mission magic 01 - the incubus job (19 page)

Law glanced at me, the corner of his mouth lifting, his eyes crinkling. He looked happy. I stuck my tongue out.

“Can you track the box?”

Ivan was nothing if not determined.

“Don’t think so.”

He made a heavy sound. “Shit. This isn’t good, Mal. You’re the best. I expected better.”

I lowered the phone and stared it in raw disbelief. I returned it to my ear. “You what?”

“Damn it, I trusted you, Mal. This was a big job. Important. Failure wasn’t an option. Have you any idea how much this is going to cost me? Jesus. How could you have fucked up this badly?”

In the past I might have tried to explain, maybe apologize. I wasn’t in the mood today. “You know, Ivan, you’re right. You can do better. Next time you’ve got a job, call someone else. I’m done.” I hung up and dropped my phone on the counter.

Law looked at me, raising one eyebrow. “You okay?”

My phone rang. I glared at it and let it go to voicemail. It rang again. I shut off the ringer and pushed it aside.

“Mal?” Law said, frowning at me.

“I’m fine.”

“I can tell,” he said, flipping the bacon. Sausage sizzled in another pan. “So that’s it? You’re off Ivan’s payroll? Just like that?”

I frowned at him, hearing the accusation underneath the words. “It’s not the same as you and me.”

“Sure.”

I took a breath and let it out slowly. “First, I thought you didn’t like Ivan. Second, he didn’t warn me what was in the box or what I was up against. He had to have known something about it. So now he’s getting pissed at me for not adequately handling a situation he knew would probably get me killed. Third, I don’t want to work with someone who blames me when he sabotages the job from the first and can’t be bothered to give full disclosure. And finally, Ivan’s a prick and he’d been screwing me for ages. I let him because I was too lazy to go out on my own.

“At some point, after he’s had a chance to stew and realize what he’s losing, I’ll let him apologize to me, and then I’ll agree to take jobs of my choosing, and I’ll make it clear that if he lies to me again, whatever he loses on this job will be a bare fraction of what I will do to him. I’m not his whipping boy.”

I leaned back and folded my arms, watching Law, keeping my face carefully blank. “He’s also going to pay through the nose. The point is, this situation is nothing like you and me. I suggest you use your words if you think it is because we aren’t going to work if we don’t talk to each other like grown-ups.”

He was staring at me now, like I’d turned into a giant eggplant. “You’ve changed,” he said.

“I mentioned that.”

He nodded. “All right. Words. I jumped to a stupid conclusion. It’s going to take me a while to believe this is real. That you won’t leave again. That hurt like having my spine ripped out. Try to be patient with me.” He flashed a wicked grin. “I promise to make it worth your while.”

I wished I’d known how he’d felt. I wished I hadn’t hurt him. I wasn’t good on patience, but I’d find it somehow.

I stood and came around to take a slice of bacon off the plate, brushing myself up against him. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and the cashmere was erotic against my skin. He was erotic against my skin.

“Food and sex? That’s your sales pitch?” I asked huskily.

“Good food and mind-blowing sex,” he corrected. He flipped the sausage patties in the other pan and set the spatula down, turning to pull me tight against him. “And forever. Whatever it takes, Mal. I want forever.”

“Me too,” I said. But we both knew that what we wanted and what actually would happen might turn out to be very different things. Everything depended on us. I hoped we were strong enough.

Epilogue

The phone rang in the middle of the night, a shrill noise. I groaned and wriggled deeper under the covers. Law lurched up beside me as he grabbed for his cell. A draft of cool air swirled down between us where the blankets gapped. I scooched closer to his burnished heat, putting an arm around his waist. I slid my hand over his cock, smiling wickedly in the dark. He twitched and thickened in my hand. Law grabbed my wrist, but didn’t move my hand. I continued to stroke my fingers over his velvet hardness, teasing him to rock hardness, my body tightening with hunger.

“Law Stanger,” he growled. A pause. “For me?” And then, “A what? Christ. I’ll be down in a minute.”

His phone clattered to the nightstand. He pushed me aside as he launched himself out of bed.

“What is it?” I asked, sitting up, alarm cooling my ardor. “Is everything okay?”

Law yanked his pants on. “It’s nothing. I don’t know. The Gwylls checked out. They left something for me.”

“Left you something?” I echoed, scooting to the edge of the bed and reaching for my clothes. “What?”

He stopped, facing away from me. He held his shirt in his hands. Moonlight silvered the supple length of his spine curving down between muscular shoulders. He drew a long breath and blew it out. My stomach clenched. This couldn’t be good. Finally he turned around. I couldn’t read his expression. His eyes disappeared into shadowed pits. His mouth slashed his face in a thin line.

A chill prickled the hairs on my neck. What had the Gwylls done? Didn’t matter. Whatever it was, we could handle it. We’d handled So’la. We could do this.

“What is it? What did they leave?” I asked as I grabbed for my socks.

“A goat,” he said. “They left me a goddamned goat.”

~The End~

Thank You

Thank you for spending your time and money to visit my world and spend time with Mal, Law, and So’la. Rest assured, there will be another book coming soon. In the meantime, I’ve a number of other books available that might interest you. Just follow the link to my website and you can rummage around and read some first chapters and some free stories that I have posted. You can also find links to my facebook page and my twitter feed.

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Acknowledgements

A great number of people helped in the making of this book, and I’d like to convey my heartfelt gratitude for their support and expertise in bringing this book to print. In no particular order: Chrysoula Tsavelas, Devon Monk, Vonda N. McIntyre, Nancy Jane Moore, Alma Alexander, Sherwood Smith, Lucienne Diver, the BVC collective wisdom, Christy Keyes, The Rainforest Writers Village crew, the Word Wars crew, Fiona Jayde, Andrea Howe, Barbara Cass, and all the readers and booksellers who’ve been so kind as to enjoy and share my writing. I thank you all. I know that I have missed a few important people, and I have to apologize for being forgetful. Know that you are valued and appreciated.

Finally, writing would be impossible without the support and love of my amazing and patient family. They are the rock beneath my feet, and the dose of sanity when I’m losing it. Without you, I could not do this thing that I love so very much.

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Copyright & Credits

The Incubus Job

Mission: Magic

Diana Pharaoh Francis

Book View Café 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61138-585-4
Copyright © 2016 Diana Pharaoh Francis

First published: March 1, 2016

Production Team:

Cover Design:
Fiona Jayde

Copy Editor: Andrea Howe, Blue Falcon Editing

Proofreader: Nancy Jane Moore

Formatter: Vonda N. McIntyre

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Digital edition: 20160203vnm

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About the Author

Diana Pharaoh Francis writes fantastical, adventurous, and often romantic books. Her award-nominated books include The Path series, the Horngate Witches series, the Crosspointe Chronicles, and Diamond City Magic books. She's owned by two corgis, likes rocks, geocaching, knotting up yarn, and has a thing for 1800s England. For more, visit www.dianapfrancis.com.

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TRACE OF MAGIC
Diamond City Magic, Book 1

Copyright © 2014 Diana Pharaoh Francis

Published by Bell Bridge Books, an imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.

Reprinted with permission.

Chapter 1

EVERYBODY LEAVES a magical trail of sorts, like an indelible ribbon unrolling behind them. It isn’t actually on this plane, but in a sort of other dimension that only tracers like me can see.

It fades pretty quick for most tracers, disappearing in a matter of hours or maybe a week or two if they are really strong. It never fades for me. I can even see dead trace. It can be tricky to follow, and doing it can leave you vulnerable to the spirit world. I try not to follow dead trace if I can help it. Altogether, those talents make me a unicorn, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Loch Ness Monster all rolled into one. In a word, I am unique. A very special snowflake.

I grimaced. It makes for an interesting life, in the Chinese curse sense of the word. I spend most of my time figuring out ways to hide out and stay below the radar of every Tyet faction, crew, and boss. I make a living tracking cheating spouses, missing employees (they usually took money with them), missing persons in general, and the occasional thief or housebreaker. It isn’t a lot of money, but then I don’t need much.