Harley Merlin 12 by Bella Forrest (story books to read TXT) 📗

mind palace and found out that this existed. According to her, it’s got a bunch of stuff in it about djinn and Erebus’s former servants. She thinks it might be my way out.”

“Where did you get it?” She stared at the tome. On closer inspection, it proved to be an impressive piece of craftsmanship. Black vines swirled across the bright red leather, twisting up toward the letters in the center that spelled out the book’s title. Tiny rubies were embedded on the cover in addition to the larger ruby on the spine, and they all glinted in the ambient lighting of the restaurant.

“A bookshop.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Which bookshop? This doesn’t look cheap, Finch.”

“You’d be surprised. It was very cheap. Free, in fact.” I grinned.

“You stole it?” She gaped at me in horror.

“Why would you jump to that conclusion?”

“Finch, did you steal it or not?” she hissed.

I sighed. “Fine, I stole it, but only because it was ten thousand dollars. Do you have that kind of dough lying around? Didn’t think so. Nobody does, except Saskia, and I wasn’t about to ask her. Can you imagine? She’d be all, ‘What will you give me in return?’ and make me feel like I needed twenty showers.”

Ryann shook her head. “You can’t just take things, Finch.”

“I borrowed it. I fully intend to give it back.”

“Do I want to know how you ‘borrowed’ it?” She sounded disappointed. Well, she could go on being disappointed, because I had a damn good reason to swipe it. Honestly, I was a little disappointed myself—that she’d fixated on the theft and not the fact that this book could get me free from Erebus.

“I Shifted into O’Halloran, told the old lady I needed it on important business, and that I’d bring it back soon,” I replied stiffly. “Done and dusted. Nobody got hurt; nobody’s upset. It’s all good.”

“All good? Are you kidding? This could get you into deep trouble!”

I shrugged. “Pfft, add it to the pile. Anyway, no trouble compares to the E-man. I’ll repeat myself, since it seems you didn’t hear me the first time: this book might help me free myself from that monster before it’s too late for me.”

“Melody really said that?”

I sucked air through my teeth. “Why else would I have pinched it? I’m not reckless, Ryann, though everyone gets pretty free with that tarring brush when they talk about me.”

“Sorry, Finch. I guess I tend to get on my high horse when it comes to legal stuff.” Her expression softened.

“I’ll be glad to yank you down if you start climbing into the saddle again.” I relaxed, focusing on her face to keep me centered.

She smiled and reached for the book. “Can I?”

“I don’t know, can you?” I replied, aiming for endearing.

“You sound like my dad.” She chuckled, not realizing that was the last thing I wanted to hear from her. “Fine. May I?”

I pushed the book toward her. “You may.”

She flipped through, skimming the pages. My gremlins started jangling in my head, possessive of the book, but they could stay in their lane. Erebus had made Ryann part of this. Breaking the deal had as much to do with her as it did with me. And she looked insanely hot, sitting there all bookish and focused.

“Have you read this?” Ryann pointed to one of the pages.

I shook my head. “I haven’t had a chance.”

“It’s got a whole chapter on djinn and their special relationship with Erebus. Did you know they were linked?”

“I knew djinn were linked to Erebus somehow. It’s why Zalaam couldn’t tell everyone that Imogene was Katherine initially, because my dear old mother made a deal with Erebus, too—that promise that she wouldn’t challenge him in the last ritual in exchange for the djinn staying quiet about her. Zalaam was bound to silence because Katherine was loosely tied to Erebus, and he couldn’t cross Erebus’s wishes. Then he made his own deal with her, in order to spare Raffe, but I imagine that was because he couldn’t rat her out earlier because of that whole ‘sworn to silence’ thing. Complicated, I know.” I offered a wry smile. “Melody thinks there’s a link between the djinn and the servants of Erebus, too. It’s why she asked me to get the book, since there’s probably more detailed info in there.”

“Incoming,” Ryann whispered, thrusting the book at me. I hastily tucked it back into my pants under my shirt, right in the nick of time. Two more guests had arrived, though they swerved toward the bar, occupied by a tense conversation.

“Can’t we just have a nice evening?” Raffe muttered.

Santana furiously pushed a strand of hair from her face. “You’re the one who brought it up.”

“I know, but… I don’t want to talk about it now. Come on, let’s just forget I ever mentioned it,” Raffe pleaded.

“How can I forget you mentioned it? It’s pretty freaking important,” Santana replied sharply.

Raffe hung his head. “Please, Santana.”

“Fine, but we’re going to have to talk about it later.” Santana moved away from the bar and strode over to the table, with Raffe following. The poor dude looked drained, like he’d had an unexpected run-in with Mary Foster. His usual olive tone appeared ghoulishly pale and haggard.

“Long time no see, Finch.” Santana sank beside Ryann while Raffe took a seat next to me. “Did you get tired of that rock you’d crawled back under?”

“Aww, did you worry about me?” I smiled sweetly.

“No way, pendejo. I was just wondering if we’d have to put you in a coffin or a jar. You know, since you made us all think you’d been crushed by a load of rocks, when really you were fine.”

I wouldn’t say “fine.” But I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

I made a show of lifting the tablecloth to search under the table. “Speaking of pendejos, where’s the ankle-biter? I wore my shin pads, just in case.”

“Slinky is back at the SDC. I told him you were coming, and he decided he wanted to stay home and