While he’d told the estate sale company not to come in here, he didn’t entirely trust them. He should take this home and put it in his safe. And he’d have to take some time to try and translate whatever it said in that journal. He wiped down the drawer and put both items back inside for now. He’d take it with him when he left the room. He still had a lot to go through today.
As he slowly worked through the remaining contents of his grandfather’s office, a part of his mind stayed on the jade. He couldn’t help but wonder why his grandfather had left so many expensive items out all over the house yet kept this locked up tight.
And why had he warned Everett to never open that drawer?
Chapter Three
Dax
This new job was going to bore him to death.
Dax stood to the side of the outdoor restaurant while his client attended some kind of business dinner. The man had absolutely nothing going on in his life, and for the life of him, Dax couldn’t figure out why he needed a bodyguard. He’d been shadowing him for over a week. There had been no threats, nothing unusual. Dax was starting to believe he’d been hired as some kind of show of status.
Which pissed him off.
Though he’d been happy with his job at Protective Solutions and the relationships he’d built, maybe it was time to think about ending this interlude. Going back to school. His mind craved knowledge, and he had several degrees, but he wanted more. When he’d taken this job, it was because he’d been unable to tell his best friends no when they’d urged him to join them. Ivor and Emory had been a part of his life for over two hundred of his three hundred and sixty-one years on this earth. And because he’d lived so long, why not do something different? He’d spent so, so many years studying. And truly, he’d enjoyedhis time with Protective Solutions, and he’d made wonderful new friends. He adored the sense of family he had with all his coworkers.
But because of his massive size, he was mostly put on the muscle jobs, which didn’t require a lot of intellect. Other than that intellect, he had his immense strength and his ability to sense magic, and that was it. He couldn’t kill with his gaze like Bain or heal like Alaric. He couldn’t translate all languages instantly or move objects with his mind like Emory. And he certainly didn’t have Ivor’s seductive powers. He didn’t always mind jobs requiring brute strength. But lately he’d been restless, and he knew how his mind worked. That thirst—no, thatneedfor more understanding of how the world worked always rose to bite him on the ass.
He had been working on projects in his spare time, more recently the paper he’d done on human soulmates. Once he’d learned they were a possibility, he’d delved into research, and his eventual conclusion was that the soulmate bond changed not only the human’s lifespan, but they took on characteristics that complemented their preternatural soulmate.
This had given him hope.
Because… he was lonely. It had been too long since he’d been in a relationship, and he missed that. Missed being part of a partnership and having someone to hold at night. Hell, he hadn’t even been laid in over two years. Though that stemmed from not being able to find anyone of his size who could handle his strength. There weren’t a lot of ogres walking the earth these days. Demons could handle him, but he hadn’t met one interesting enough outside of his job. He’d toyed with the idea of dating Callan—a coworker and one who was smarter than most Cambion demons—but Callan had found his soulmate. Plus, they didn’t have that kind of chemistry.
And of course, he could neverjustdate a human. They were too fragile. He wished he didn’t find them so…alluring. But if he did happen to find his soulmate in one, that would change everything. That is, if he’d been correct with his conclusion on the research.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He kept his eyes on his client as he pulled it out. It was Emory.
“Still bored?” Emory asked in lieu of a greeting.
“So much so, I should just take this guy out myself. I’m fairly certain he hired me just to show off.”
“Ouch.” Emory laughed, and it was easy to picture his wavy, blond hair bouncing. He always laughed with a boisterous, sharp tilt to his head. “Ivor and I want to hit up this new club on the south side. It’s run by another preternatural, so I’m sure they’ll have seats big enough for your huge ass.”
“My ass is highly proportionate to the rest of me, thank you very much.”
Emory chuckled. “True, but it is funny just how many chairs you’ve broken over the years. I’ll never forget that English pub when you were dating Alastor. You’d tried to set up a romantic setting then broke both the chair and the table.”
“I love how you bring that up every few years.”
Emory was quite a moment before he sighed. “I really shouldn’t bring him up, and I’m sorry. I know how rough that was for you.”
It had been. Dax had loved Alastor, but when the demon had found his true soulmate in another demon, he’d had no choice but to let him go. Hundreds of years later, Dax still hadn’t found his own soulmate. He feared he never would.
“Dax,” Emory said quietly. “Your soulmate will come into your life, just as someone will come into mine—though I’m nowhere close to ready for that. Not like you and Ivor are. Truth is, we’re not destined to be alone. You, my friend, are notdestined to be alone. And now that we know humans can be soulmates, a whole new world has been opened.”
“Emory, you know I can’t risk being with a human. Even knowing what I do now, what if I was wrong?”
“Wrong about what?”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I could be with one if he were a true soulmate, but there’s still that risk. My kind has tried to be with humans in the past and it was always a disaster.”
“We just need to find you a really big guy who also likes big, beefy, bald guys.”
Emory joked, but Dax knew that couldn’t be possible. Even if he did happen upon one of those unique humans who saw through their glamours, he sincerely doubted he’d find one like Callan’s mate—one who didn’t mind the horns. And in Dax’s case, the tusks that curled out of his bottom lip.
Even as he thought that, his gaze suddenly locked on a man sitting near the alley to the side of the restaurant. The most beautiful fucking man he’d ever seen in his long life. Dax sucked in a deep breath, stunned in place.
