“Not monsters. Businesswomen, doctors—quite a lot of firemen, if that’s your cup of tea.” I tried a smile, but the joke fell flat.
She spun toward the terrace doors. “You mean there could be werewolves here? Lurking and watching me?”
I turned her chin to me and let my eyes glow. There was something about her that was mesmerizing. Intoxicating. Maybe it was the innocence and naïveté underneath that hard exterior. Or maybe my wolf just liked a challenge. “You don’t have to worry. There are, but it’s safe. You’re safe, and they’re not going to hurt you.”
She pulled away. “But I was attacked.”
“You were assaulted by two very bad people who just happened to be werewolves. Most werewolves are kind, helpful, upstanding citizens, just as most humans are good. In either case, a few are bad.”
I surrounded her with my presence, calming, protecting. If she were going to stay in Magic Side, the most important thing I could do was convince her that she didn’t have to be afraid of us.
“This is a lot,” she mumbled.
“I know. But you’re now part of something very special.” I turned and looked out over the sparkling lights of the city. “This is Magic Side. It’s one of the largest supernatural cities in the world. Werewolves, vampires, witches—you name it, they all live here in the thousands.”
“A supernatural city? Full of witches and vamp…” She petered out.
I was finally beginning to break through her denial. “Yes. All those things and more. We’re known as Magica—it means people with magic in their veins. You can’t actually see the city unless you’re Magica.”
“But I could.”
“Exactly. You’re like us, and you belong here.” I studied her closely, unable to take my eyes off her damned red hair.
Why had the fates brought this woman into my life?
To torment me, no doubt.
Savannah
It was all too much.
I pressed my hand to my pounding chest, willing it to slow down. Wooziness settled over me, and I bent over with my head between my legs.
I didn’t care that Jaxson Laurent was looking. I could barely stand, and it had nothing to do with the drinks I’d just downed.
“What do you mean, I’m like you, like everyone here? Magic?”
He sighed with a hint of exasperation. “Yes.”
What did he expect? That I would accept his words without question?
Probably. Jaxson was an arrogant bastard who seemed to get his way.
I took a breath and straightened my spine. “Like, I have powers?”
“Yes, but I don’t know what kind.”
I shook my head. It was impossible to believe, but there wasn’t a hint of deceit in his eyes.
“And my family here, the LaSalles. Are they magic, too? You talk about them like they’re monsters. What, are they werewolves? Or something worse?”
Jaxson’s eyes blazed with fury, and I had the sudden urge to flee.
“They’re practitioners of the dark arts. Black magic.”
His words were laced with venom, and I froze as information poured into my mind. My family was magical, and they practiced the dark arts—whatever the hell that was. What had they done to deserve this man’s ire?
I regarded him carefully as he moved close, his posture commanding. “Stay away from them. And don’t mention your relation to the LaSalles to anyone in this city. They may be the reason you were targeted.”