plenty of times, but now he was wondering how easily it would come off. Could he melt a link and palm the bracelet before she realized?

She bit her lip.

Julian let his fingertip heat. The gold link broke and the bracelet fell into his hand. He kept rubbing his thumb on her palm as though he really cared. Maybe it wasn’t too late to turn her from a life of killing. He cared about that. But he didn’t care about her the way she wanted him to. He wasn’t sure that he’d ever cared about her that way, and for that he was sorry. Maybe if he had she’d have turned away from a life of murder.

“My mother wants me to follow in her footsteps, but I don’t know if I’m cut out for that. Do you ever have doubts?”

“Yeah, I do.” Why should he help people every day when people like Emily still thought him scum because of his ancient bloodline and his ability to work magic. Magic that she’d been happy to use on him. “What does your mother do?”

There was a pause. He could hear the table next to him laughing too loud as they ordered another bottle of wine. Something fell in the kitchen with a crash. Would Emily come clean or lie?

“She’s a rancher. Looks after thousands of cattle.”

A lie. He drew his hand back, the bracelet hidden. He slipped it into his pocket and hoped that she wouldn’t notice that it was missing.

Emily must have seen something on his face. “What were you expecting me to say? That she’s in a gang or a con-woman?”

Either of them would’ve been closer to the truth. “You seemed so worried. I thought it must have been something bad.”

“You haven’t hung around a lot of cattle.”

“The smell?”

Emily wrinkled her nose. Julian got the feeling that this wasn’t a total lie. Perhaps her mother did run a ranch as well as killing Albah. Would that make it easier to trace her?

“You don’t want to be a Texas cowgirl? You’d look cute in a hat.” The words fell off his tongue before he could stop them. Maybe that spell was having an effect. It was still coiled around him, even if it hadn’t dug its thorns in. He needed to wrap up this date and get away from her before he accidentally fell for her.

“Not really. It’s been nice being away from all of that, but she’s been asking when I’m coming home.”

“Maybe she misses you.”

He missed his mother. Not all the time the way he once had, but he was feeling it now as he reread her diaries with Leira. She wasn’t here when she should be. His father was alone and right now it would be nice to have another opinion on what was going on.

“Disappointed in me more like.” Emily glanced away. “So dessert here or at your place?”

“I have an early start tomorrow. Plus I’m feeling very unsettled what with all the recent drama.” And there was no way Emily was ever getting in his bed again, love spell or not.

“You don’t have to be alone.” She brushed her fingers over the back of his hand.

And he wouldn’t be. He’d be with Leira.