Page 8 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“They’re not?” I asked now very curious about the evolution of their legend.Remember to look up Lycan legends when I get home.

“Nah, that’s a rumor. They’re just strongest at the full moon.”

“Why are you hanging out in a cemetery?”

The beautiful man looked on me somewhat indulgently for the first time in our acquaintance. And let me just say, indulgent was a good look, not that I thought he had a bad one. Not evenwhen he was being an ass or scaring the crap out of me today. “Sweetheart, what’s your name?”

“Simone.”

“Well, Simone, I’m a death hound. In some cultures, we’re known as ‘hellhounds.’ I guard the entrance to the underworld.”

“Does that come with a good benefits package?” I joked. He didn’t so much as crack a smile. “You aren’t laughing.”

“That’s because I’m not kidding.”

“Why did my magic bring me here? And why did you kidnap me this afternoon?”

Connor pulled me in closer to his body heat, keeping his hands resting on my hips. He didn’t even look aware of the action. “After you showed up to the store this morning, I got a call from my boss. He said, ‘Something’s started.’ And told me I needed to keep an eye on you.”

“What’s started? And who is your boss?”

“I have no idea what’s started. But I guard the entrance to the underworld. Who do youthinkmy boss is?”

Yikes. Fire and brimstone and all that. “Well, can I go down there and talk to him?”

Connor looked at me like I’d been touched in the head. “No, you can’t talk to him. Go home. I’ll stop by when I get off shift.”

I stood, brushing off my backside. “I’m not going home. Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”

He stood, too. And the poor, suffering man pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long breath. “Listen, I’m working right now. I don’t have time to get into it. I said I’ll be at your place when I get off shift.”

“Okay. We’re going to pretend for the time being that you’re actually listening to me rather than blathering out your pie hole. But here we go. One: I don’t want you coming over to my house. Two: I’m not going home because three: I’m following the leads from Jeffery’s phone.”

Even in the dark, I saw Connor narrowing his eyes on me. “Who’s Jeffery?”

“My fiancé.”

Thatgot his attention. His back went rigid and he barked, “Yourwhat?”

“My fiancé,” I answered a bit more timidly. Now, I was hardly a timid person, but the force of his reaction took me aback.

And how I missed that somewhat indulgent look from just a few minutes ago when he narrowed his glisteningly angry eyes on me and if I looked hard enough, I saw plumes of superheated breath leave his nose and mouth in a highly aggressive manner. “From this point on, you no longer have a fiancé.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I haven’t technically had a fiancé for two years. Not since he was murdered. Still, hewasmy fiancé, so that’s how I address him when I talk about him.”

The plumes of breath and angry eyes subsided as he glanced up at the sky.

“The universe hates me,” he mumbled under his breath. “It’s the only explanation.”

Okay, well none of this made a lick of sense since the moment I stepped foot inside this miserable place. I needed answers. Tomorrow being Sunday meant I had the day off, but after that, my snooping would have to wait until next weekend. Some of us had to work and thus staying up late while digging into my dead fiancé’s murder didn’t help with the whole being a responsible adult thing. Given that, Connor, who did the universe really hate?

The door to the mausoleum creaked open further and I watched in awe as a black shadow ascended the stairs, cast against the red light. Probably the most beautiful man I’d seen in my life walked through the door.

“So this is her,” the man said in a masculine yet melodic voice. Connor replied by jumping in front of me and growling, his back to my front.

“Come any closer and I’ll end you.” Connor sounded serious. “It won’t last forever, but you’ll be gone for a good long time… and it’ll hurt.”

“Down, boy,” the beautiful man said and I snickered. Come on, I couldn’t help it. A man after my own heart. Both Connor and the beautiful man shot me looks. Connor’s was irritated, whereas the beautiful man’s was amused. Then the latter cast his startlingly sky-blue eyes on me and he smiled. His bright-white teeth glinted off the moonlight. He flipped his wavy, blond bangs back. “I’m Luc,” he said.

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