Page 39 of The Devil of London

I allowed him to drag me with him as we walked toward the buildings. Once there, I felt eyes on my spine. I barely missed being hit with lethal claws as I spun aside.

“Wraiths!” I cried out as Nasir forced me behind his body. “They shouldn’t be able to see us through the wards in the spell. That means there’s another using dark magic to shield against the memories from being discovered.”

“Can they hurt us here?”

“Would I be screaming if they couldn’t?” I demanded. One of the ghastly looking, skeletal figures shot toward us, and Nasir’s hand shot forward, gripping the creature’s throat. The moment he touched it, it froze. With little more than a flick of his wrist, he broke its neck.

I had spelled us to be protected from the fuckers. It meant there was powerful opposing magic within the memories. They shouldn’t have been able to sense our presence at all. Let alone come anywhere near us while protected from harm. Apparently, they hadn’t been given the memo.

“That will buy us a few moments. We cannot kill them.”

“Most likely because they’re fucking dead already?” I snorted as another rushed toward us. “Yeah, fuck you.” I sent my magic rushing into it, and it shattered into a million particles. Nasir just narrowed his eyes before shifting to glance over at me.

“They can die, apparently.”

“They’re already dead.” I didn’t know what else to say. I’d never killed one before, nor had I heard of one being murdered either. “I don’t know how I knew I could do that.” I shrugged.

“There,” Nasir said as whispered voices drifted toward us. We rounded the trailer that was being loaded and then pulled to a stop. The strange men speaking in hushed tones turned, eyeing the darkness surrounding them. Four men dressed in expensive suits stood together as the wraiths waited for their orders. “Do you recognize them?”

“Not all of them, no. The tallest one was at Celeste’s shop a few days ago. He isn’t a regular, though, which is why I noticed him.” It wasn’t a lie. He’d been inside her shop, but he’d always been there with two of the three witches employed by Nasir. Celeste was their coven leader, which meant either they were stupid enough to try to steal from him or they were in cahoots with whomever was. “There are more people over there.” I pointed toward the open loading dock, and Nasir tugged me along behind him, forcing me to run to keep up with him.

“Son of a bitch,” he growled as Kane stepped into sight. “Fucking Italians.”

“You’re marrying one, so shouldn’t they be on your side?”

“No. He’s opposing my wedding. The cartel is as well. The inventory they took was my wedding gift from her father.” My stomach sank as I tried to unlock our fingers. “Jealous?”

“I’m going to throw up. I just exhausted a shit ton of magic for some rivalry over you marrying some Italian mafia brat. Did you get what you wanted?” I snapped, unable to prevent my tone from being sharp.

“Yes,” he stated as he turned, threading his fingers through my hair. Jerking me into the firmness of his form, he hissed. “I can feel you, Aderyn. Your jealousy, need to be wanted, and desire to destroy me. I’m going to warn you once. Do not do anything against Vanessa. If you do anything to ruin this deal, I promise you’ll regret it tenfold.”

I snapped the thread on the spell, knowing he’d end up disorientated when we returned. He swayed against me, and his hold loosened enough for me to turn to leave. Before I got more than a step away, he gripped my arm, so I looked at him over my shoulder and waited.

“Thank you,” he whispered as confusion lit on my face, but then he turned and headed to Merikh. “Where did the girls go, Merikh?”

“They said they’d meet us at the club,” Merikh informed softly, his eyes scouring over me as if he thought I’d be shredded apart or some shit.

“They’re running,” I whispered.

“Put an alert out. They’re working against us. I want them found, then drawn and quartered in front of the other witches.”

A single slap of my hands had the rift opening, and I made short work of forcing my altar and supplies back to the room above my shop. Once I was sure I’d left nothing behind, I stepped through the portal and whistled to call my grimoire back to me. The moment I was inside the upper level of my shop, I turned to close the portal, but Nasir stepped through.

“What are you doing?” I asked worriedly.

“Stay home tonight. I will send men to guard the house at dusk, so make sure you’re in it before they arrive. Tonight, I don’t want you in my club. I mean it, do not fuck this up. You do not know what is at stake.”

“So, first you demand I stay at the club, and now you’re banning me?”

“Don’t question me. Do as I say,” he snapped.

“Noted,” I laughed coldly. “Anything else?”

“Be at my house early on Friday. I have some shit to do, but I intend to meet you there the moment I’ve finished.”

“I don’t know where you live, Nasir. And I’ll be there at five, as the contract demanded.” I’d never figured out which lofty mansion he used as his primary residence.

“I’ll send one of the men to pick you up. Make sure you bring something sexy to wear around the house.” With that, he stepped out of the shop. “Let’s go. Vanessa is waiting, and we have a witch hunt to partake in.”

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