The giant dog came out of nowhere and licked my hand, before trotting outside to stand beside Liam, who was looking at me with an annoyed and impatient glare.
Right. Send a furry babysitter.
I turned to leave, and Mara reached out for me one last time. “Wait. I made you something.”
In her hand was a black ballpoint pen.
My brow furrowed. “Cool … put it in my room.”
She grinned. “No. It’s like the rolling pin. Go and give it a try.” She gestured to the yard.
Ohh. The motorcycle?
I thanked her, turning to step out into the yard.
“We good to go?” Liam asked, and I couldn’t help but let my eyes roam over his chiseled form. I’d never really thought that I had a type … but I did and it was Liam. Shaking my head, I reached out and clicked the pen, noticing a small crystal embedded into the end where I’d touched it with my thumb.
The pen suddenly vibrated and started to take the shape of a hunk of teal metal. I stepped back as it bulked and grew, glancing up to see Liam watching with wide eyes. Bashur barked and when all was said and done, I was staring at a convertible Volkswagen Beetle with the top down.
“That’s wicked,” Liam observed.
“Not bad formy people,” I jabbed, stepping into the driver side. Liam got into the passenger side, but not before Bashur growled until he let him into the back.
“The drool monster is coming?” Liam observed.
I nodded. “Mara doesn’t trust you.”
He looked at my lips and swallowed hard. “Do you?”
It was like all the air was sucked from the car. “You told me not to,” I reminded him.
He nodded. “I did.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. In some ways he seemed insecure, like he needed to hear me say I trusted him, and in another I thought he might just be fucking with me. Before my mind could wrap itself around what to do, Liam pointed to the road.
“Head left out here.” His hand was near my face, and for the first time I saw that his knuckles were scarred. Tiny X scar cuts were visible on the tops of his hands. There must have been fifty of them, so fine I hadn’t noticed them before. When he caught me looking, he set his hands down and covered them.
Unable to really process that, I just gunned the gas and headed out onto the street.
Either I had Liam all wrong, or everyone else did. Either way … this wouldn’t end pretty.
* * *
We reachedthe home of the warlock. I parked out front while Liam grilled me from his seat.
“Don’t stare at him for too long, and don’t touch anything in his office,” Liam warned.
I swallowed hard.
“And don’t under any circumstance eat or drink anything while we are there. Don’t use his bathroom or take your hair down.” He pointed to my top knot.
I gulped. “Anything else?”
He nodded. “Don’t tell him more than you need to. I like this guy, but he’s powerful and I don’t trust him.”
Okay, this was getting scary.
“Last thing…” Liam reached for my messenger bag. “We need something to barter. Gold, cash, magical potions, he’ll take anything, but it’s gotta be good.”
