The man holding a knife to Jess’s neck showed no hint of emotion. He merely stood, one hand wrapped around her arm, wicked-looking knife in the other.
“Who are you?” Piers roared. Only George grabbing Piers kept him from charging.
Wycke slid up the wall. What could he do? Fireballs might harm Jess, but so would the asshole with the knife if Wycke approached. How the fuck did anyone get in here? He cast an accusing glare at Chynne, who’d better act fast.
The elf held out his hand. “Stop. Everyone, stop!” He closed his eyes, bowing his head. The man holding Jess disappeared in a puff of smoke. “I’m so sorry, my lady. I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you all right?”
“What?” Jess turned on him.
“At the risk of repeating myself, what the hell just happened?” Piers wriggled free of George’s grasp and wrapped Jess in his arms, aiming a blistering glare at the elf over her shoulder.
“Hey! I can’t help if you triggered my alarm.” The elf wisely took a few steps back.
“What?” Piers raised his glare level fromI will kick your asstoI will kick your ass into next week.
“You didn’t come in the front door. There are a lot of you. You started shouting. I have wards, you know. They saw you as a threat when you raised your voices and invoked a protective spell.”
“A… a protective spell.” Jess twisted to add her glare to Piers’. “What are you people?” She pulled out of Piers’ grasp.
Piers sighed. “I just found out, but apparently, I’m a sorcerer.”
Jess shifted her malevolent gaze to George.
“I’m from the people your kind knows as ogres, my lady.” George gave a deep bow.
Jess’s derisive sniff said,Not impressed.She narrowed her eyes at her suitor.
“Elf, ma’am,” he squeaked, putting more distance between them. Smart man. Elf. Whatever.
Wycke flicked his hand. “Sorcerer, prince, a denizen of another realm.”
Jess turned wide eyes toward Piers. “A prince? A motherfucking prince? He said he wasn’t a loser and paid his own bills, but he never mentioned being royalty!”
“My thoughts exactly,” Piers replied in a meek voice, possibly hoping to trigger her protective instincts like Wycke often did with Saris.
Saris pulled herself up to her full, not-quite-impressive height. “Saris Bertillian, princess of Myrgren, High Queen Consort of Tirra Neu, Countess of blah-blah-blah, and…” She turned toward Wycke. “I forget all the other titles.”
Wycke shrugged. “I only remember them when I’m in a nearby village and want to impress a lad or lass—” A flash fire licked up his face. “Or, I did back before bonding.” He gave Piers his most winning smile. “All behind me now, darling.” Never another orgasm again, without his mate? Chynne might not be able to act against Wycke, but pissed-off mates could become a destructive force in the universe. Now probably wasn’t the time to mention human life spans in the magical world far exceeded those in the human realm.
Tears filled Jess’s eyes. “Piers, we’ve been friends a long, long time. Please tell me this isn’t some kind of sick joke.”
Piers never wavered. “I’d never do that do you.” Jess dove back into Piers’ open arms. For a split second, prickles of jealousy sank into Wycke. He’d not felt Piers’ embrace in far too long and might never again, the way things were going.
Now, Piers turned his ire on the elf.
“Hey,” the endangered elf said, hands raised. “I was just minding my own business, putting in a supply order. I haven’t done nothing.”
Jess sniffed, backing away, leaving dark smudges on Piers’ shirt that matched the black streaks on her face. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I mean, every time I come in here for coffee, you’re always busy, so I never got to talk to you.”
“I stayed busy because I was too nervous to talk to you, except the time you were drunk, and I feared you’d hurt yourself. I mean, you’re human, and well, I’m not.” The elf waved a hand to indicate his delicate features, ending the sweep at his pointed ears. Jess and the elf were of a similar height with Piers.
Now wasn’t the time to tell Jess about the elf boy's virginity and how she’d do best to leave him the way she found him.
“Okay. Call me sometime?” Her sweet smile made her look less threatening with all the tattoos, piercings, and turquoise hair Wycke believed didn’t naturally occur in humans. She also recovered fast from discovering the world as she knew it wasn’t, well, as she knew it.
“Sure. But, ummm… Don’t let my employees know, okay?” A blush spread over the elf’s face, all the way to his ear tips.
Jess couldn’t have reared back faster or appeared more offended if the guy had slapped her. “I don’t do ‘dirty little secret.’ If you don’t want to be seen with me—”
