Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats 2)

Millie heard a sleepy woman in the background. “Is that Kiarra?”

“Yes, she’s here, and I’ll tell you all about it later. But where are you?”

“Norway, but not for long.” Jaxton started to say something, but she cut him off. “I don’t have a lot of time, Jax.” Petra held up two fingers. Two minutes. “I have a job I need to complete before I can go home, but I need you to watch out for a red-haired Norwegian asking about me. He might be sporting a beard, and he carries a pair of Glocks.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not, but I’m kind of escaping him, and he’s bound to go looking for me.”

Jaxton sighed. “Of course he would. Do you know his name?”

“He goes by Larsen, but I reckon it’s not his real name.”

A beat of silence and then Jaxton said, “Are you okay, Millie? Did Giovanni hurt you?”

So that was the name of Kiarra’s brother. “Giovanni is my concern, Jax. Leave him to me.”

Jaxton growled. “What did he do?”

“Nothing.” Petra made a motion with her hands to wrap it up. “I need to go. I’ll ring you the next chance I have, so make sure you have access to a phone that picks up this number.”

“Millie?”

“Yeah, Jax?”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Hearing emotion in Jaxton’s voice nearly caused her to choke up. “Thanks. Look after Kiarra. She and I have a lot of conspiring to do against you.”

Millie clicked off the phone, removed the battery, and handed it back to Petra. “You’ve shown your good faith with the phone call, but before I agree to help you, I want to know the name of your brother’s new boss, the one whom you don’t want to find out about your plan. That way we each have a bit of leverage on the other, and are less likely to double-cross or betray.”

Petra raised her brows. “You’re a lot craftier than people give you credit for.”

She shrugged. “I think that works to my advantage. Now, who is your brother Dominik working for?”

Petra stared at her for a second before she said, “Sean Reilly.”

While she only knew about Reilly from word of mouth, the man had a reputation for doing dirty work no one else would take. “Why would Dom want to work with Reilly? Your brother seems clever enough to avoid that disaster waiting to happen.”

Petra’s face hardened. “That’s my affair.”

“Fair enough.” For now. Millie held out her hand. “I’ll help you.”

Petra shook and Millie said, “Right. Let’s get planning.”

Marco opened his eyes and promptly shut them again. Why the fuck was the light so extra bright this morning?

As he tried to roll on his side, he started to remember what had happened—Cam’s murmured apology, the prick of her claws, and the world going black.

Judging from the pounding in his head and his sluggish body, he was pretty sure Cam had poisoned him.

He cracked his eyes open again and managed to keep them open this time. The room was a small, bare bedroom with only a large fan and a plain wooden chair opposite the bed. As he slowly sat up, he noticed a note next to his pillow. Marco blinked a few more times until he could focus, and then he read it:

Again, I’m sorry, but R’s actions are my fault, and I’ll take care of him. I left a message for DEFEND about looking for Z and J, but I need you to tap your web of contacts to try to find out where he’s stashed them. I know it’s a lot to ask for, after what I just did, but if not for me, then help them because they’re your colleagues.

I’ll try to contact you as soon as I can.

~C