The Protection of Ren Crown by Anne Zoelle Read Free Book Online Page A

from the books she had been reading, with their message of choices and alternatives, and arguing the authors' merits of how to determine what to do when presented with forks in the road. Listening to her made me smile.
    Parking sucked in the city, as it always did, but when Olivia had refused to ride the train—saying there was no way she was getting in something non-magical that she had no way to exit—I had scoped online and found a neighborhood near the club that was known for ‘sometimes’ having available curb spots. It took four patient circuits around the neighborhood, but we finally got lucky. We locked the doors and started walking briskly in the cool December air.
    An itchy feeling registered under my cuff almost immediately as we turned the corner out of the residential area. The street shadows jumped and a four-headed creature—with tusks and horns and talons—blinked into being ten feet away. It winked out of existence a half-second later, so quickly that my heart didn't get a chance to fully stutter to a stop.
    “That was a flicker.” Olivia's voice was calm, but her arms no longer swung casually at her sides. “The layers thinned in that spot for a moment. It happens sometimes. There are a thousand things that cause flickers. Ordinary people think they are merely daydreams or tricks of the imagination. Keep walking.”
    The itchy feeling wouldn't diminish. It was growing stronger. The industrial street around us was packed with parked cars and empty of life.
    But we were being watched. I could feel the gaze, and I had neither a weapon nor magic.
    “Olivia—”
    “We need to join a large group of people immediately. The car's too far to turn back.”
    I could hear people laughing, maybe a block away. We picked up speed.
    A tall figure stepped out of the shadows between two parked vans. My hand touched Olivia's arm automatically.
    The figure sauntered into the light. Dark hair lazily fell around perfectly debauched features. Constantine headed toward us in all of his sexed-up, privileged glory.
    “Hey,” I said, sagging in relief. I ran to meet him halfway, giving him a hug. He wrapped long arms around me.
    “I didn't think you were going to make it,” I said. “You said you were coming to the house.”
    “I was unavoidably detained,” he answered smoothly.
    “You missed cake.” I stepped back, beyond relieved that the danger I sensed in the shadows had been Constantine. The irony of that wasn't lost on me.
    At Excelsine, his magic was never without a treacherous edge, and I could see that translated to his aura in the non-magic world as well. Fathers here probably made their daughters cross the street when they saw him.
    “But the others should be here any minute if you want to come to the club with us?” I said.
    I could feel Olivia's eyes boring holes in my back and imagined her mentally penciling down “Talk to roommate” on her pad.
    Constantine’s lazy eyes took in Olivia, then dismissed her. “Quaint, but I have to pass. I have little time.”
    A butter-soft, dark leather strap vertically hugged his torso, the messenger bag settled against his well-formed backside.
    “You didn't need to travel all the way here,” I pointed out. “I'd have seen you in a week or two.”
    “And miss the ten minutes I could claim of your birthday, even if you choose to celebrate it in this godforsaken place? Never.” He avoided my friendly pinch. “I was held at the checkpoint. Amusing, but amusements consume time.”
    Olivia looked at him sharply, but said nothing.
    “Really? What did you bring that caused the hold up?” I eyed his bag, curiosity pulling.
    “Eying my assets, Crown?” His expression was lazy and amused. Upon first meeting him I had thought he might be some sort of sex demon. He was completely human, in actuality, but the reality of him wasn't far from my first impression.
    “You know me, always ogling fine leather.” It was easy to share in his amusement. “What did you