Lover Unveiled (Black Dagger Brotherhood 19)

“And here I thought you were coming to talk fashion. I was going to redirect you to Butch.”

“Listen, there’s only so much you can do with this black-muscleshirt-and-leathers rut you’ve been in for a hundred years. I keep telling you this.”

“Yeah, my goal’s to get on the cover of fucking GQ. Now talk.”

“Print is dead.”

“That’s a line from Ghostbusters. And a deflection.”

Rehv settled his cane between his knees and batted it back and forth with his palms. “I had a female approach me tonight.”

On a laugh, Wrath said, “Ehlena is totally secure in your relationship. And I know you better than to think you’d ever do something stupid.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Good, ’cuz I ain’t no Ann Landers.”

“The female was looking for something neither of us wants her to find.” He forced himself to lean back in the chair. “Have you ever heard of the Book?”

“I’ve heard of the humans’ Good Book. You talking about the Bible?”

“The opposite. The one I’m referring to is a conduit to the dark side. It’s bound in flesh and I have no idea what the pages are made out of—and I don’t want to know the answer to that one. It’s traveled through history, finding people and wreaking havoc.”

“So it’s a book of spells or some shit?”

“The Book of spells. Capital-B time.”

Wrath frowned. And this time, when he went to set George onto the floor, he didn’t take no for answer. As the dog collapsed in defeat at his feet, the King sat forward—and his expression as he looked across the desk at Rehv was so intense, you could forget he was blind.

“I’ve heard rumors about magic throughout the centuries.” Wrath shrugged his powerful shoulders. “But I’ve been too fucking busy with the Omega and the Lessening Society to worry about hocus-pocus bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit.”

“So you’ve seen this thing? Or have you used it.”

“Neither.” Rehv dropped his eyes to the blotter. “But I had a . . . friend . . . who told me about the damn thing and what it could do.”

“Friend” was not the right word for the symphath Princess who had blackmailed him into fucking her for decades. The fact that the sex had always nearly killed him had been only part of her fun; fuck knew there had been so many other amusements to the relationship for her. But he’d settled that score, and then some.

The sandman had come for her.

Still, he should have known she wouldn’t be done with him, and this Book shit was the kind of blast from the past that made a male want to give himself a concussion.

You know, for the amnesia.

Wrath’s eyebrow lifted again. “A ‘friend’ told you. This sounds like a confession on the Internet.”

“Not even close. And before you ask, yes, she’d used it.”

“To do what.”

“Nothing good. I don’t know specifics, but considering who she was? You can bet it was a rotten fucking idea.”

“Okay, so a female came up to you and asked you for the Book. Do you know where it is?”

“Nope. It left my ‘friend.’”

“Left her? Like, the goddamn thing called an Uber and headed out of Caldwell? Or wherever it was?”

“Something like that. From what she told me, it chooses its way in this world.” Rehv rubbed his eyes. “Look, you can use the spells in it to do all kinds of shit you shouldn’t. And the fact that this female knew to come to me? It’s bad news, all the way around.”

“So she knows your friend?”

“She was referred to me through an old acquaintance of my mahmen’s. I followed the female so I could get her license plate number—not that it’s going to help us much. Still, I gave it to V in case she’s registered her human alias in a species database somewhere. And as for why she’s looking for the Book? I saw her grid. She’s desperate to the point of insanity. It’s the worst combination—incredible dark power mixed with that kind of despair.”

Wrath went silent.

“You know I’m not an alarmist,” Rehv said. “This is very dangerous. I don’t know what else to—”

“You don’t have to tell me any more.” Wrath lowered his head, and those blind eyes glowed behind the wraparounds. “The answer is easy. We get the Book before the female does and destroy it. End of.”

Like it’s going to be that simple, Rehv thought.

Still, at least Wrath was on board and taking shit seriously.

“We’ve got to find it first.” Rehv stroked a palm over his Mohawk. “And as for part two of that plan? Something tells me it’s not going to go without a fight.”

“We’ll use all the resources we have—and you know I hate losing.”

Rehv cursed under his breath. “I feel like this is the part in the action movie when I say, ‘This is unlike anything you’ve gone after before, Indy.’”