“Both of those are real, as are a lot of the beings in the figurines we’ve been packing. A lot of the stories written have come from true origins. Though the lore is often wrong. For instance, vampires can’t make other vampires by biting them—they are born.”
Everett stared at Dax with his mouth hanging open before he snapped it shut, then said, “You know you sound a little…crazy…right?”
“I can easily prove it. You could come with me to the office. Whatever is in or attached to this jade has the feel of dark magic, so it’s important we figure it out fast. It could very well be the reason you were attacked.”
He narrowed his eyes. “It wasn’t a human that attacked me in that alley, was it?”
Dax shook his head. “No, Everett, it wasn’t.”
“So my dream of the chimera wasn’t really a dream.” He didn’t make it a question that time. He didn’t know why he was taking all this in as truth, but for some reason, itfeltlike the truth. Just as that dream of the two-headed creature with the snake tail had felt more real than nightmare. “A real live chimera attacked me. Did I dream of a snake tail that actually bit me?”
Dax’s sigh was heavy. “You were bitten.”
Horror washed over him. How had he not realized what was going on?
Dax curled his hand around the stone, his mouth tightening briefly before his shoulders slumped. “Everett, the venom would have wrecked your body if I hadn’t taken you to my office. We have someone there who healed you. I’m sorry we let you think it was something different that attacked you, but it was obvious you didn’t know about the world of magic.”
Everett narrowed his eyes. “So there are humans who do know about it?”
“A select few, yes.” Dax nodded.
Everett waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, Everett couldn’t help but frown. But then he clued in to some things Dax had said. A chill crept down his spine, and he narrowed his eyes even more. “You said it has the feel of dark magic. And you saidweuse glamours.” He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “Are you one of these preternaturals, Dax?”
It took a few moments for him to answer. “I am.”
Chapter Twelve
Everett
Protective Solutions felt completely different during the day. There were a lot more people working. Men and women who all looked at him with curiosity as Dax led him past desks. There were several men nearly as big as Dax, and he couldn’t help but wonder if magic was being used to make them blend in with humans. What were they?
And for that matter, what was Dax?
Everett hadn’t asked, but he’d wanted to.
He knew he should be uncomfortable, or maybe even scared, but to him, they all just looked like humans. And though it bothered him that Dax was apparently something other than what Everett saw, he still felt…safe with him. He’d gotten to know Dax, and fuck, it didn’t matter what he was. Everett just liked him.Morethan liked him.
As he’d noticed before, the offices themselves were laid out around a main area filled with cubicles, but there weren’t many. Most of the employees seemed to use the cubicles. There was an air of camaraderie, and when two men with vastly opposite looks came up to Dax to clap him on the back and grin at him, Everettgot the feeling these were the two best friends Dax had spoken about.
“Hey,” the blond one said to Everett with a wink, holding out his hand. “I’m Emory. Happy to meet you.”
“Ivor,” the other said as his dark eyes looked Everett over. This man had beautiful, smooth dark skin and fairly oozed sensuality. Even if Everett hadn’t been told most of these people were…preternaturals, as Dax had called them, Everett might have wondered if they were different because theyfeltdifferent. Though it wasn’t the heavy darkness he felt around that chunk of jade, no. This was harder to explain—it was just an aura of something more.
He barely listened as Dax briefly chatted with his friends because it suddenly hit him that he was standing in a building filled with magical creatures. His grandfather would have been giddy, but Everett felt a mix of other emotions. Confusion because he was coming to terms with the fact he’d lived among a secret world his entire life without a clue, and curiosity wondering just what kind of beings he stood amongst. But mostly, he felt a sort of amazed wonder that magic truly existed. Had his grandfather suspected? Was that why he had gone through so many old books about myth and magic? Had he been trying to find a way to tap into that world?
By the time they walked into Xavier’s modern gray and black office, Everett’s mind was a jumble of questions. He had quickly realized that while Dax and his friends had felt like somethingother, their employer was somehow…more. Everett felt it in the very air, reminding him of the heavy air of a humid day. Had he always been able to feel this or was it just because he knew differently now?
Xavier stood where he had before, his long, lean body resting against his desk, ankles in black boots crossed. His attention wason Dax, one black eyebrow lifted higher than the other as he quickly stepped away from his desk.
“You brought me something,” he said as he held out his hand. “I can feel it.”
Dax pulled the jade from his pocket and handed it to his boss, who took it and frowned down at it.
“This is not good,” Xavier murmured almost more to himself. Then he held the stone up to the light coming in from the window. “This is nephrite, a type of jade. It’s rich in calcium, magnesium and iron, and harder to break than a diamond. That’s due to the fibers of tiny crystals.” He paused and gave Dax and Everett a pointed look. “It has long been used in magic to bind vaporous creatures.”
“Like a Jinn?” Dax asked.
Xavier nodded. “Among other beings. This one doesn’t have the feel of a Jinn, though, but something more basic. And more dangerous. The problem is that it has been triggered.”
