Juniper wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “Please sit, ladies.” He indicated that they should sit first and Juniper knew this was a human custom of politeness so she did just that. “How do you feel about chai?” he asked Juniper. “And Earl Gray for you?”

  Hyacinth gave the male an even wider grin as she sat, crossing her legs and scooting her chair closer to his as he sat. “That sounds perfect.” Her words were practically a purr.

  Oh goddess…was Hyacinth flirting with him? What was happening right now? Because this was not part of their plan. The male was handsome enough, looking maybe sixty to Juniper. It was so difficult to gauge humans’ ages. But this male…his eyes held far too much knowledge for such a young age. It was unnerving.

  “Chai is good for me. I remember you from the party for the Alpha couple some weeks ago,” Juniper said suddenly. “You watched me as if you knew me.” She’d decided to just play this straight and see if she got the answer she wanted from him. Because she wanted to know why he’d been looking at her so intently.

  He looked up as a male who was a younger version of him walked up and poured two separate drinks for her and Hyacinth. “I apologize if I made you uncomfortable,” he continued once they were alone. “I’m a seer. Sometimes I watch people and get lost in their auras. We’ve never met, but I found myself fascinated by what I saw underneath the surface.”

  “You can check out my aura anytime,” Hyacinth said, picking up her teacup.

  Oh sweet goddess. Ignoring her friend, Juniper simply gave the male a polite smile. “Is that how you knew what we wanted to drink? You see stuff like that?” She’d only met a seer once and hadn’t cared for the experience. She didn’t like anyone being able to see a part of her she wanted to keep hidden.

  He nodded, a half-smile still in place. There was definitely a calming presence about the human, Juniper realized, now that they were all just sitting here with no outward distractions from a party.

  “So you know what we are?” she pressed.

  He paused, then nodded. “I do. And I know why you’ve come. And before you ask, I will definitely help you.”

  Juniper glanced around, wondered how many ears might be listening.

  As if he’d read her train of thought—uh, maybe he had?—the Magic Man said, “This place is spelled. No one can overhear us. Not here.” He indicated to the courtyard surrounding them and then the brick building behind it. “Or next door.” Now he pointed at the brick building that was a mirror image of the one behind the courtyard. “That is my home.” He shot Hyacinth a mischievous look and her friend simply grinned.

  Juniper resisted the urge to rub her hand over her face. Clearly the world had gone mad. Hyacinth never flirted with anyone unless it was for work, so Juniper wasn’t certain that was what was even happening. “We need spells that will essentially cover our faces, hide us in plain sight. We need five of them.”

  “Six,” Hyacinth corrected.

  Juniper frowned at Hyacinth.

  “The lion. He’s coming with us too.”

  Oh, right. “Maybe seven, then.” Because she hadn’t been thinking of Christian but she wanted him to have the option to use a spell in case he wanted to go incognito as well.

  Thurman gave a nod that she could only describe as regal. “That won’t be a problem.”

  “We’ve brought a variety of gifts for you as payment.” She nodded once at Hyacinth, who started to pull up the bags to display the contents—vintage wines, gems, and an assortment of seeds for planting that they’d been told the human would like.

  “I would also like a favor,” he said, looking at Juniper in that eerie way of his. His eyes were so dark, so knowing.

  Juniper resisted the urge to rub her arms—she was a dragon. She could burn this place to a crisp if she wanted to. But she didn’t like the thought of anyone seeing to the heart of her. “What kind of favor?”

  “I don’t know yet. But I would like one to save for later.”

  “As long as it—”

  “Doesn’t hurt innocents, I know. I will ask for nothing that will harm another being.”

  “Okay. Deal.”

  “You don’t want a favor from me?” Hyacinth’s grin was back.

  The look he gave her friend was… Oh. Very, very inviting. His gaze focused on Hyacinth’s ruby-red lips, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he turned back to Juniper. “We have a deal, then. Seven spells and I’ll throw in a few other tricks and protection spells for you. Also, some free information.” He flicked a look at Hyacinth. “Because I like you.” Then his gaze was on Juniper again, all business. “Darkness surrounds you. It’s coming for you,” he said abruptly.

  She couldn’t fight the shiver that rolled through her, but she didn’t outwardly react. “What kind of darkness? Because I’ve got a lot of enemies.”

  “An old one… An ancient one.”

  “I’m not ancient.”

  “Not you. But the darkness after you is.”

  Oh. Well, shit.

  “What is this darkness?” Hyacinth demanded, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward. Just a hint of her fangs showed now as she shifted to all-business mode.

  “I don’t know, unfortunately. But I can see it on the horizon, angry buzzing wasps. My gift doesn’t show me everything clearly. But something is coming for you.”

  Juniper only nodded because what else could she do? She was hunting down scum of the earth traffickers, she had countless enemies from past jobs, and now some random dragons had been watching her at that party she’d inadvertently crashed. “Thank you for the information. I will keep it in mind.”

  He nodded and handed them a small package wrapped in simple brown paper. “Your spells.”

  “You already knew what we wanted…” Hyacinth grinned. “How far does this magic extend? Can you tell what your lover wants in the bedroom without them having to ask?”

  “Maybe you will find out.” The male’s voice was now low, gravelly, and Juniper was seriously wondering what had happened to the fabric of her reality. “But only if I am lucky.”

  Hyacinth’s expression turned almost predatory in the way of vampires who saw something they wanted. “Something tells me you’re going to be.”

  Juniper cleared her throat and stood, taking the package he’d offered. They needed to get out of here. Mainly because she didn’t like being around someone who could read her, no matter how nice they very likely were. And this sexual tension between the other two was making her uncomfortable. “Thank you for this.”

  “Anytime.” He paused. “Be careful on your quest.”

  “I’ll keep her safe.” Hyacinth set a piece of paper on the table along with the bag. “My cell number in case you can’t use your magic to guess it.”

  Wordlessly, he pocketed it and Juniper turned away, simply done with this whole day already.

  Once they were out on the cobblestone street, she finally felt as if she could breathe again.

  “Oh, I am going to show that male a very good time once this job is over.” Hyacinth had an actual spring in her step as they made their way down the sidewalk.

  “You are such a weirdo. He’s human.”

  “So? He’s got style, and goddess, he smells so good. I bet his blood tastes amazing.”

  Juniper didn’t resist the urge now to scrub a hand over her face. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  Hyacinth shrugged then tugged her crimson, off the shoulder sweater back up. “We’ve been working hard the last year. I need some playtime. And so do you,” she added.

  “I’m fine.”

  Hyacinth snorted. “No. You were close to burnout before The Fall and now you’re pushing away a male who very clearly wants to worship you in bed. Why?”

  “I’m not pushing him away,” she snapped as they reached a crosswalk. And if all he wanted was to worship her in bed, there wouldn’t be a problem. Then she forced herself to take a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m just—”

  “Sexually frustrated?”

  Laughing at Hyacinth’s knowing tone, Juniper nudged her once with her hip. “Yes. We got a room at that club last night and everything was going great until…” She cleared her throat. “I told him that things between us would be casual and he didn’t like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Essentially he said that things would never be casual between us.” She wasn’t going to go into detail because she didn’t want to relive his words. Why did he have to get all serious about them? Why couldn’t he have just enjoyed what would have no doubt been amazing sex? And lots of orgasms. They could both be sated right now.

  “So? Do you really want casual? You just want to screw him once and then let him go? Toss him onto his next lover without any concern?”

  Her dragon rose up at the thought of Zephyr being with anyone else, but she quickly shoved her beast back down. “I just…wasn’t thinking of the future.” Lies, lies, lies. “I didn’t want to make a big deal about last night.” She kept her voice low as they reached another crosswalk. There was a sort of outdoor area where people were selling and trading goods.

  “Well, I like the male. He clearly doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Not our crew anyway. Man, he just laid it all out in the open this morning, made himself completely vulnerable—and he made you coffee. Kinda hard not to like that kind of boldness.”

  “Then you sleep with him,” she muttered, not meaning it. She’d burn Hyacinth to a crisp before allowing it.

  Which just made Hyacinth cackle, as if she’d read her mind. “You’re ridiculous. But I get it. You’re taking the coward’s way out—”

  “Hey!” They were in the middle of the roped-off street now, making their way through various booths of food and clothing stuff. She ignored a surprised look of a nearby shopper and lowered her voice. “I’m not a coward.”

  “So says my sexually frustrated friend.”

  “You are so annoying when you’re right.”

  Hyacinth’s ruby-red grin widened. “I know.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Claudine sighed almost dramatically—for her anyway. Any expression of emotion might as well be considered theatrical for the old vampire.

  “What?” King frowned, looking at her. It was just the two of them right now standing outside the greenhouse their mates were currently inside. Dusk had fallen an hour ago but the garden and connected greenhouse were lit up with enough solar lights to illuminate half the block.

  “I’m afraid you and I will likely be allies forever at this point.”

  “What, why? Not that us being allies is a bad thing.” He wasn’t certain of her tone. Or the abrupt change in topic. He and Aurora had met Claudine and her mate Frederick at a local greenhouse to speak in a neutral area—and so Aurora and Frederick could spend time talking about hybrid fruits.

  Claudine simply moved her chin in the direction of Aurora and Frederick. The two were standing by a long trough of soil, and if he had to guess, they were still discussing the best soil to use as if it was the most important thing in the universe.

  Because King knew the two of them texted often now that they were friends—about art, books and how to create the best fruit hybridization.

  “They’re like twins,” Claudine murmured, shaking her head slightly. “Frederick has always been eccentric, something I adore about him, but no one in my coven has ever been interested in botany the way he is.”

  King found himself snickering. “You’re right, our mates will keep us allies forever.” He knew that Aurora saw Frederick as a father figure. She adored the male who’d been turned around the age of fifty—over five hundred years ago.

  “Or perhaps not twins, but more of a father/daughter relationship,” Claudine continued.

  “I think so,” King said. “Aurora missed out on having a father. And…” He cleared his throat. “Aurora said that Frederick reminds her of her own father who was taken from the world too soon.”

  Claudine shot him another look, paused for a moment before she said, “Frederick lost his daughter before I changed him. Years before,” she added. “He confessed that Aurora reminds him of who he lost too.” There was a sadness in her voice when she looked back at them, but then she smiled. “I’m glad they’re friends. I…thought I would experience jealousy at their growing closeness. But I find that it just makes me happy.”

  “Same.” King only wanted Aurora content, and there was absolutely no underlying sexual element to her relationship with Frederick. It was a pure friendship, and he liked that she was establishing her own allies in the territory that had nothing to do with him. Not that Aurora would see it that way—she was simply making friends.

  But his phoenix needed more ties, needed to cement herself in this territory as a part of its fabric, because if the day ever came that she was taken or targeted for who she was, her allies would not stand for it. King wanted her to have all the protection she could get.

  “So tell me what you know about the Nova realm, the clan,” King said abruptly, shifting subjects. He’d invited her here today specifically to discuss the Nova clan. And this way Aurora and Frederick got to talk more about soil.

  He needed all the information he could gather on these unknown dragons. Because Starlena had been watching Juniper with an unnerving closeness. King had reached out to his father, Sorgin, but it could take days to hear back from him since he was in another realm. Sorgin had given his recommendation of the Nova clan, had said they would be good allies, but if the clan was a threat to Juniper—who worked for August and was therefore an ally of King’s—it could be trouble. All these connections were complicated.

  “Nothing.” Claudine shook her head slightly. “And I do mean nothing. I’ve heard about them, yes, but that is quite literally it. From what little I’ve discovered, they shut themselves off from the world and have a few allies they keep in contact with, but a century or two ago, they just…stopped connecting with this realm. And even before then, they’d been mostly closed off. I only know this because I dug deep when you told me they’d be entering the territory for a possible alliance. But they might as well be ghosts of the supernatural world. Have you reached out to August about them?”

  “He doesn’t know much about them either. Shockingly little for a male who makes his living on secrets and intel.” And that bothered King.

  “What do you know of the dragon female, Juniper?” She smiled slightly as Frederick shoved his hands into one of the big pots and said something animated about the rich dirt in his hand to Aurora.

  “Just that she works for August, has been into black ops work the last half century. And that August views her as a daughter. He didn’t say it outright but he threatened our allyship if something were to happen to her. So Juniper matters to him.”

  Claudine shot King a look, raised one perfect eyebrow. “That is surprising. I always viewed him as sort of soulless.”

  King let out a bark of laughter before he could stop himself.

  She shot him another look. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He cleared his throat, looked back into the greenhouse, saw Aurora watching him. She blew him a kiss before turning to a bunch of hanging plants and continuing talking to Frederick.

  “I know people view me as soulless too,” she said, clearly guessing what he’d been thinking. “So maybe I shouldn’t have formed that opinion of August.”

  “How do you know him, anyway?”

  She lifted a shoulder, snorted. “Probably from the same way you do. One of my people got tangled up in something that put him on August’s radar. That put August on my radar. It was all a very bloody, messy affair that ended with me executing one of my coven members. I like August. I might not always agree with his methods, but I respect what he did—still does—for the supernatural world.”

  King nodded his agreement. August worked in the shadows, had been helping supernaturals across the world for centuries. King had a feeling they all owed the male one way or another.

  “I’ll keep my ear to the ground about them. And that other thing.”

  King had brought her into the fold regarding the trafficking of humans. Since vampires were involved and she was the most powerful vamp in the territory—and he trusted her—he’d gone with his instinct. He couldn’t operate in a vacuum.

  At that thought, his mate looked at him, and once again he was struck by the love in her gaze. Now that they were mated, they were connected on a whole other level and he could feel that love punching right through to his core. Goddess, he was a lucky male.

  The luckiest.

  And he would do everything in his power to stop these traffickers. Because that shit would not happen in his territory. Ever.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Thank you for doing this,” Juniper said to Christian and Axel—who’d turned out to be one of Aurora’s roommates. So far she liked the lion. He seemed easygoing and Zephyr said that he was a good one to have around for a fight. She didn’t need a hothead as part of this job, so he seemed to be the perfect addition.

  “Of course.” Christian gave a stiff nod and glanced across the street at the seemingly abandoned warehouse. He was almost a bit out of sorts, and she wasn’t sure why—except he kept sneaking looks at the lion when the other male wasn’t paying attention.

  He’d assured them that this place was where he’d heard humans were being taken from—and it was the same address Hyacinth had been given when she’d been invited to a vampire party.

  To get here they’d crossed Lake Pontchartrain—which didn’t seem to be an actual lake by any accepted standards, human or otherwise. So now the plan was for her and her crew to infiltrate and look for humans. And if any humans left with vampires, willingly or otherwise, they would tail them.

  Which meant they’d have to split up.