Geomancist (Seven Forbidden Arts 5)

She cocked an eyebrow as if to say, ‘So?’ and loosened the silk scarf around her neck. A crystal pendant on a leather string rested snugly in her cleavage.

What in the gods name?

Was this a joke?

That was his necklace.

It had to be an illusion, his mind playing tricks on him. Yet, there it was, as real as it gets.

“Is something the matter?” she asked, her eyebrows snapping together.

Unable to stop himself, he reached for the necklace, but she took a step back and covered her throat with a hand.

“Where did you get that?” he asked with a tight jaw.

She closed her fingers around the crystal. “I found it. It’s mine.”

“It’s not.” He advanced on her. “It’s mine. I’ve been looking for that.”

She took another step back. “Finders keepers.”

“You don’t want to push me, not on this.”

She lifted her chin. “Prove that it’s yours.”

That was easy enough. He threw a thumb over his shoulder toward the framed photo on the wall.

She followed the path of his finger with her gaze, took three steps around him, and stopped in front of the frame. It was the picture Maddy had taken of him and Jerry on the night of their birthday party just after she’d given him the pendant. They’d celebrated here in the bar. The crystal had caught the flash of the camera, making a white halo on the photograph. When they’d developed the print, Maddy had said the white circle of light was a bad omen.

Pushing his sister’s memory from his mind, he trained his attention on the woman studying the picture with a tilted head.

When she turned back to face him, Sean held out his palm in silent instruction. Obediently, she lifted the leather string over her head and placed the precious crystal in his hand. Relief flooded through him when he closed his fingers around the pendant. The sharp edges pressed with welcoming familiarity into his fist. He took a moment to let the shape and weight reassure him before he relaxed his tight hold and pulled the leather string over his head.

“I found it in front of the kebab shop,” she said with a smile that creased the corners of her eyes.

“I’m glad you did.”

She searched his eyes. “It means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

Crossing his arms, he cut off her probing by getting straight to the point. “You mentioned something about rent?”

She continued to examine him openly, scrutinizing him from top to bottom before fixing her gaze on the formula of the first law of thermodynamics tattooed on his upper right-arm, or at least on the part that was visible from under his sleeve. Energy couldn’t be created or destroyed. He was especially fond of that law.

“You’re Sean, aren’t you?” Without waiting for confirmation, she continued, “You sound and look even more Scottish than what I imagined. What made you decide to move to Colombia? How long since you’ve relocated? Three years? You have to give me some expat tips. The weather here must be a big improvement over the Highlands. That’s where you’re from, right? I hear you have this knack for intuitively mixing a drink to suit a customer’s mood. Apparently, you never get it wrong.”

He took a deep, long breath on her behalf. She was a nosy little kitten with long, blond lashes and pretty green cat eyes. Would she be playful if a man made a move or would she sweep her tail and show her claws?

Her hips rocked gently as she shifted her weight. “Say, what would you mix for me?”

He dragged his gaze over her small body and perfect curves. She’d be a spicy Thai iced latte spiked with vodka. Poison in a small bottle. She piqued his curiosity, and it wasn’t about the reason why she’d barged through the door and spoke no sense about rent. It was the kind of curiosity that stirred in a man’s pants.

He narrowed his eyes a fraction. “What did you say your name was?”

“Sorry.” She brushed her palms over her thighs and held out a dainty hand. “Asia Sommer.”

Folding his fingers around hers, he held back a frown. “Asia, like the continent?” Her skin was pleasantly warm.

She shrugged. “My mother wanted to name me after my father, but since she didn’t know his name, she named me after the continent he was from instead.”

Damn. What was he supposed to say to that?

“Anyway.” She looked around the room. “I’m here to see Jerry.”

Sean was territorial about the bar, and Jerry damn well knew it. Jerry wouldn’t go behind his back. Suspicion tightened Sean’s gut. What if her excuse for barging in here was just a front? For a stranger, Asia knew a lot about him. She could be working for a gift hunter or a government agency. The whole rent thing could be a set-up.