Sensing a change in me, she quickly puts back on her game face.
A few minutes ago, I thought finding the card wasn’t going to happen.
Now, seeing how responsive she is to my touch, it’s game on.
Chapter Five
Unlucky At Love
Katya
The air around me is heavy as I leave the ladies’ room—I’d slipped into it to clean up any evidence of my bad decision-making—and head to the bar. Damn that dark wizard and his sexy-ass skilled fingers. Good God, I’m like a magnet and sucker for the wrong guys. All. The. Fucking. Time.
I step up to Onyx, an old friend of mine who is bartending at Right Bar.
“I need a drink,” I grumble.
One look at me, and the pink-haired witch chuckles. “No. You need a shot, Kat.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Tequila is the answer for everything,” she replies in a cheerful voice.
“Then bring it on.”
Onyx tilts her head toward Left Bar. After she chants a magical spell under her breath, a tequila bottle lifts off the shelf and floats over to her. Barassa snaps his head toward us, and she winks and smiles at him. With a heavy eye roll, the lion shifter shakes his head and refocuses on the guest in front of him before Onyx places two shot glasses in front of me, pouring doubles in both.
“Trying to get me drunk?” I quip.
“Never,” she replies, feigning innocence.
I grab one of the shot glasses and smile at her. “What?” I ask when she frowns.
Her brown eyes shift behind me. “I’m no fortune-telling card mage, but I get the distinct sense that tall, dark, and handsome is the reason for your sudden quest for hard liquor.”
With my brows pinched, I look over my shoulder to see Dragneel approaching.
I grimace and turn back to face Onyx, needing something else to look at other than him.
She’s smirking at me knowingly. I hate that she knows me so well.
“Just don’t,” I groan.
“You totally want him,” she accuses. “I mean, I want him. Look at him.”
I scoff and take my shot. “What I want is for him to leave me alone.”
A large hand reaches out next to me with a hundred in it, extended toward Onyx. With a flirty wink, she takes the tip and slips it between her breasts before pushing the second shot toward Dragneel.
“We have unfinished business.” He downs the shot and places the glass on the bar.
“Do we?” I look anywhere but at him.
“I still need the dagger containing eternal magic, Kat.”
Snapping my gaze to his, I stare at him as he exudes power. Dragneel’s looks are ridiculously handsome, but it’s his eyes that hold his true beauty. They reach into your soul and possess you without even trying. His gaze roams over me, and I can’t help but feel him everywhere.
The predatory yet captivating look in his eyes pins me.
And for some stupid, girlie reason, I can’t tear my gaze away from his.
I stare at him.
Inhale him.
Feel him.
I have no idea what this hold is that Dragneel has on me, but he sets my nerves on fire. Suddenly, I want to know everything about him. The man behind the power and dominance—both of which are qualities I respect and am attracted to. Dark or not. God, I am so fucking lame.
Turning on the stool, I face him, looking up into his intense gaze. Power changes people. The darkness that surrounds him—it isn’t something you’re born with. It’s a strategically placed armor that takes years to craft. Very few know how to crack it to get to the core of who someone truly is.
And it hits me. I know how to get through it.
Because I wear the same protective armor he does, for the same reason.
I sigh out a breath.
He continues to glare at me, sensually rubbing his thumb over his bottom lip.
“Why is attaining eternal magic so important to you?” I ask.
He cocks his head to the side, arching an eyebrow. “Why is anything in life important?”
I try a different angle. “It’s rumored that you have more money than God.”
“True.”
“Then why sell the dagger on the black market?”
“Simple. Because I can.”
I glare at him. “That isn’t a reason.”
“It is a reason,” he smirks down at me. “Just not the one you were looking for.”
“Want to know what I think?” I counter.
One shoulder lifts casually. “Not really. But I am sure you are going to tell me.”
Exhaling, I hold his gaze and ignore his disinterest in what I have to say. “For a dark wizard who wields two powerful opposing gifts, eternal magic could be the key to their soul’s survival.”
Dragneel’s jaw clenches, and his demeanor changes—I hit a nerve.
“I lost my soul a long time ago,” he says, his tone matter-of-fact. “I have no desire to find it again.”
I swallow as he pushes between my legs, looking down into my eyes. I like that he doesn’t give a fuck. If he wants to look at me, he does. And he doesn’t apologize for it. His confidence is sexy.
Torn between wanting to run from him and to him, I take a breath. “Eternal magic will heal the conflict in you.” My lungs seize at the tranquil expression that appears on his face.
“Eternal magic is poison to someone like me. I have no interest in it other than to sell it.”
Dragneel’s gifts are well known within the magic community. He casts both fire and ice magic. When a mage carries rival elemental powers, it’s usually a death sentence because the opposite energies try to fight for control. Yet there is no storm behind his eyes, only peace.
“Do you understand, Katya?”
The hair on my arms rises at the way he says my name. The whispered prayer causes my stomach to flutter in a way that it has no fucking business doing. That is when the realization hits me. Dragneel’s fire magic is tied to something much darker and more powerful: blood magic.
Practitioners of blood magic can cast dark spells that can save someone from death, though some would say death is a much kinder fate. I know this because blood magic is what saved me, against my will, when my magic vanished. Damn. No wonder I am as drawn to him as I am.
Darkness seeks darkness.
That is why eternal magic won’t work on him—he already has everlasting dark magic.
Like me. Fuck my life.
With his intense eyes locked onto mine, he steps back and I manage to slip off the stool and take a step away from him. Quickly, his hand snaps out, and he gently grabs my elbow, stopping me from leaving.
My gaze drops to where his touch burns my skin. “We’re done, Dragneel.”
“Look, protecting eternal magic, it takes some fucking balls,” he rasps. “Even I can appreciate what you’re doing, Kat. But I always get what I want. And tonight, I want the fucking dagger.”
I snap my eyes to his and lower my voice. “Then find the goddamn card.”
“That’s what I was trying to do upstairs before my hands were on you.”
“In me,” I correct. “And finger fucking me won’t get you what you want.”
“Won’t it?” he challenges, leaning over me, his mouth at my ear and his breath hot as he whispers. “With a pretty pussy like yours, you’re lucky it was my fingers and not my tongue.”