Page 69 of Burn of Obsidian
“Well,” Ruhne whistled. “This is awkward.”
Jax jerked back with a growl. Their eyes locked. Held. Fucking consumed. There was no mask, his gaze burning with such hunger that she felt it dance along her skin.
Thea dropped, the place where he’d held her aching at the loss of his touch when he stepped back.
Fuck.
He held himself rigid, and Thea wanted nothing more than to continue what she’d started, to push him beyond his carefully constructed control. But she didn’t. Couldn’t, and without a word Jax turned, the front door slamming closed behind him while Thea tried to calm her own pulse.
“Trust me on this; you don’t want to go there.” Ruhne appeared in front of her face, hands on his hips like a disappointed parent. “There’s nothing more humbling than seeing a cock that's bigger than your entire body.”
Thea snorted, unable to contain her laughter while Ruhne sniffed, as if offended.
“I’ll have you know I’m just as well-endowed… for a pixie.”
“I’m sure you are.” Thea was still laughing when she jumped in the shower, quickly scrubbing the remaining blood off before finally peeing and grabbing a fresh set of clothes – ones that didn’t show her boob.
She hadn’t yet decided what to do.
Eyeing her bag, she picked it up to see what survived, and reached for the pocketknife Jax had thankfully picked up. There was a strange relief when she picked it up. Without it, last night could have been much worse. She probably only grazed that hellhound, but it was enough that it hadn’t eaten her straight away. Gripping it tightly, she kneeled beside her bed, pulling out the hidden drawer.
It was her designated place where she spatially jumped her bounty. She made sure to always spend a few minutes each day studying every inch of the drawer. The left side was kept empty on purpose, leaving a space for whenever she needed to quickly get rid of something, like wallets, watches, and stolen jewellery. On the right, she kept everything in perfect order, making it easier to recall the specific item from memory. She placed the pocketknife there, never knowing when she’d need it again.
“Hey, what does this do?” Ruhne asked, holding up a spoon made from twisted oak. It vibrated slightly, and his eyes widened before dropping it. “What the fuck?”
Thea picked the spoon up, only to shove it back in another drawer in which Ruhne had been snooping. “It’s a Fae artefact.”
“These aren’t artefacts, they’re junk.” Jumping into the drawer, he rummaged through the stuff. “Trust me, nothing here is powerful enough to be classed as an artefact, which is good because otherwise you’ll have a Hunter chasing you.”
“Hunter?”
“Yeah, artefact Hunters.” Ruhne frowned at a magnifying glass that constantly had a line swirling in the centre. It was pretty terrible at magnifying things, actually. “Firstly, Fae artefacts are super rare. They’re dangerous and usually have specialised Hunters tracking them throughout the realms. Nothing here is powerful enough to be classed as an artefact. It’s just a drawer of crap.”
Thea frowned, brushing her fingers over a few of the objects she’d collected over the years. She’d found many of them by accident, and wasn’t sure how to dispose of them. Shoving them in the bin felt wrong, so she’d shoved them in a drawer by her bookshelf instead.
“What I want to know is why is it a spoon?” Ruhne asked. “And why does it vibrate?”
“You know how some Fae things can change over time. How am I supposed to know why it looks like a spoon and vibrates?” She wasn’t entirely familiar with Fae stuff, which was probably why she’d collected such strange things in the first place. Fae creations were known to be peculiar in the first place, but that was the risk with a magic that was completely wild, with a dévorant interest in trickery. “It’s probably not even a spoon.”
“You’re right, it’s probably some dirty old faerie’s sex toy, and you’ve shoved it in your sock drawer like a weirdo.” Ruhne wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think a Hunter would be interested in anything in here. Your bracelet has the strongest magical residue, but it’s a dud since the bead’s been twisted.”
Thea touched the thin silvery rope on her right wrist. It kept getting caught beneath the golden bands, which only reminded her she now had three things on her body that she couldn’t remove.
Fucking great.
Chapter 26
Jax
Jax ignored the throbbing along his thigh, the sutures he’d spent the last hour doing more of an annoyance than anything. He didn’t give a shit whether the slash re-opened, knowing it would heal eventually and without evidence. Scars were something he and his brothers didn’t have to concern themselves with due to the curse. Their restorative abilities were able to repair wounds that would kill almost anyone else. The only downside was the need to re-tattoo the glyphs over fresh skin once healed.
Previous scars and injuries disappeared as soon as they were bound to their beasts. Everything but Jax’s face, which was caused by a hound’s claw and then sealed with venom. It had been a freak accident that should have killed him as a child, but somehow he’d survived. Only to be cast aside by his mother for being even more broken. But at that point, Jax was well and truly cold. Uncaring. Fucking numb.
It was his brothers that helped him find peace with his past. Bonding to them just as much as he was forced to bond with his beast. They were the ones that talked him away from the edge, reminding him he existed – that he wasn’t a ghost.
Jax stretched his leg, feeling the stitches pull against his skin. Gritting his teeth, he stretched once more, making sure the muscle could withstand the movement.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Kace asked as he sat beside him. “You look like shit.”