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EDEN GAVE THE CARRIAGE driver an address that was two blocks away from where she actually lived. She’d been trained to hide who and what she was and it was instinct to keep the location of her home a secret. She climbed out when the carriage pulled over and instantly became drenched again. When the carriage rumbled away, she continued the rest of the way on foot.
Most of the buildings near the City Square contained businesses. Some were mansions where the wealthy and elite resided. From the outside, her building looked like one of the homes for the elite. It was made from gray stone, had four levels and stood between two mansions that looked similar to hers.
She couldn’t sense anyone watching her as she approached the building from the back. Neither of her colleagues used the front entrance. They shared her instinct to work from the shadows.
The back door was locked, but it opened when Eden touched it. Only those who lived in the building could enter it, of course. Anyone else needed to be invited inside. It was one of the few magic spells that was still operational throughout Nox.
The methodical thumping sound of fists and feet hitting a punching bag greeted Eden when she stepped inside. She shut the door, then headed for the stairs just down the hall. Water dripped from her to soak into the dark gray carpet as she made her way upstairs. If she’d been human, she probably would have been chilled from being soaked. Since she was fae, she was far hardier than that.
The walls were covered in silver wallpaper that had patterns of a forest embossed on it. It was a mystery who had chosen the way the house had been decorated, but it was pretty. The drapes were silver as well.
Eden’s apartment was on the fourth floor. The door opened for her and she glanced at the image of a dagger before stepping inside. All three inhabitants of the mansion had the same images on their doors. Usually, the uncursed beings’ species were depicted on their doors. The magic of Nox had chosen to use their jobs to identify them, at least on their private doors. The front entrance showed them as being fae.
Quiet closed around her when she closed the door. The sound of rain was muted by her windows and she could no longer hear the sound of her housemate training. Magic candles that didn’t drip wax and never needed to be changed were in candelabras in every room. She glanced around her apartment to see everything was in order. The kitchen was to the right, the dining room was to the left and the spacious living room was dead ahead. Although there was no electricity in Nox, she had state of the art appliances. Her link to the Immortal Triumvirate made sure she would never run short of magic. There was always food in her fridge and cupboards.
The décor in all three apartments were different. Her wallpaper was teal and had intricate patterns embossed on it. The floors in the kitchen, dining and living rooms were made from silver wood. Her two bedrooms were carpeted in dark blue that matched the drapes throughout her apartment. Her furniture looked antique for the most part. The dining table was made from dark brown wood that was polished to a high sheen. It could seat six, not that she had visitors very often. The chairs were made of the same dark wood and had plush dark blue cushions. Her couch could seat three and was flanked by two matching armchairs. All were covered in dark blue fabric.
Her favorite piece of furniture was a chair near a bay window that overlooked the street. It had an elegant, padded seat and a high back. The cushions were covered in dark blue fabric with tiny gold diamond-shaped patterns. The chair had a drawer attached to it where items could be stored. In her spare time, she liked to sit on her favorite chair and read. She kept the latest book she was reading in the drawer while she was away.
Eden was feeling too restless to read, so she headed down the hall to the right to her bathroom. Her spare bedroom had been converted into a library. The shelves were packed with thousands of books she would eventually get around to reading during her no doubt lengthy life. Her bedroom was next door to the library and the bathroom was across the hall from her bedroom. It was spacious, made of white marble and had a gigantic clawfoot tub and a separate shower. She peeled off her clothes and shoes and dumped them in the hamper in a corner of the room. She then took the bobby pins out of her hair. It was long enough to reach her lower back and she quickly washed it in the shower, then dried herself off.
When she glanced into the hamper, she saw her shoes, black dress and lacy underwear were gone. The magic that powered her building was still strong. It had cleaned her clothes and shoes and had sent them back to her closet and dresser.
Since she didn’t have a target to kill, Eden didn’t bother putting any makeup on. She left her hair down, pulled on jeans and a sweater, then poured herself a glass of wine. Crossing to her favorite chair, she sat down and stared out at the rain. A single streetlamp stood across the street. It was a sad, solitary beacon in the darkness that shrouded the area.
Melancholy had Eden in its clutches. Everyone knew that misery liked company, so she finished her wine and headed downstairs. Her housemate was still working out, so she followed the sounds of thuds, grunts and occasional cursing to the training room on the first floor.
Malachi was kicking and punching one of the workout bags when Eden entered the room. Dressed only in ragged, cutoff jeans, sweat glistened on his lithely muscled, perfect body. He was almost six feet tall, had short, spiky black hair and was just as deadly as she was. His ears were slightly pointed, giving away his elven heritage. He glanced over his shoulder when he sensed he had company. He winked a pale yellow eye at her. “Hey, sis,” he said. “Did you kill anyone tonight?”
“Not yet, but the night is still young,” the succubus replied and ambled over to hold the bag steady for him. He had the same inhuman beauty that she possessed, which came from his fae heritage. Tannic had also been his father, which made him her half-brother. She’d heard Malachi was the spitting image of their dead dad. He’d inherited Tannic’s incubus magic as well as his looks. Like Eden, his elven magic was locked away so he couldn’t use it. “Is Sorcha here?” she asked.
Malachi shrugged, then continued with his training. “I haven’t seen her,” he replied. Eden easily held the punching bag still as he beat it into submission. Their training room was filled with exercise equipment, Malachi’s weapons and dummies to practice on. Not all of their targets could be drained to death, so they needed to be able to kill with their hands and feet as well as with their incubus and succubus powers. Sorcha had different talents from them, but she still trained just as hard as they did. “Why do you smell like vampire?” her half-brother asked, pausing in his routine to peer around the bag at her.
“A rogue werewolf tried to attack me and a vampire decided to step in and save me,” she explained.
Malachi stared at her for a second, then burst into snickers. “If he only knew how little you needed to be saved,” he said when he got himself under control again. He was a couple of months younger than Eden, but they’d grown up together along with Sorcha. Even if they’d actually been given a choice of where to live and who to share their house with, she would have chosen to live with them both. They were all she had in this horrible city that was her prison.
“The rogue shifters are becoming a problem,” Eden said as Malachi continued with his routine. “I don’t know why Lord Graham doesn’t do something about them.”
“Because he doesn’t care,” Malachi pointed out. “He’s wiped most of the alphas out and now too many shifters don’t have anyone controlling them. It’s inevitable that some of them will slip through the cracks and go insane.”
That was what eventually happened to shapeshifters who didn’t have an alpha. Their basic instincts took over and they always needed to be put down in the end. It wasn’t her problem, though, so she put it out of her mind. Malachi didn’t ask her about the vampire who had saved her. He was lost in his own thoughts. She was glad she didn’t have to explain the whole event to him. She was still puzzling over her strange reaction to the leech. The feelings that had surfaced along with her succubus magic were new and she still wasn’t sure what to make of them.
