“It’s a mostly human-run group, but they do have a couple of wizards and even a mage.”
“How do you know that?”
Xavier waved his hand. “I have my ways.”
Daniel just nodded, knowing he wouldn’t be getting any more details on that subject. His boss had a habit of sharing only the information he deemed absolutely necessary, which was sometimes frustrating.
Xavier grabbed another rolling chair and brought it close to Daniel’s desk. “Show me what you’ve found today.” He sat down and leaned forward to look at the screens.
Daniel showed him the post requesting the powerful amulet’s location and the reply that someone knew who had it. He also showed Xavier the trace he currently had set up. “I should be able to pinpoint both posters within a few days.”
“Good work. But then, you always come through. To my knowledge that particular amulet has not been stolen. It’s under heavy wards—guarded by someone with powerful magic.” Xavier leaned back in his chair and gave him a look that was rather intense. “Tell me something, Daniel. Are you happy here?”
Daniel lifted both eyebrows. “Very much so. Why do you ask?”
“Because you still occasionally ask to go into the field.”
“That’s just because my banshee nature gets a little restless sometimes. But I know you prefer having your bigger employees out on the jobs. Most clients would take one look at me andimmediately send me back.” Daniel waved a hand indicating his body. He stood five-eight, a respectable height, and his build was slim. He wasn’t large and muscular like a lot of the bodyguards at Protective Solutions.
Xavier smiled. “Any client who did that would be a fool.” He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Though I do find it hard to find jobs that require your particular talents.”
“No clients ordering a death prediction today?” Daniel quipped. It wasn’t a flashy power, but it could be useful, on occasion. But he understood Xavier’s dilemma completely. His ability to cause hallucinations had some subtle field uses, but his scream… Well, it wasn’t subtle at all. Not a lot of jobs called for complete and utter havoc. “I know I’m more useful here on the computer, and most of the time it’s exciting enough to corral the banshee side of me.”
Xavier nodded but didn’t release Daniel from his penetrating gaze. “I’ve also sensed an occasional melancholy from you. Your personal life is private, of course, but I don’t want to lose you. Your work here is invaluable.”
“I have no plans to go anywhere. I love my job.” He hadn’t realized the downward spiral of his emotions when he thought about Aaron was so obvious. He hadn’t planned to share what was wrong with his employer, but his brain apparently had a different agenda. “The sadness is from…well… I met someone a long time ago, someone I felt an unnaturally strong connection to, and he disappeared. Now that I know humans can be soulmates, I’ve been wondering if maybe he could have been mine. Not that he ever mentioned seeing preternaturals. But then, we only had a short time together and we were…interested in other things.” He chuckled, his cheeks heating.
Xavier lifted an eyebrow. “And you can’t find him? That surprises me. In my experience, you can find anyone.”
“He just disappeared. Obviously, he didn’t feel the connection as strongly as I did.”
“Or he had important reasons.” Xavier patted his arm before walking to the door and pausing. “If he was indeed your soulmate, I have a feeling he’ll come back into your life.” With that, he left.
Daniel remained in the office late that night, giving in to the need to try and find Aaron. He’d found a lot of Aaron Sumners and investigated each one only to find none were his.
Not that Aaron was his. If he had been, he wouldn’t have just vanished like that.
They’d only spent three days together, but those seventy-two hours had been magical. Filled with the most incredible sex he’d ever experienced—a passion like none other. And quiet, intimate conversations. Real affection in the way they’d touched each other. It had been incredible. Life-changing. It was the only time in his life he’d felt emotional freedom, the ability to be just himself. It was so easy to recollect Aaron’s unusual face and caramel-colored hair. So easy to remember the way he’d looked at Daniel with those narrow, penetrating eyes.
As always, Daniel’s emotions started to build with the memories, and he quietly shut everything down and left his office.
Xavier might have a feeling that Aaron would come back into Daniel’s life, but Daniel couldn’t just wait for that to happen. He had to know if the connection he’d felt was more than just attraction, and the only way to find out was to keep searching.
It wasn’t like his soulmate was just going to show up at his door out of the blue.
Chapter Two
Noel
A combination of nerves and excitement kept Noel Banner sitting in the rental car in the parking lot of Protective Solutions. The nerves were new—he rarely suffered from anxiety and went about his life and work with complete confidence. But he was feeling them today, nonetheless. A tangle of trepidation and anticipation in his gut that felt like a weighted rock.
The excitement, he understood.
Now, he was about to go inside and meet the sorcerer his superiors had brought up often. A sorcerer they believed to be one of the oldest preternaturals in existence and one who possibly wielded more power than they were guessing. Xavier ran a protection service company, but he also delved into investigation and more. The people in Noel’s agency believed Xavier was responsible for stopping some of the more alarming preternaturals from doing damage. Hell, he’d even stopped a trafficking ring run by a human.
Xavier was powerful, but he wasn’t what Noel was nervous and excited about.
Because now, Xavier was digging into a stream of thefts Noel’s agency, Arcane Intelligence, was also trying to investigate, and from what Noel understood, Xavier’s IT guy was close to figuring out who was behind it.
