Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter
One
London
November
Ronan
There’s a bloody unwelcome sight.
I wander into the Witch’s Brew with Raiden, my twin brother, close behind. The rowdy London pub always draws a boisterous, eclectic crowd: athletic types, businessmen, goth girls…and many of magickind’s unmated. A surprise, considering its owner, Kari Keswick, is pure human.
It’s that very woman I watch now, all swinging golden curls and enormous blue eyes, as she leans over the bar, her brief blue T-shirt exposing a band of soft skin at her midriff as she whispers to a wizard. He’s big, with hair as dark as night and moody gray eyes. He has the look of a predator. Tynan Someone-or-other. Why the fuck is he single-mindedly focused on my Kari?
She’s not yours, you barmy bastard. She can’t be.
Fighting a gust of wind, I slam the pub’s door. She doesn’t look my way, merely grips Tynan’s shoulder as she stares softly into his eyes with a smile.
This fury poisoning my blood as I curl my fingers into fists must be the wretched emotion humans call jealousy. Though I’d rather swallow battery acid, I can’t stem my violent urge.
If that bastard touches Kari, I will kill him.
“You’ll burn holes in her if you stare any harder,” Raiden drawls beside me.
“For the past month, that tosser has all but rubbed against her as if he’s marking his territory.”
“So? It’s not as if you’ll spend tonight alone. In fact…” My twin scans the room—until his stare stops near the back. “I see two splendid possibilities by the window. Let’s go.”
Raiden sees such possibilities every place, and he’s rarely wrong. Even if I won’t spend the night alone, I’m dying to spend it with Kari. But she’ll refuse me, as she has for countless months in the two years I’ve known her.
Until recently, I assumed she didn’t want to cross the human-wizard line…presuming she even knows magickind exists. But given her present coziness with Tynan, she likely does. Which means her refusal is personal.
I seethe.
“In a moment.” I stomp toward the bar.
Raiden grabs my arm. “Forget her.”
Doesn’t he think I’ve tried?
I jerk free. “Shove off.”
“What the devil is wrong with you? Kari is hardly the most beautiful female you’ve shagged. Last week’s blonde was more stunning by half. What was her name?”
I have no idea, and that’s the problem. I despise waking up in a different bed, beside a different body, every morning. At barely ninety, I’m young by magickind’s standards. But I don’t want to live this way for ten more minutes, much less nine long centuries.
“Kari is different.” She’s special. “I’ve nearly gone mad trying to discern why.”
Raiden snorts. “She’s the only woman who’s ever told you ‘no.’ There are plenty who won’t. Pick one and move on.”
As if all women are interchangeable. But for Raiden—and the rest of the Wolvsey wizards—they are.
Why am I different?
“Chat up the women by the window,” I tell my brother. “I’m popping over to the bar to say hello.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re wasting your time. Kari looks…busy.”
I turn back to find her pressing her soft pink lips against the big wizard’s stubbled cheek. The sight rips through my gut. She looks so delicate and fair against his strong, sun-bronzed face.
Tynan squeezes her hand. I clench my jaw so hard, I nearly grind my teeth into powder.
After stalking across the pub, I yank out the stool beside the big wizard. It screeches across the old stone floor. Everyone nearby turns to stare—except Kari.
To my left, the flames in the brick hearth ward off the coming winter’s chill. Heavy alternative rock plays in the background as a group of wizards laughs at their attempts to play billiards without magic. Human females at the end of the bar toast with stout red wine. But when I set eyes on Kari, everyone else falls away.
She commands my attention and hypnotizes me with a smile that shines as brightly as her golden hair. Her otherworldly blue eyes that seem to take up half of her sweet face suck me in. One glance and I’m panting. My cock is hard as steel.
There is something about her I can’t pinpoint. If I could, maybe I could rid myself of this odd obsession. In the two years since I first set eyes on this woman, it’s only grown.
“Kari?”
Slowly, the other wizard releases her with a nod, as if he’s grudgingly giving her permission to greet me. With a sigh, she tears her attention from Tynan.
Is she fucking the wanker? Is she in love with him? The questions scream through my brain like a battle cry.
“Ronan.” She slides closer. “A scotch?”
“Double, no rocks.” I glance at Tynan. “New…friend?”
“I see your brother has already made yours for the night.” She peers over my shoulder at my twin with a sarcastic twist of her pretty mouth. “I hope you’re in the mood for a brunette. It appears she’s yours by default. Raiden always takes the redheads.” Then she looks at her watch and whistles. “Wow. Three minutes. That’s a record, even for him.”