“Justice? Like one of the shifter peace-keepers, right?” I said, my voice shaking a little with the effort of holding onto my powers for this long without letting loose. “The fuck is going on?” I glanced at Harper and then back at the intruder, keeping my eyes on the feather talisman. Yeah, it was better to look at his neck. Or his chin. His lips were way too kissable.
I shoved that thought away for later. Much, much later.
“I am Aleksei Kirov, a Justice of the Council of Nine. And you,” he said, gesturing at me, “are a murderer.”
“What?” Harper and I said at the same time. We shared a baffled glance. I hadn’t killed anyone in my life, though not for lack of trying once. But still.
Behind the Justice and invisible at the moment to anyone but myself, my spirit wolf guardian stirred, rising up from where she’d been sleeping. Wolf didn’t growl though, just cocked her head and stared at Aleksei, ready for trouble but clearly not expecting it quite yet.
“I haven’t killed anyone. Ever.” I let go of the magic inside me before I accidentally lost control and unleashed. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I ran my shaky hands over my hair and tugged my waist-length ponytail over my shoulder.
Aleksei relaxed as a confused look came over his face. “You tell the truth,” he said. “But I saw you in a vision. The Nine sent me here. There are shifters in danger and you were at the center, at the crossroads between their lives and their deaths.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. A small chill went through me. The only way I could see shifters dying because of me was if HE had found me. My psycho ex mentor and lover. I started to mentally pray to the powers of the universe that that hadn’t happened or we were all in deep, deep shit.
“Nobody is in danger that we know of,” Harper said. “Uh, Justice,” she added, still trying to look respectful.
What I knew of the Council of Nine was practically legend, the shifter version of gods. They had Justices, powerful shifters appointed to keep the peace among shifter populations, and to keep the secret of shifter existence from most of the human world. They were judge, jury, and executioner all in one. Shifters didn’t get up to much crime, but if they did, the sentence was almost always death. Pretty good deterrent, I suppose.
“Besides, I’m not a shifter,” I pointed out. “So you have no power over me.”
“Unless you pose a danger to shifters. What are you?” Aleksei asked, his ice-chip eyes narrowing. Subtlety was apparently not one of his charms.
“She’s a hedge-witch,” Harper answered for me. I was glad, since this Justice guy seemed to have the ability to detect lies. Harper wasn’t lying because as far as she knew, that’s what I was. She was just wrong.
Even though she was my best friend, I couldn’t tell her the truth. I couldn’t tell anyone that I was a sorceress. Because they’d all try to kill me, or at least drive me away. Nobody likes sorcerers. Probably because most of us are assholes who kill and eat the hearts of supernatural beings for their power.
I was saved from having to verbally confirm or deny my witchiness by Ciaran. He pushed through my front door, all four foot nothing of him, his copper and silver hair neatly combed and his red coat clinging to his plump body. I looked at the clock on my computer monitor and muttered a curse. It was later than I’d thought.
“Harper,” Ciaran said with a nod and barely a glance at Aleksei. “Jade,” he addressed me next in Irish, “I’d really like you to come have that look at my things before I die of old age.”
“For a man who watched Saint Pat drive out the snakes, you’re looking fine to me,” I said, also in Irish.
That leprechaun neighbor of mine I mentioned? That’s Ciaran. He’d picked up a load of things in an auction the day before, and as always with old things he liked to have me check for magical auras and any hidden surprises. I didn’t use my talents much out of fear of broadcasting my location, but minor magic like detection was as easy as breathing for me, so I did the neighborly thing and helped out when he needed.
“So, uh,” I looked at Aleksei. “Since I haven’t killed anyone and am not planning to, maybe you can just go Justice somewhere else? I’m closing shop.”
“I will stay here. We will talk after. My visions are never wrong.”
From how rigid he was and how intently he stared at me, I wondered if maybe he had a sword up his ass or something. “Okay, buddy. Just tone down the creepy before I get back. And you’ll wait outside my store. I don’t do strangers.” Whoops. That came out weird. “In my store. I mean, alone. I mean I can’t leave you here alone. So wait outside.” Great. Now I was babbling.#p#分页标题#e#