She looked at James. “What have you found out so far?”
“Not much, unfortunately. Though I did find your summoning spell.” He gestured to the page open before him.
“How do you know it’s the spell they used?” Thomas asked.
James grinned. “It wasn’t hard. It’s the only spell that’s translated. At least we assume that’s the one they used. We haven’t been able to decipher the rest of it to determine if there are any more summoning spells. It seems to be some archaic derivative of the dark fae language.”
She glanced at the book. A pencil had been used to write the translation above the original lines of the spell. She could read every word of both. “The translation’s wrong. He put Beacon instead of Sacrifice. Can’t help but think that was done on purpose. There’s also a couple of other minor errors that were probably mistakes. Obviously it didn’t matter. The demons got here just fine.”
James stared at her with wide eyes.
“What?”
“When I said we hadn’t been able to decipher the rest of the spells, I didn’t mean we hadn’t had the time. I meant I literally hadn’t found anyone that could read them.”
Curse it. She should have picked up on that. Now he was going to want her to translate the whole thing. “Oh.”
“Oh? That’s all you’ve got for me?”
She shrugged. “What do you want me to say, James? It’s dark fae. I’m dark fae.”
He shook his head. “That doesn’t work this time, Jules. I’ve had other dark fae in here. None of them could read it.”
She pressed her lips together and he growled in frustration.
“We’ve been researching its origins, but haven’t had much luck. And I can’t get its power to respond to any of the people that have looked at it. Have either of you seen it before?”
They both shook their head, but the book looked familiar to Thomas. He knew he’d seen it somewhere before, that he should remember where it came from, but the information eluded his grasp. He clenched his teeth making a muscle in his jaw twitch. A millennium of having a near perfect memory and he couldn’t recall this. Somehow it must be Juliana’s fault. His bride had his head so twisted his brain wasn’t even working right.
Juliana reached out her hand and the book pulsed with purple light. She snatched her hand back, crossed her arms over her chest and buried her hands tight against her body.
“What did you do?” Thomas asked.
“And can you do it again?” Excitement lit James’s voice. Thomas resisted the urge to say that he’d prefer if she didn’t. He had no way to protect her from magic.
“I reached for it.”
“There has to be something else,” James insisted. “Were you thinking of something specific?”
She shook her head. She reached out again and held her hand over the book without touching it. Again, the purple light pulsed. It stayed lit longer because she didn’t remove her hand, but eventually the light faded.
“Remarkable,” James breathed.
“There’s nothing remarkable about it.” She crossed her arms over her chest again. “I already told you it’s old dark fae magic.”
“And again, what makes you different from every other dark fae I’ve had in here?” James asked.
She looked at him without saying anything.
“Is that why the demon is targeting you? Does it have something to do with your ability to read this book?” he asked, his voice sharp, his eyes searching.
Her shoulders slumped as she sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything at all.” She raked a hand through her hair. “I knew it called me by name. It did the same to Thomas, I thought it was a game it was playing. Didn’t it use any of your names today?”
James shook his head. “Just yours. Of all the names it had access to, it only used yours. And it homed in on you the moment you arrived, like it was waiting for you to get here.”
She looked at Thomas. “You have anything to say about all this?”
“Why should I have an opinion on it?” he asked.
“Because you have an opinion on everything,” his brother-in-law answered for her.
Irritation spiked through him. He shrugged and went over to lean against the wall by the door.
James turned back to the book. “You’ll have to begin the translation immediately.”
“I’ll translate it because I need to find the demon, James, but I’m not giving your people access to those spells. I’m only telling you what you need to know.”
“You can’t be serious.”
She leaned forward on the table and looked him in the eye. “That book scares me.”
It must terrify her for her to admit that. James studied her for a moment before nodding once. “All right.”
Juliana straightened and shifted on her feet. She ran her fingernails across her palms and hunched her shoulders. “I’ve got to get out of here,” she said. Ignoring James’s protests she hurried out the door.
Thomas straightened and followed her without hesitation. He watched while she reequipped her weapons. Her movements were agitated, hurried. Stepping forward, he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck. Her head dropped forward when he began to knead the muscles.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” She turned to face him.
James stood looking between the two of them. “Finally claiming her then?”
“If she’ll let me.”
James snorted. “Good luck with that. Don’t screw it up this time.”
Thomas hesitated a moment before shaking the offered hand. “I shall endeavor not to.”
Chapter Fifteen
Thomas and his bride stepped out into the glare of the midday sun. Juliana stood in front of him, eyes squinted, blocking the flow of traffic. Hands in his pockets, he watched her, suddenly wondering how his life had become so wrapped up in hers. Why he found himself unable to make a move without knowing what she intended to do first.
Irritation crawled under his skin when she continued to just stand in the doorway. “They’ll be expecting you to make your report,” he said, careful to keep his annoyance from his voice.
She glanced around as if just realizing she hadn’t bothered to move since stepping outside. She headed down the steps and he stayed right behind her. A hand shaded her eyes as she looked up at him. “You’re right, I need to go report in. And then I guess Ben will have me out demon hunting again. James is arranging to have the book delivered to the Agency so I can start digging through it.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “There are other agents, other Walkers, are there not? It is not necessary for you to be the one to do everything.” He hailed a cab.
She shook her head as he opened the door for her. “There are others, but I can’t expect them to work while I sit around and do nothing. It’s not how I’m made and neither are you. Go look for the demon. Watching me give my report isn’t going to help anything. I’ll call you when I’m done.”
He slammed the door shut and watched the taxi drive away. Damnable woman. She could give whatever excuse she wanted, but she was running away from him just like she had been since he came back. If he was smart, he’d let her go. Let her get herself into trouble she couldn’t get out of and then he’d be rid of her.
He raked a hand through his hair. What was wrong with him? What was he thinking? He pulled out his phone to call for a portal to meet her at the Agency. It rang as he began to punch in the number. “Yes?”
“The package you’ve been waiting for is here,” answered one of the underlings who resided at his house.
Any thought of following his bride rushed from his thoughts. He placed the call for the portal, but this time to take him home.
“Are you paying attention, Juliana?” Ben asked for the fifth time in the two hours she’d been there.