Cassia woke up the same way she’d fallen asleep, with a glass of wine in her hand. Its contents purpled the sofa and her cluttered, banging brain scrambled for an appropriate spell to clean it up.
She managed to fade it a decent maroon, then gave up and jumped in the shower. Despite keeping the bathroom door open and hearing nothing, she still checked her phone the second she got out.
No voicemails.
She checked her phone before she got dressed, after she got dressed, before her grocery run and after she dropped the bags on the counter.
No missed calls.
She tried not to let it bother her. The rational part of her brain reminded her that she didn’t need or want a man who couldn’t be bothered to call. Her nerves were short for ‘sometimey’ people. She needed a man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to get it. Apparently, that wasn’t Faruq.
She ought to be ashamed of herself, getting so hung up on him.
Had he really thought she had another date set up, though? Not that it mattered.
It didn’t.
Really.
...but...
No. It did not matter. Either a man called or he didn’t. She wasn’t going to wait around for some stupid three-day rule. She was a grown woman, with no time for silly games. More than that, she was a professional and didn’t let himself keep her from her job. Especially this one.
She had a late lunch, finished changing out and rushed to her first appointment of the day.
Lyons was a wealthy shifter who didn’t need to get in any more hours at the gym. With a super charged metabolism, the man could do far more without her assistance. Cassia knew exactly what he was trying to get inside of. Her.
So what? New ways of brushing him off was part of her joy. He seemed to be just as into discovering ways to make her blush. The man paid too much for it, but she enjoyed the banter and the payout. Besides, he sent her new clients, human, Magical, and always rich.
“You’re distracted, Cassia. I pay you to fawn over me.”
“No, I’m not. Go do another two laps around the block.”
“Who is he?”
“None of your business.”
“I’ve been replaced.”
“You were never in place, Lyons. Make that four laps. Move.”
The man shook his blond mane loose from its ponytail and flexed his pecs. “I’ve been throwing this at you for months. I get nothing. Now I smell some new guy on you, and his spunk, and you’re shirking on the job.”
“I didn’t sleep with him.”
Lyons made a huge show of sniffing, wrinkling his nose and closing his eyes. “I’ve never known you to be a liar.”
“I’m not and I took a bath!”
“I’m confused and even more, I’m heartbroken.”
“I found you underneath a pile of four women this afternoon.”
“We all have our coping mechanisms. Look, since I’ve well and firmly been friend-zoned, allow me to give you some advice.”
“I’ll bite.”
“Exactly. Do that. Bite him. Hit it. Go for it. Live. That’s my advice.” Then Lyons jetted off, only to finish the first lap before she registered what he’d said.
Go for it. She could. Should. Can’t. Mustn’t.
“Why not?”
“Huh?”
Lyons did another lap before answering. “I can read it all over your face, little witch. Why don’t you sit on my lap and tell me what happened.”
She did. Standing. Lyons nodded throughout the whole story, twisting his face here and rolling his eyes there. He lounged against a tree, at once feline and serpentine, as though his whole being melted into its roots.
“Well?”
He took a deep breath and threw an arm over her shoulder. “You come to me with some man’s juice on you, but you didn’t have sex. He kisses you like you’re the last thing on the planet, but the next second he acts as if he’s terrified of you. Are you sure he’s not a shifter of some sort?”
“Positive. Why? You’re suggesting it’s love at first sight.”
“No. That doesn’t exist, but I’ve seen shifters act that way when they find their mates. But since he’s not a shifter...”
“Djinn.”
Lyons snorted and dropped a kiss on her forehead. His lips hovered over her ear. “As far as that goes, it’s the same thing.”
“He would have told me that.”
“You’re out of your friggin’ mind. Dude’s spazzing. He just had his whole world turn on its side. A man’s gotta take some time to digest that. Sounds like he jumped the gun. About that, can you describe the dry humping in further detail?”
“No.”
“Shame. Anyway, those things live forever. Think about it, Cassia. If he’s been alone for centuries, he’s gonna have some adjustment issues. Isn’t your brother-in-law one of them? Ask him.”
“Tig wouldn’t know.”
“Of course he would. Those genies—”
“Djinn.”
“You even sound like them. Look, those things put off some crazy pheromones when that happens. If you’re his mate, the other one would know. Have they met? That’s the trick. Get him to meet your—”
“They’re brothers.”
“Jesus. You wanna make out one last time?”
“It would be our first time and no.”
“You look pissed.”
“I’m not happy.”
She’d wished for what Dinah and Tig had more times than she could count. Had it actually happened? It couldn’t have! Somebody would have told her. She turned to Lyons, but the feline had already loped off, stopping only to give her a halfhearted wave from the corner.
She didn’t bother going home, it was in the wrong direction. Instead, she dug her sneakers into the gravel and took off for her sister’s sprawling estate. With every slammed footfall on the pavement, her fists tightened in rage. How dare they keep this from her? Who did they think they were, playing with her life like that? Inconsiderate asses – all of ‘em.
Tig met her at the door, smile blazoned across his face. Her fingers begged her to slap it off. “Cassia?”
“Is your brother here?”
“No. He got a room at—”
“Good. Don’t talk to me. Dinah? DINAH! Get your ass down here right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Didn’t I just tell you not to talk to me?”
“Yes and you said it in my own house. Before I throw you out, I’d like to know why.”
Dinah stood halfway down the stairs, arms crossed and eyes shooting from one to the other. “What has gotten into you two?”
“Your sister’s lost her mind. Coming into my house and telling me—”
“Am I Faruq’s hamdullah?”
Well that shut him up. The giant coward tried to duck out into the other room, but she knew just enough magic to slam the door in his face...or at least, kinda make it move a little. His sigh of defeat did little to soothe her mood.
“Sissy, calm down.”
“Forty-eight hours ago I had a normal life, right?”
“You’re a witch.”
“Don’t split hairs! Then I meet a djinn who faints and I’ve got a lion telling me I smell like Middle Eastern spunk.”
“Technically, Algerian—”
“Shut him up, Dinah.”
“Tig, please. And Cassia—”
“I don’t know what I’m more upset about. My own sister taking his side. Or—”
“I’m not taking sides.”
“Or that he hid this from me or that he thinks he can force me to love him.”
“Has he tried forcing you to do anything?”
“Yes. Yes...ish. Well...no.” In fact, he seemed to be doing just the opposite. Faruq had given her all the space she needed while perhaps carving out a little for himself. That, however, didn’t give him a pass for not explaining the situation. “No, he hasn’t.”
She shook Tig’s hand from her shoulder, totally done with Wahid brothers for the moment. But a man of his size didn’t leave unless he wanted to.
“I’m only going to say this one time, Cassia. My brother loved before. She wasn’t a life’s mate, but he thought she was. He’d have licked the horseshit from her riding boots if she asked. Human, titled and spoiled. It was a different time too. So different that he first had to convince her that race didn’t matter. Not an easy sell in those days, but money does wonders to loosen familial prejudices. A few months later, their engagement was announced in the papers. It caused quite the stir.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, now your voice shakes. Good. Well, he told her what he was.”
“And?”
“And they set him on fire.”
“No!”
“Not a single person wished it would stop. He suffered for hours, his body unable to die. We can only be killed with the weapons of other djinn, or very dark magic. Death would have been welcomed that day.”
Tears tumbled down Tig’s face and though Tig he soon turned toward the other direction, the heartbreak in his voice was impossible to ignore. Her stomach knotted in on itself. “I get it.”
“No. You’re going to stand there and listen to what they did to him. They had a fortune teller and a priest brought in to attend. Half sideshow, half sanctimonious bullshit. The latter scored his flesh with heated crucifixes. A shifter among the spectators took pity and got him down once the crowd broke for the night.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You don’t know everything? Perish the thought.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“You’ll forgive him if he doesn’t follow your cultural mores. I pray he never tells you this, but if he does, for the love of everything, don’t tell him I told you. I’m going for a walk.”
Tig didn’t stop when Dinah cried out to him. Instead, he waved over his head and stepped out the door. Her sister turned around, arms akimbo. “I never told you how hard it was for me to accept that I was his mate. It seemed so final. I always thought I’d find the right guy, date and get married. ”
“But you did.”
“Thank you. We, you and me, have the option of walking away anytime we want. They don’t and it scares the crap out of them. Whatever we decide, impacts them for the rest of their existence. They have everything to lose.”
“My pain doesn’t matter?”
“You’ll find someone else, Cassia. He can’t. If you’re his hamdullah, you are all he has. I don’t know why Faruq’s holding back. He’s got plenty of reasons to choose from. Fear, pain, take your pick. But if you want to leave, do it now.”
“But you don’t think I should?”
“I think you’re a grown woman and you need to start acting like it. He needs to man up too. Figure it out, but you’ve got that man’s soul in your hands. He’d probably let you kill him, if you asked him nicely.”
“Dinah—”
“I’m done. Now I’m going to find my husband. My cell is right there on the table. Use it. Don’t use it. I don’t care. One more thing. I love you, but don’t ever come in my house, yelling at my husband again. Shut the door on your way out.”