Magic and Alphas: A Paranormal Romance Collection, page 41
His eyes landed on his watch as he ran his thumb over her knuckles. “Oh, holy crap. It’s three in the morning!”
“Is not—oh, my God, it is.”
“Zinter! Why didn’t you tell us to get gone?”
The golden-eyed satyr looked up from his books and cup of coffee. “Because I don’t want to interrupt such a cute get-to-know-you date.”
“I’m not cute,” Niko said.
“Yeah, actually you are.” Betsy had a smirk on her face.
“Ugh. Bets, I have to get you home. I have to open the store at nine tomorrow.”
“Today,” she teased.
He snorted. “Zinter, how much—”
“Gratis, you two.” He laughed. “Just go home. Be careful. I heard the harpies are floating around out there tonight.”
Betsy’s concerned expression made him laugh. “Don’t worry, Bets. The harpies avoid the dragons, since we are very liable to make tasty snacks out of them.”
“Uh…”
“Only threatened,” Zinter said. “They’re annoying little fucks. It’s good to keep them in line with a heated reminder that they aren’t the most threatening in Pine Valley.”
“Are the dragons?” Betsy asked as Niko held out his hand to help her up from the chair.
Both Zinter and Niko chorused the answer. “No.”
Looking between the two of them, Niko hoped she wasn’t going to ask what he knew was the inevitable question.
“Who is?”
Not wanting to answer, Niko hesitated. Zinter shook his head, and he knew he had to answer her. “Humans.”
Betsy didn’t like that answer at all as he took her hand and headed for the door. He waved at Zinter and locked the door behind them.
“Humans?”
“Yes, they are the most dangerous. We keep ourselves secret from the rest of the world because of what they did to witches in the seventeenth century, and earlier. What they’ve always done to vampires and lycans. Can you imagine how some of the people in town would react to a damn dragon in their midst? Humans are slow to accept change. If we were ever to be found out, by the population at large, they’d kill us.”
“But you have magic…”
“We are rare, Betsy.” He held the door of the car open for her and helped her in. Climbing in, he continued after he started the car. “While we are powerful, and magical, we would be overwhelmed. Have you ever seen ants swarming a larger animal? One or two, the animal can overcome them. But when the rest of the ants come out of the nest and swarm, the animal may at first win, but will ultimately fall to the ants. That’s what would happen to our magical community. We would fall to humans. So we hide and show ourselves only when we have to.”
“Despite the fact that you can spit fire, you’re afraid of humans?”
“No, I’m not afraid of humans. I’m kind of fond of them. They make up a vast swath of my business, and I enjoy conversations with them. What I am afraid of is them finding out just how real magic is. Pine Valley keeps its peace because humans are not aware that there is magic among them.”
She was quiet as he drove the car back through the dark of Pine Valley, heading for her apartment in the Georgian Court. This time, she traced her thumb over his hand as the distance passed in silence.
Pulling the car to a stop in front of her building, Betsy took a deep breath.
Niko considered her. “Are you okay? I mean, there’s a lot going on here.”
“No, no, I’m okay. I get it. I mean, I understand.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, yes, it’s fine.” She gave him a small smile. “Just tired.”
“Good. I’ll make sure you get in.” He grinned. “No sex on the first date.”
Betsy laughed. “That’s ironic.”
“Well, I think this was much better. I had a good night.”
Turning her seat, her face was bright with a smile. “It was a wonderful date. May we have another one?”
“I was going to ask.” Popping open the glovebox, he pulled out two tickets. “I have seats to the SU production of You Can’t Take It With You at the Saturday matinee. Can I interest you?”
Eyeballing him, she paused. “Who were those originally for?”
“Me and Sia, but Sia is... preoccupied.”
“Who’s Sia?”
“A witch who runs an apothecary on High street. She’s basically my aunt.”
“She’s not going to be mad that I’m going with you?”
“She can go with Poppy. Poppy is her best friend.”
“All right. As long as I’m not putting anyone out for this.”
“Not at all.” Niko dropped the car into park and climbed out, walking around to the other side to open the door for her. He offered a hand, and she lifted herself out of the car.
“Thank you for such a great night, Niko. I don’t know the last time I had so much fun.”
“I would hope that our little tryst on the rocks was somewhat fun for you?”
“Oh… uh, I should have qualified that with ‘that didn’t involve sex’.”
Niko swept in and pressed his lips against hers. All night, he had wanted to ravish her sweet mouth, and never once had the chance presented itself. It would have been misery itself if not for the fact that he was with her and learning about her the whole time. He’d watched her smile and frown, and grin and laugh. Every moment of it was wonderful. He wasn’t leaving without his kiss.
She willingly opened for him, his tongue warm and welcomed. Her taste was lightness and sweetness as they petted and stroked and twisted around each other, sharing breath and space. Niko wanted to lift her and carry her inside, lay her down and fuck her until the sun lightened the sky again.
He had to open the store in the morning.
Hell was pulling away from her when the kiss had ignited both of them.
“Shit,” she whispered.
“I really don’t want to be a responsible adult right now.” Niko caught his breath.
“Me neither.” The words almost undid his resolve, but she continued. “Not tonight, Niko. As much as I want it. Not tonight. You have to go to the store, and I have my first day of work at Krieg’s this week. It will have to wait.”
“I hate being responsible.”
She nipped his ear. “Me too. But this weekend, Niko. It’s just you and me.”
Nodding, he stepped back behind the door of the car, unsuccessfully trying to hide and tame his hard-on. “This weekend. It’s only one day, right? We just have to get through Friday.”
“Just Friday.” She nodded and headed for the door. “Good night, Nikomedes. Thank you for a great night.”
“Night, Bets.” He watched as she let herself in through the first door. He then waited until she turned on the lamp in her bedroom. He knew which one was hers and grinned secretly that he knew that.
One day, he told himself. Just one day. He could manage.
Chapter Twelve
The phone behind the counter was already ringing as Niko shut off the alarm. He shuffled past the cases and managed to reach it on the fifth ring.
“Tavoularis Jeweler, how can I help you?” He tried to make the words as happy as he could as he wandered back to the front to finish shutting down the alarms.
“Niko, please.”
“Speaking.”
“Good morning, Niko, this is Mike Winterthur from Canada Diamonds. I apologize if I’m calling too early.”
“No, no. Not at all. Just running a few minutes behind.” Niko took a drag off his coffee, not even remotely regretting his late night. At the same time, he was trying to figure out why Canadian Diamonds was calling him. He didn’t remember ordering anything from them lately.
“Good, good. Well, I’m calling on an... odd situation. And I’m not a hundred percent I’ve reached the right person. Have you ever heard of Speaking Stones?”
Niko choked on his coffee. The question was unexpected and he’d had no idea that Winterthur was a dragon—and he’d been dealing with the guy for years.
“Well. I didn’t expect that. Yes. I have heard of Speaking Stones.” Grabbing a wad of napkins, he blotted up the coffee he couldn’t rein in.
“Oh, good, I was afraid this was a pointless call. I have one here, and it’s been telling me to call you in that weird way they do.”
Niko was rendered speechless. “You have one for me?”
“Well…” Winterthur’s voice trailed off. “It’s a big one. Four point eight carat, emerald cut flawless, perfect white clarity. I think it may be a mating stone.”
This time, Niko staggered back against the counter, coffee dropping and tipping over. His dragon sat up and took notice, too. “Ma… mating stone?”
“I haven’t come across many Speaking Stones, Mister Tavoularis, so I can’t be sure. But this one is definitely hers, from you.”
“Holy hell…” His mind was reeling. Someone had a speaking stone that was meant to be a mating stone. Mating stones only appeared when a dragon had met their mate. And since this one showed up less than a month after meeting Betsy…
“Could you repeat the Cs?” Niko finally managed.
“Cut, emerald. Clarity, D-E. Color, pure white. Carat, four point eight.”
The dragon was nodding vigorously inside his head. With no regard to the fact that they would have to tap the hoard to pay for this fucking massive diamond.
I have a mating stone.
“What’s the price, Mister Winterthur?” He swallowed hard.
“Two hundred-twenty thousand, five hundred. Plus shipping insurance.”
In all his life, he’d never bought a stone that expensive for any reason at all. Most people balked at anything over five thousand. This was close to forty-five times that cost. And for a thief he couldn’t be sure was going to stay on Pine Valley with him.
Niko only paused a moment. “A bank transfer will do?”
“Far better than anything else.”
“Give me a day to deposit, and set it up.”
“Through the usual account?”
“Yes. No reason to be secretive. I’ve moved more, but never for just one stone.”
“I totally understand. I’ll send the invoice in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Mister Winterthur.”
“My pleasure. And congratulations.”
Niko twisted his lip with a grimace, but managed to be polite and thank him. He disconnected the call and stared at the handset only a moment before dialing a different number.
“Kalispéra!”
“Éla, Pappoús.”
“Nikomedes?” His grandfather’s voice was shocked and spun into perfect English. “It’s good to hear from you. What’s up? Anything wrong?”
“I wouldn’t say wrong, Pappoús. Just... moving fast and confusing me.”
“Eh hey, girl trouble.”
“Naí, exactly.”
“How can I help? You might say I’m a little out of the dating scene.”
That got a laugh out of Niko. “For how many centuries?”
“Eh, who knows. I’m older than Christ and sliced bread.” His grandfather chuckled at his own joke. “So, what’s on your mind?”
“I just got a call from Canadian Diamonds. Did you know James Winterthur was a dragon?”
“Sure did. I bought your father’s birthing stone from him. A nice guy. Has a real way with gems.”
“I just bought a mating stone from him.”
The line was dead silent. It was quiet so long, Niko was sure they’d lost the connection. Finally, though, Pappoús’s voice came through again.
“A mating stone?”
“Naí.”
“Are you seeing someone?”
“Yes, but this is insanely complicated, Pappoús. He called me and told me the stone was a Speaking Stone. It told him it was hers, from me.”
“Agías tou Christoú.” The words were mumbled, but Niko heard them. “How long have you been seeing her?”
“Three weeks.”
“Nikomedes, this is not a small matter.”
“Neither was the sum.”
“Gamó ton Día kai o chrysós!”
Fuck Zeus and the gold!
The words stopped Niko dead. His grandfather never swore, never mind dropping a gamma-bomb in Greek and invoking Zeus. There was more to this than a Speaking Stone. “Grandfather?”
A deep, resonant sigh came though the phone. “It is the beginning of a prophecy. A legend. A tall tale. I’m not sure how much is true anymore, and how much is twenty centuries of time playing with my mind. But there was a tale, in the time of the old gods, that a new world beyond Atlantis would need a fifth element to balance our four. A time when things were in great upheaval. It’s not just our kind that will be affected, either. Your friends in Pine Valley will as well, until the Spirit is found and balanced. Your mating stone, once given, will begin the cycle. The power of earth will shake the world, realign the ley lines. A new omphalos will appear, and since you are there with the mating stone, I expect the new naval of our reborn world will be there in Pine Valley.”
Niko thumped his head back against the wall. “Fabulous.”
“This isn’t all bad, Nikomedes. It’s just that we have to weather it. Your Speaking Stone for your mate is just the signal for the start.”
“It’s not that, Pappoús. It’s... her.”
There was a snort on the other end. “She’s a thief.”
“Naí, but how did you know?”
“Because the prophecy said it will be her choice if the new era begins. She can literally start a new world or snuff it out before it begins.”
Niko stood up a little straighter. “That’s why Max senses something different about her, but not necessarily magical.”
“Yes, anyone who can sense magic would know she’s not magical, but the fate of magic rests in that mating stone. You bought it?”
“How could I not?”
“Good man.” Grandfather was honestly pleased. “Is she pretty?”
“Gorgeous, Pappoús.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Erzabet. Betsy.”
“Niko. This is not something you can force on her. This is not a decision you can press her into. It must be of her own free will. I don’t know the whole story, grandson. I’m sure you will tell me when the deed is done. But it’s not in our hands.”
Niko shook his head sadly. “I know exactly how to handle this. Don’t worry about that.”
“Do you love her?”
“Three weeks, grandfather.”
“You’re a shifter, grandson.”
The laugh escaped. “Well, I lust after her. I do enjoy her company. And I think she’s a sweet person. Love follows later.”
“Smart boy. You’ll be careful?”
“Of course.”
“And did your ancient grandfather help you with this?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Would you mind remaining on the line for a short, optional survey?”
“Pappoús!”
“Call me more often, Nikomedes. Not just when prophecies and fate rear their ugly head. Yes?”
“Yes, Pappoús, I promise.”
His grandfather closed the conversation and they said goodbye. Niko stared at the phone in his hand a moment more. He was going to enjoy the next few days with Betsy, before that stone arrived. Because there was a good chance once it did, and he gave her the choices, revealed her as the town thief, she was never going to speak to him again.
* * *
Betsy lay on the bed, naked, staring at the ceiling. She’d showered and had to be at Krieg’s market in half an hour for her first day. The first job she’d had where she didn’t want to steal anything, pocket shit left and right and try to make Wyatt happy.
She hated her life at that moment. She wanted to go back and listen to her mother and best friend about how shitty Wyatt was. How he would drag her down.
Her. She of the full scholarship. The girl who could read a book in a day. The one who loved science and literature. The girl who planned to double major and teach high school.
Now, naked and absolutely hating everything about her life. Missing everything she had been—and fearing all the things she never could be.
The phone was in her hand, and she found her fingers dialing a number she hadn’t realized she still remembered. It was ringing before she could chicken out.
“Hello?”
Her voice froze in her throat.
“Hello? Anyone there?”
Managing to clear her throat, Betsy still couldn’t get the words out.
“Hello. I’m going to hang up.”
She forced the words out on a whisper. “...Amy?”
The gasp and gripping silence on the other end told Betsy the other person had heard her. The quiet hung in the air for a moment more, and then the other person spoke. “Bets, is that you?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s me.”
“Where the hell are you? I don’t know the area code.”
“I can’t tell you, Amy. You know that.”
She paused. “You really did rob that truck with Wyatt, didn’t you?”
“Yeah…”
“Jesus, Betsy. Come home. I work with your dad’s law firm. Turn yourself in, turn state’s evidence. We can get this down to minimal jail time—”
“I am just as guilty as Wyatt, Amy. I can’t come home. I don’t know if I want to.”
“You need to. Turn state’s evidence—”
“On what? Myself?”
“Oh, sweetie. You don’t know?”
Betsy sat up. “Know what?”
“Have you been on Wyatt’s Grand Theft Auto sprees? Where he hoists all those cars?”
“We’ve stolen a few here and there…”
“No, the luxury runs, with the Beemer and the Benz and the Maseratis?”
A hard, cold chill ran up her spine. “Those are his and his brother’s runs. I never go. Ever. The worst I ever did was that armored truck.”
A very deep, relieved sigh came from the other end. “Sweetie, your prince not-so-charming has been running a car racket with his criminal professional brother. We need state’s evidence, even if it’s just character witnesses.”
“What the hell, Amy?”
