Dreamwalker (Stormwalker #5) - Allyson James Page 0,4
drop dead. How about that?”
Someday I’d get my hands around Emmett’s throat and strangle him. I looked forward to it.
I heaved another sigh and climbed inside the limo.
A thug shut the door. He and his fellow got into the compartment directly behind the driver, leaving me and Emmett in the very back space that held two leather bench seats facing each other.
“Something to drink?” Emmett asked as the limousine pulled smoothly from the curb. There was no traffic save one pickup heading the opposite direction. “I can open a lovely chardonnay, or if you’d prefer red, a Syrah blend. I don’t always like blends, but this one is an exception.”
“No, thank you.” Alcohol and I didn’t mix very well, so I avoid it. I’m a lightweight drunk, and who knew what I might do tonight if I grew tipsy? Besides, I didn’t trust Emmett not to put something in the wine.
Emmett shrugged. “Your loss. My collection is the envy of the world.” He pulled from a compartment at his side an open bottle of red, filled a wide-bowled glass, and took a sip. “Ah, this is nice. Full and fruity, very warm. Are you certain you won’t partake?”
I shook my head. Him demonstrating he’d happily drink the wine didn’t mean he wouldn’t spike it with something that wouldn’t affect him, or that the poison wouldn’t already be in whatever glass he handed me.
“You are wonderfully suspicious, Janet. Wise of you. It keeps you alive. Now.” Emmett rested his goblet on the arm of his seat. “I am certain you have guessed the main thing I want to discuss. You have a magic mirror, and I want it.”
A magic mirror is an immensely powerful talisman. It can enhance a mage’s power, assist in spells, watch over enemies, give advice, and discover information. My hotel, which I’d purchased and restored over the last couple years, had contained a magic mirror, set aside and forgotten. Mick and I had woken the thing from dormancy, and it had formed an attachment to us. The mirror belonged to us now, would fight for us and refuse to work for another mage until we both were dead.
The fact that my mirror talked like a sex-crazed drag queen with the tendency to sing loudly and off-key in the middle of the night was beside the point. It had deep powers I hadn’t even tapped yet. Emmett having it would be a bad idea.
“Sorry,” I said. “You know mirrors pass from one mage to the next only when the previous mage dies. Not a price I’m willing to pay. I like being alive.”
“There are ways,” Emmett said. “I have done much research on this topic since discovering the delicious fact that you own such a mirror. You can give me the mirror under certain circumstances and following specific rituals. I will compensate you well.”
Even if I believed him, even if he proved himself right, no way was I giving my magic mirror to someone like Emmett.
“Hmm, let me think,” I said. I narrowed my eyes. “No.”
“You have a piece of it with you, don’t you?” Emmett asked. “I know you do. I can smell it. And I know you and your boyfriend never go anywhere without a shard tucked away, in case you need it. Better than a cell phone, isn’t it?”
I gave him a neutral look. I did have a bit of mirror in a chamois bag in one of my pockets, but I had no intention of bringing it out. At least, I hadn’t until the mirror started screaming.
The high-pitched keening filled the car, and both Emmett and I winced. The limo didn’t slow. Only the magical can hear the mirror. The human driver and the two henchmen weren’t aware that anything was going on back here. I envied them.
“Could you keep that thing under control?” Emmett demanded, his face screwing up against the sound.
I dragged the shard of mirror from my pocket and pulled back the leather around it. The mirror was black, reflecting nothing.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The sound spiked through my brain. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
“Shut up!” I yelled at it.
Don’t let him take me, Janet. Don’t let him! I’ll just diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie.
“Will you stop screaming?” I snapped. “You’re not going anywhere.”
The mirror dropped to silence. Emmett delicately touched his ear. “You know, I could teach you a spell to muffle it.”
Sounded divine. But, no learning magic from Emmett. He’d find a way to spike the spell the same as he’d doctor a drink.