Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) (8 page)

I laughed. “So he’s a bigger hound dog than you are?”

Coop shot me a look. “You said you didn’t care who I dated.”

“I don’t. I’m just amazed by the sheer volume.”

We walked toward the building as he answered me. “Imari is one person.”

“So is Toly’s granddaughter, and you dated her, which makes two. And she, I might add, tried to kill me.”

“Hey, that had nothing to do with me.”

“No, but if this chick tries to kill me, I may start thinking differently.”

He pulled the lobby door open. “Imari is great, you’ll see.”

We walked in, and Cooper gave our names to the doorman. “We’re here to see Imari Zephara.”

Imari Zephara? That was a name and a half.

The doorman nodded. “Yes, Miss Zephara said you’d be arriving.” He picked up a house phone and pressed a button, then put it to his ear while speaking to us. “I’ve called the elevator for you so you can go on up. I’ll let her know you’re here.”

“Thanks.” Cooper and I headed for the elevators.

I stayed quiet, just observing. The Excelsior felt like money. Chic and sophisticated and private. The elevator doors slid open with a sigh, the stainless steel exterior giving way to a sleek interior paneled in dark wood and brushed chrome. Cooper touched the button for the second floor, and the doors closed. I knew we were moving, but it was hard to tell.

The whole joint struck me as the kind of place where people lived who wanted to control their interaction with others. Being the Winter Princess, I understood that.

My parents might live in a place like this. Or my aunt and uncle. If any of them ever moved out of the North Pole, which they wouldn’t. It wasn’t their style aesthetically, but the overall feeling of being protected from the world outside was something that would appeal.

So why did Imari live here? And how much did a massage therapist make in this town? I doubted I’d get the answers to those questions as the doors opened onto a large foyer, also dark wood and brushed chrome, but the wood floor was covered with an expensive-looking Oriental rug, and the walls and reception table held some modern art. There were three doors marked with sleek numbers and letters.

Cooper knocked on the middle one. 2B.

Or not to be, my mind immediately filled in.

Imari opened the door almost immediately.

I nearly sucked in a breath, but years of court training helped me maintain my composure. I’d seen beautiful women before. But Imari was almost unreal. Big almond eyes, lots of dark wavy hair, full lips, and even in a pair of harem-style lounge pants and a T-shirt, she looked classy.

Next to her, in my shorts and tank top, it was hard not to feel like a big old clump of yellow snow. Even Cooper’s light was a little diminished by her.

She smiled at Cooper. “Hello there.”

“Hi, Imari. Thanks for letting us come over so late.”

She shrugged and glanced at me before answering. “You said it was an emergency. Come on in, and I’ll see if I can help.”

“Great, thanks. This is Jayne, by the way.”

“Hi.” I stuck my hand out. “Nice to meet you. Really appreciate any help you can give.”

She shook my hand, her touch light, her skin incredibly soft. “Happy to do it.”

She ushered us in, and we walked into one of the prettiest apartments I’d ever seen. The walls were painted a deep raspberry, the upholstery was navy and everything else—the rugs, the pillows, the tapestries on the walls—were patterned in every color imaginable. Touches of gold were everywhere. I felt as though I’d stepped into a sultan’s lair.

“Your home is so pretty.” Made me realize I still had a lot of work to do on my own.

“Thank you. Would you like some tea?”

“No, I’m good, thank you.”

Cooper shook his head. “None for me either. We don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

She gestured toward the couch. “Please sit.” She settled on a large ottoman and crossed her legs under her in a yoga pose. “Tell me what I can help you with.”

I explained what happened, then took the box out of the shopping bag and handed it to her. “What do you think? Could that have had a genie in it?”

She studied the box briefly, turning it over in her hands. Then she set the lid aside, lifted the box to her face and inhaled. At last, she handed it back to me. “This box never held a genie, but it definitely held something magical.”

“Magical how?”

“I’m not sure, but…” She looked at Cooper, then back at me, her brow furrowing. “Whatever was in that box was very powerful.” She bit her lip. “And you let it out.”

I’d never heard the obvious stated quite so ominously. I glanced at the box. “I did let it out, inadvertently. So what do I do about it? Is this going to be a problem?”

Imari frowned. “It’s not a problem exactly, but because you released whatever this magic was, you will have to be the one to put it back in that box.”

Fantastic. “Technically, it was my cat who let it out.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She shook her head. “You bought the box. That makes you the owner. The lid was opened while in your possession. There are no technicalities when it comes to this kind of magic.”

“This kind?” I needed to know more. A lot more. “Do you have any idea what was in there? Some kind of spell or something maybe? My cat said he could talk because I’d wished for it. And I’m starting to think I had another wish granted. One about not running out of Dr Pepper. Every time I take one out of the fridge, the six-pack is always full.” I tapped my chin. “You know, I could live with that one not being revoked.”

“It’s jinn-related, whatever it is. Especially if you’ve had wishes granted.” Her gaze narrowed. “If you’ve truly had two wishes granted, then you should have one more left. You must be very careful what you say from here on out.”

“I will be.”

Cooper elbowed me. “Good luck with that, Jay.”

I glared at him before speaking to Imari again. “How would it normally work if someone had a jinn of some kind they wanted wishes from? I mean, I had wishes granted that I wasn’t really making. What if someone was trying to purposefully have wishes granted?”

She tipped her head. “If someone was trying to have wishes granted, they would know what they were dealing with. Typically, they’d start off by addressing the creature to command its attention. Something like, ‘My wishes are…’ Otherwise, as in your case, the creature will try to escape as soon as possible.”

“Which is exactly what it did. But how is it not a genie but jinn-related? I don’t get that part.”

“Genies are a kind of jinn, but not all jinn are genies. The jinn family includes creatures like pixies, sprites, ghouls. And genies, of course.” Imari smiled. “Does that help?”

“Yes, thank you. So I let a creature out of the box. Interesting. I hadn’t really thought of it that way. Say, of all the creatures that are jinn, which ones are small enough to fit in that box?”

Imari laughed softly. “All of them.”

I looked at her, skeptical. “Even you?”

“Even me.”

How about that. Clearly I had a lot to learn about jinn. “Is there any more help you can give me?”

She thought for a moment. “If you could learn the creature’s name, you could exert a certain amount of control over it. Hold its attention, get it to listen to you for more than wishes, that sort of thing. But getting its name will be extremely difficult. You’d have to ask it, and without knowing where it is…” She lifted her hands. “Like I said, impossible.”

I thought for a moment. “I have one wish left. Can’t I use that to get the creature’s name?”

“No, that’s the one wish it will never grant.”

“But you’re a genie, right? Can you grant me a wish that I can use to get this magic back in the box? Or find out its name?”

A dark cloud seemed to cover her face. “No. I…no longer do that.” She shifted, putting her feet on the floor. “I’m sorry I can’t help you, but I suggest you talk to some of the other more knowledgeable supernaturals in town. Magic like this can’t be up to any good.”

Clearly, my request for a wish hadn’t gone over well. Wasn’t like I’d meant to upset her. And I still didn’t feel like she’d told me everything she knew. “What makes you say that? You’re a kind of jinn. You don’t seem like you’re up to anything nefarious.”

Her brows lifted. “What I am and what this creature is are very different. I’ve never dabbled in this kind of magic, but you must trust me on this. I can tell by the scent it’s left behind that there is a darkness in it.”

“You can smell darkness? How is that possible?”

“It’s like telling the difference between fresh milk and milk about to go off. It’s not bad yet, but given enough time, it will be. This creature is very much like that. Make sense?”

“Yes.” And more reason than ever for me to see Francine. I stuffed the box and lid back in the shopping bag. “Thank you for the information. Do you think this creature is what caused all the other weird stuff that happened today?”

She frowned. “What other stuff?”

Cooper filled her in about the woman who’d turned blue and the strange calls the fire department had had.

She nodded. “Yes, I definitely do. And while these things might seem harmless, my guess is, until this magic is contained again, these pranks will grow increasingly more bothersome. And possibly dangerous. That’s what I meant about the darkness in it. It’s almost like an anger.” She got up and glanced toward the door. “That’s really all I know.”

Cooper touched my shoulder and stood. “Thanks for your help, Imari. We’ll see ourselves to the door.”

I rose, and he put his hand on my lower back, hustling me straight out and into the elevator, which came pretty quickly. Like it had been summoned. Or maybe it had never left. As soon as the doors closed, he sighed. “I told you not to say anything about wishes.”

I turned to him. “It’s part of the story, Coop.” I shifted the shopping bag to my other hand. “I didn’t know it was going to upset her. I just thought you didn’t want me asking her because it’s like meeting a doctor and asking them straight away what that weird pain in your leg is.”

He shook his head. “No, Imari’s sensitive about the whole wish thing, which I get is strange for a genie, but it’s not a subject she likes to talk about. I don’t know why. Like I said, she doesn’t elaborate.”

“You should have told me that. I wouldn’t have said anything.” I thought for a moment. “Is that why you guys broke up? Did you ask her for a wish?”

“No. We broke up because…other reasons.”

The elevator opened. We walked through the foyer and out to the parking lot. The doorman was signing in a pizza delivery guy but gave us a wave as we went by.

“What other reasons?” I asked as Cooper opened my door to let me into the truck.

He stood there for a moment, sandwiched between me and the door, looking like he was trying to swallow something unpleasant. I could feel the heat radiating off him. Whatever was on his mind was causing him some real emotion.

I shrugged. “If you don’t want to tell me—”

“She wasn’t you.”

My jaw fell open.

He raked a hand through his hair as he looked away for a moment. “It was right after I moved here. I got a little homesick. A little nostalgic. And she was the closest thing to you I could find in this town.”

I stared up through my lashes at him, tipping my head down. “In what way is she close to me?”

He leaned his forearm on the cab and met my gaze. “She’s beautiful and charming and classy.”

All things that seemed completely alien to any description of me right now. In fact, it was like comparing a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a banana split. “Coop, that’s sweet, but she’s so beyond me that—”

His mouth covered mine in a kiss that was heat and need and yearning. It sent a shiver through me, the cold plunge of feeling like a warning response to his unexpected action. When he pulled away a few seconds later, there were ice crystals on the inside of the windshield.

He sighed and I could see his breath.

I swallowed. Part of my reaction to him was surprise.

And part of it wasn’t.

The muscle in his jaw twitched. “Time to take you home.”