Page 19 of Oracles Always Win

“Sowe’re staying here for a while either way?”Nelsoncrossed his arms, looking irritated by the idea of being stuck in one place again.Hewas relentless in his quest to help me find a place to tether beforeIlost control.Hewas overreacting.

Honestly.

Iwould know ifIwas close to losing control.

Myteam just worried.

Really.

Ishould never have told them, but sinceIknew their deepest desires, it was only fair thatIshare mine.Unfortunately, everyone had blown the whole he’ll-lose-his-mind-and-go-on-a-killing-rampage-if-we-don’t-get-him-tethered-as-soon-as-possible situation out of proportion.

Asit did every timeIthought about my magic snapping, a familiar and unwelcome memory hit me.Myfather’s red eyes glared at me.Theyblazed brightly as he swiped his long bloody claws at my neck.Myheart twisted with a pain that never really went away.ButIalso remembered that moment hadn’t happened suddenly.Therehad been signs.AndIwasn’t displaying any of those same signs.

Iwas fine.

Itwas on the tip of my sometimes-forked tongue to suggest this might be the placeI’dbeen looking for my whole life, just to easeNelson’sever-present worry, butIswallowed those words down.Because, what if this wasn’t the place?Ididn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.

Instead,Inodded.

“It’llbe faster if we work with him, but either way, we’re here for a bit.Weoperate the same as always.Geta feel for the locals, track unusual behavior, ferret out the assholes who are behaving badly and deal with them, and move on to the next supernatural fuckup.”

Nelsonnodded, but he didn’t look impressed.Iignored him and looked around the room again.

Andif my gaze lingered on the very kissable bartender, so what?

Itwas reasonable for me to want more information about him.Hehad to be the guy who’d inherited the place recently, the one who’d been robbed.Thatrobbery had led us to the trafficking ring.SoIcould argue—if anyone questioned me, whichIdoubted they would—that my interest was related to our current case.

Except, that wouldn’t be the full truth.

Theguy intrigued me.Evenif he hadn’t kissed me senseless earlier, there was just something about him that kept drawing my attention.Icouldn’t figure out what it was, butIwas willing to go with it.

Besides, our continued and undeniable chemistry aligned nicely with my plan to takeJaketo bed.Isaacwould say using the wordbedwas old-fashioned, but let’s face it, at my ageIhad no desire to hook up with someone in a cramped bathroom stall, even if it was sparkling clean, which they never were.Iliked beds.Theyserved a purpose.Theylet me be comfortable whileItook my time with my lover.

AndIwouldtake my time with the very kissableJake.

“Whatdid you find out?”Nelsonasked.

“Nota lot,”Isaid. “Butenough to make me curious.”

Hedidn’t need to know my curiosity was mostly centered on the bartender.

Mygaze drifted back toJake.Withhis seeming innocence and inherent sweetness, he wasn’t my usual type.Buthe’d also been the one who’d demanded kisses earlier, so maybe he wasn’t so innocent after all.Andnow thatI’ddecidedIwanted him,Iwas looking forward to finding out who he really was.Butmy interest in him wasn’t just sexual.

Whatwas it the hellhound had said when we met with him a few weeks back?Somethingabout the guy who’d been robbed not having a clue about theEternalMagicand then hintingJakewasn’t a mundane.Howcould a supe not know he was a supe?

ButwhenI’dwatchedJakeearlier today and seen how he interacted with the supes in the bar,Ididn’t think it was an act.Idoubted he was as ignorant asVanbelieved, butIgot the sense he didn’t understand what was happening either.Somethingwasn’t adding up.

WhenI’dread his desires a few minutes ago, his deepest desire seemed centered around his art—something about his painting—but the reading wasn’t as clear to me as it should be, which had never happened before.Andthat intrigued me even more.

Myintuition told me he wasn’t the one we were here to investigate, though, no matter how messy his magic seemed, which meantIhad to pay attention to everyone else and not just think about all the waysI’dtease him onceIgot him into my bed.

That’djust be a very nice side benefit of this case.Icould see it so clearly.Howhis skin would glisten and pinken so prettily asIbrought him to orgasm after orgasm beforeIfinally sought my own pleasure in his body.Blowjobor sex,Iwasn’t picky.Althoughhis hair was long enoughIcould grip it tight as he worked over my dick with his plump pink lips.Fuck, he’d look good like that, kneeling on the ground before me.

Butthat would have to come later.

Rightnow,Ihad other things to think about.So, afterIfound my gaze lingering onJakefor the third time,Iforced myself to look away.

Itdidn’t help that my senses had been going crazy since we walked through the doors.Theenergy emitted by mages and shapeshifters wasn’t all that rare, but when you added in the sphinx and the hellhounds and the merman…Andthen, like a cherry on the top of a very unconventional sundae, there wasJakehimself.Hewasn't human, butIcouldn't identify his magic either—even after reading the guy.