“Hello,” she greeted, drawing the man’s frowning stare away from Aerén.
Those startling turquoise-blue eyes studied her as if he could see into her soul or something… Wait, could he?
God, she hoped not. Not like she had anything to hide in her boring life, but still.
Man, she was actually starting to believe there might be some truth in what Aerén was trying to tell her, that she could have this mystical blood magic.
Lucan inclined his head in greeting before he crossed to the sideboard set near the wall. With a wave of his hand, a small safe took form, suspended in the air.
Whoa. Her heart thudded a little too fast. Leya remained near the window wall as Lucan unlocked and opened themagicalsafe. What else could it be, appearing out of thin air?
He withdrew a smaller, long, lead box and set it on a lovely tree-trunk coffee table she didn’t have time to admire, nerves targeting her belly like a bunch of rioting spiders.
“Open this.” He motioned her to the box and stepped back.
“Why can’t you?” she countered, a little wary. “Whatever’s in there could just be deadly to me. You know, since I’m a human and stuff.”
“Leya.” Aerén straightened from the inner doorjamb where he’d propped himself. “There’s nothing dangerous in there. It’s just a lead tube that contains the scroll.Wecannot touch it, or it will go missing as it did for two millennia, and we can’t afford to let that happen again. Our world won’t survive its disappearance this time around. I’ll explain everything later.”
At his plea, she swallowed her wariness and hesitated a heartbeat before she crossed to the pretty table and knelt by it.
Cautiously, she opened the pewter box, and for some odd reason, she sensed both Aerén and Lucan tensing. But her gaze remained fixed on the lead tube as if drawn to it. A warmth unfurled within her, and she gasped softly.
“What is it?” Aerén demanded, but she shook her head and picked up the tube. That warmth continued, awakening a caressing cascade of tingles through her body. She ignored it, unscrewed the cap, then tipped the aged scroll into her palm.
Carefully, like it was one of her fragile flowers, she gently smoothed open the crinkly parchment on the table. Her blood heated. Her head throbbed. She lifted her hand and rubbed her aching temple.
“What is it?” Aerén reiterated.
“Nothing. I have a headache, is all. It’s been a long day.” She looked up from the old, unreadable scripture. “Now what?”
He remained near the window. “You should feel something, a connection to the scroll.”
Besides the tingles in her palms, which she had had all her life, nope. Leya placed her palm flat on the scroll. Her body tensed, pinning her on the edge of an almost sensual precipice, waiting… For what, she didn’t know. But she doubted he meant her being on the threshold of horniness as a connection. So, she shook her head. “Nothing.”
“No matter. We need a little blood to activate the scroll. It’ll give us an accurate reading,” Lucan said. With a wave of his hand, a wicked-looking dagger settled on the coffee table.
“Whoa!” She shot to her feet, hands clenched behind her back. “No one said anything about me slashing myself open.”
“It’s just a little cut,” Aerén said. “I can do it for you, if you like.”
She glowered at him. About to make a sarcastic retort, she bit her lip. Ugh, she’d agreed to do this. Afterward, she wanted to go home and forget this day ever happened.
Forget she met him…
Her stomach dipped at the thought.
“Fine.” She held out her hand, and he crossed to her. Not wanting to see him cut her or her blood, she shut her eyes…
A warm, callused palm wrapped around hers, his thumb gently stroking her inner wrist. “This won’t hurt.”
She snorted. “Yeah, sure.” Then all she felt was him. His warmth. His intoxicating scent, it all wrapped around her like she’d fallen into a sun-warmed amber-merged-with-citrus forest after the rain. Sensual and enticing, it seeped into her. The urge to move closer to him grew. Desire knotted her insides—
Oh, no, no.
“Done,” Aerén murmured, hauling her out of a disastrous situation. Her eyes snapped open. “Drip your blood onto the scroll.”
What? She blinked and met his eyes.
