Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,50
the courtyard fountain. I pulled up and put on the hazard lights, studying him for a moment before I got out. He was wearing the same ill-fitting clothes from earlier that day, but his face seemed guarded—and a little flushed. He kept touching one pocket, as if to reassure himself something was in there.
On a whim, I picked up my phone and Googled his name, along with “new age store” and “Halifax.” The top result was a website for Crystal Spirit Books. I clicked on it, and a picture of Emil came up right away, posed behind the counter with a cautious smile. On a whim, I touched the number for the store and raised the phone to my ear.
I was expecting some sort of answering machine, but to my surprise, a female voice answered in a whisper. “Hello, Crystal Spirit Books.”
“Uh . . . hi. You’re open.”
“Yes, we are,” the voice said pleasantly. “Madam Sophia is doing her monthly midnight reading tonight. It’s too late to sign up for a slot this month, but if you’re interested, I could put you on the schedule for June?”
“Sophia is a . . . um . . . a psychic?”
“She prefers the term ‘medium,’” said the voice, a tiny bit severe now. “She communicates with the dead.”
“Thanks, I’ll . . . think about it.”
I hung up. Sophia supplemented her income by doing spiritualist readings. Not a bad gig for a boundary witch, I supposed. Emil hadn’t mentioned that specifically, but everything about what he’d told me did seem to check out. I took another look at him, sitting alone on that bench. He wasn’t twirling a moustache or anything, so why did I suddenly feel unsettled?
You’re being stupid, Lex, I told myself. I got out of the car and waved to him.
The drive to Simon’s lab was quiet—not tense, exactly, but there was a certain anticipation in the car that seemed to have struck both of us dumb. We mumbled polite “excuse me’s” and “thank you’s” as I led him down the steps to the basement apartment, but that was the extent of our conversation.
When Simon opened the door, I saw right away that Quinn had already arrived, doing his quiet looming thing in the background. Lily wasn’t there when we arrived—her yoga studio had contracted her out to teach a free class at the Twenty-Ninth Street mall. She’d offered to skip it, but I knew she could get fired for that. Besides, it didn’t seem like Simon and I would need her for a simple blood transfusion.
I introduced Emil to Simon and Quinn. Simon immediately stepped forward and extended his arm. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir,” he enthused, pumping Emil’s hand. Quinn was at his shoulder, with a polite not-quite-smile for my biological father. He gave a nod of acknowledgment.
“Could I trouble you for a glass of water?” Emil asked, and Simon left to get it. Emil still looked a little flushed, and I wondered if he was nervous. It would be kind of funny if he turned out to be afraid of needles.
“Are you all right?” I asked, and he nodded, managing a smile.
“Just a bit tired. I’m afraid as I get older, it gets harder and harder to fall asleep away from my own bed.”
“This way, please,” Quinn said, ushering him into the back bedroom. He had gotten Maven out of her earlier spot, curled up at the bottom of the closet, and laid her out on the bed. I saw with a bit of relief that either he or Simon had scrubbed the blood off her skin, making her look less like . . . well, a terrifyingly powerful vampire. Instead, she seemed small and vulnerable, barely more than a child. It made me want to open a vein to help, and I was still feeling the effects of the previous night.
“We already removed some of the tainted blood,” Simon said in a low voice. “All you need to do, Mr. Jasper, is donate about two pints, and you’re on your way.”
“After you press me, of course,” Emil added, glancing at Quinn with just a little bit of hostility in his tone.
Quinn met his gaze impassively, leaning in the doorframe like he had all the time in the world. “That’s right. Just as Lex explained.”
Emil began to say something, but then shook his head and turned toward Simon. “Ready when you are.”
Simon sat him down in the chair next to the bed and pulled in a