Chapter Two
JAX WATCHED AS HIS KITCHEN staff worked magic with his recipes. Hiring a few witches to prep and run the line was a stroke of genius. They made cooking fun, exciting, and extremely easy. Food literally danced around the air, putting on a great show for everyone, including the patrons. He figured having the open kitchen offering a little show for his guests would be the talk of the town, only business wasn’t as great as he expected. He knew it would take time to build up his clientele and siphon some of his competitor’s regulars to his arena. He just hoped that time was coming soon. Five months in business, and he was barely breaking even with payroll. He had nothing left over to pay off the loans.
His attention turned to the door as a pretty, petite blonde with curves in all the right places walked into the restaurant. She made her way directly to the only other patron in the place, Lance, a real snake in the grass. Gracie, the only waitress on duty, went to grab their order.
The blonde stranger was intriguing. Something about her pulled his attention from everything else. Her classic beauty was only one aspect of his interest. There was something about her, something he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but he intended to find out.
He made his way closer to the table so he could hear what looked like a heated conversation.
*****
“You said you can help me find this thing,” the blonde girl snapped.
Lance leaned back in the booth and offered a smarmy smile. “I can, and will, Tessa, but the price has gone up.”
Tessa closed her eyes and shook her head, counting to ten to calm her irritation. “We had a deal.”
“We did,” he nodded as he steepled his fingers in front of his lips, “until I discovered who we’re messing with.”
“And who is that?”
He grinned, deliberately holding back the name from leaving his lips. “That is going to cost you.”
It was worth a shot. Tessa leaned back, frustrated. She hid it by fisting her fingers under the table. She didn’t have time for any of this crap. “How much?”
“One hundred.”
Tessa felt her eyes almost bug out of her head. “One hundred grand? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Honey, none of this is a laughing matter.” He pushed back a strand of dark hair from his tan forehead.
“I’ll have to call my buyers.” She took a drink of her ice water to cool the blood boiling in her veins. She hated dealing with snakes like this man. Unfortunately, there were plenty of these particular kinds of snakes.
Lance stood up and laid down a twenty dollar bill. “You know how to get in touch with me.” He turned and left the restaurant.
Tessa’s head dropped to the wooden table. There was no way in hell she was going to get a hundred grand. The waitress came over and left the drinks Lance ordered in front of her.
“Anything else?”
“No, thank you.” Tessa didn’t even raise her head to answer. She needed to focus on another way to get the stone. The energy around it was rising, and her psychic intuition told her that it wouldn’t be long before it was used. If that happened, she’d wind up paying a high price, higher than a hundred grand.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I…”
Tessa looked up and locked eyes with a man that looked like he walked right out of her dreams. His dark, wavy, shoulder length hair shone in the light from the fireplace. It caused his tanned skin to give off a radiant glow. She ran her eyes down his body, and couldn’t help but appreciate the whole package. His muscles were those of a man that worked out and maintained his shape, but it was the smile that touched his blue eyes that captivated her and stole her breath away. The man was gorgeous, and strangely familiar.
“Well, I thought maybe I’d offer some help.” He stopped talking. His voice was like smooth silk on her skin. Tessa couldn’t help but focus on his lips. Lips she could imagine giving amazing pleasure. That thought shocked her. She wasn’t the type to fall over gaga for some hot guy, but this guy was different. There was something about him that intrigued her.
“You think you can help me?” Tessa smiled. “Okay, my name is Tessa Grant. And you?”
“I’m Jackson Brand, but my friends call me Jax.”
“Okay, Jackson.” Tessa held her hand out in invitation for him to sit. “Tell me how you can help.”
“Jax.” He smiled, and took a seat across the table from her. “First, I need to know what it is you’re looking for.”
Tessa sighed heavily. She didn’t understand why she was trusting this stranger. Maybe it was out of desperation. She needed to find the stone before it killed another person. Now that she knew of its existence, every death that happened going forward would be on her conscience. She couldn’t have that. She already had too many ghosts in her closet. “I’m looking for something that has the potential to kill a lot of people.”
*****
The most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes upon sat across the table from him and talked about death as though she’d been talking about last night’s meal. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.” She shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders.
He’d love to see those curls bouncing in the midst of an intimate moment or two. “Alright, I’m all ears.”
She pursed her Cupid’s bow lips. Jax closed his eyes against the vision in his mind of her lips on his skin. This was not the time or place for sexual thoughts, but he promised himself he’d have a taste of this blonde woman before she left town.
“It’s a stone carving that has been infused with the blood of the god of terror. It’s used to scare beings to death. I’ve followed the clues, and they led me here. The stone had been gifted to a family of great power in the 16th century. and it has been guarded by the family ever since.”
“If it’s guarded, isn’t it safe?” Concentrating on her words was difficult. Her scent was intoxicating. It was her anxious energy and the topic of the conversation that kept him from thinking about what he’d like to do to this woman behind closed doors.
“No, it’s going to be used, and from what I can tell, it’ll be used soon.”
“How do you know that?”
“I can’t tell you.” She shook her head. “Just trust me. I have it on good authority that it’ll be used, and more than the guilty will lose their lives.”
Jax examined the woman across from him. She looked innocent enough, but she truly believed what she was saying. Paranormal stuff happened around here every day, but a stone infused with blood from gods that could scare people to death seemed more like a horror film plot than something in today’s reality. “Do you know which family?”
She frowned. “The facts get a little blurry around that detail. Lance was supposed to help me find the family, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anymore. I can’t pay the ransom price he is asking for.”
“Okay, then I’ll help. First thing tomorrow we’ll pay Lance a visit and find out what he knows.”
She gave him a confused look. “Didn’t you just hear me? He isn’t going to give up what he knows.”
“We’ll see.” Jackson stood up. “Right now, is there anything I can get you to eat?”
“I guess, maybe a salad and another glass of wine.”
“Coming right up.”
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