“Why would this Werewolf King send demons to attack Wilde Tower?”
“I don’t know. I don’t get why a werewolf would care about Severn’s court, but the message the coven intercepted said more werewolves were headed to the city. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another attack soon. Severn is among the more powerful fae regents in the country, so maybe they want to take him down as a symbolic thing. Like, a signal that there’s a new order coming.”
She drew an old book with a worn cover out of her bag and slipped it to me across the table. The writing on the cover wasn’t English but the same fae language that was written on the Wilde Tower elevator buttons. There was a slip of paper tucked inside the book.
“Take this,” she whispered, glancing around the cafe to make sure no one was listening. “I’ve written a spell on that piece of paper. Memorize it the best you can. It’s written in a demonic language, so you’ll have to just sound it out the best you can.”
“Aspell?” I leaned forward, also dropping my voice. “But I’m not a witch.”
“Yeah, no shit. Still, any human can learn basic spells with just a little bit of training. I picked this particular spell because it’s relatively easy. It shouldn’t take much practice to master.”
I slipped the paper out of the book and looked over the strange string of guttural sounds forming words in the demonic language. A dark premonition shivered over my skin. “What does the spell do?”
She scratched the side of her nose. “Don’t laugh, okay? It was really hard to find an easy spell that could be useful to you if you’re ever in danger.”
I narrowed my eyes, getting worried. “What does it do, Zara?”
She confessed, “It makes the next person you touch itch like crazy.”
“What? That’s it?” Kell and several other customers looked at me when I raised my voice, and I quickly adjusted my sunglasses and leaned forward. I hissed quietly, “And this will be helpful? The magic equivalent of itching powder?”
“It’s the best I can do! Geez, how about a thank-you?” She folded her arms. “Look, if you’re serious about having a relationship with Severn and being part of the hidden realm, you need to come out to LA and spend some time training in spells. But in the meantime, this could help.”
I toyed with the scrap of paper. “Coming to LA and training with you actually isn’t a bad idea, but I can’t leave Henry and May.”
Zara fiddled with a paper straw, looking anxious, and eventually said, “There’s something more.” A chill blossomed in my belly at her grave tone. “That message the LA literati witches intercepted? It came from New York. Somewhere in Brooklyn. And it referenced twins.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Briar and Bramble?”
She raised a shoulder. “I don’t know. Twins could refer to a lot of different people or things. But there’s a chance Briar and Bramble are involved. Just be careful, okay?”
I nodded and slid the book with the spell tucked inside into my purse.
We spent the rest of our coffee date catching up, which was difficult because of my confidentiality spell. We ended up inventing all kinds of euphemisms for “fae” and “magic,” and if anyone had overheard us, they would have thought we were oddly obsessed with “the subway system.”
I was still deeply troubled by the time I returned to Wilde Tower, clutching Zara’s book, thinking about the possibility of another attack. A fleet of paparazzi was being held off with security guards. One good thing about all the extra attention was that any potential stalkers or assailants like the men from a few weeks ago didn’t dare make a move. Kell quickly ushered me through the golden turnstile.
A secretary at the circular desk waved me over. “Miss O’Dell? Mr. Wilde wants to see you right away in his private residence. He says it’s urgent.”
I hadn’t set foot in Severn’s office since the day he’d hired me. I was overwhelmed with a momentary flashback to that morning several weeks ago when I’d been standing in this same spot, holding the job announcement—which had mysteriously turned into aleaf—with no clue I was about to be interviewed by the famous billionaire Severn Wilde, let alone have him give me fae sight with a magical kiss and open my eyes to an entirely new world.
Iespeciallyhadn’t dreamed that I’d end up in bed with him.
I knocked on the office door and heard his gruff voice command, “Enter.”
I’d forgotten how beautifully decorated his office was. The wall paintings of leaping deeractuallymoved through the painted forest trees. Each piece of his office’s sumptuous Old Europe–style furniture probably cost more than most people’s annual salary.
Severn was seated at his desk, dressed in his mist-gray cloak, inclined over a scroll of parchment. At least, that’s what I saw beneath the glamour. When I caught his reflection in a framed mirror on the wall, I saw instead what any regular human would see: an attractive executive in a business suit with short sandy hair, typing on a laptop.
One of his twin assistants stood just to his side—either Briar or Bramble, I still couldn’t tell them apart—with her silky black hair trailing down far enough to brush his shoulder as she pointed out something on the scroll.
Filled with annoyance, I crossed my arms. I recalled all too well what Zara had said about “twins” being somehow involved in the demonic attack on the tower. I had no proof that it was Briar and Bramble, but regardless, I needed to tell Severn about it. He wouldn’t like the suggestion that his assistants might not be trustworthy, but he deserved to know.
“Ah. Willow. Sit,” he said. His tone was oddly formal, but then again, by now I was used to how he fell into his regal bearing whenever he was deep into his work. He handed his assistant a creamy envelope and said, “Briar, give this to Willow.”
Briar moved around his desk with her sashaying hips barely covered by a short black dress that I suspected was actually nothing more than a long blazer missing the pants. Giving me a smile dripping with condescension, she said, “Here, human.”
I grimaced back at her as I ripped open the envelope and pulled out an invitation. I held up the card. “What’s this?”
