Lost in Magic (Night Shadows Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

waiting until she’d rounded the corner before pressing the button to close the doors. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said. Judgment radiated off the other woman in waves so thick he felt he might cough.
    “This isn’t a brothel, you know,” she said, adding a humpf! for good measure.
    Mick fought not to grin. “No it’s not,” he agreed. He wouldn’t meet a woman like Ali in some brothel—if there even were any left.
    After an awkward minute the elevator stopped on his floor and he quickly departed, calling a polite farewell to the woman on her way to the fourth floor. He made short work of the walk back to his room, his mind on Ali and wondering what she might be doing. He was barely in the door when he heard his damned phone go off. I should just turn it off. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Just on the off-chance one of the calls was important.
    “Yes?” he said by way of greeting.
    “Thare.” It was Doon again. “Where are you? I’ve been calling for over an hour!”
    Fighting back his sigh, Mick moved to sit on the sofa in the living space and propped his feet up on the coffee table. “I told you, I’m taking time off.” He wasn’t about to give specifics. If they knew he was on a boat in the Atlantic they might send Rhea.
    There was a stretch of silence on the other end where Mick imagined Doon was trying to compose himself. “Yes, you said that. But you know now’s a bad time. Why won’t you at least tell me where you are?”
    “Because I don’t want to come back just yet.” And he wasn’t going to be guilted into revealing his location, either.
    Doon made a sound verging on a sigh. “You don’t trust me.”
    Mick ground his teeth. “It’s not that,” he said. “I don’t trust the Council , of which you’re a part. I know time off is frowned upon, but dammit Doon, I work my ass off. I need a breather.”
    “I know you do,” Doon said. His tone was pacifying and he made no comment on Mick’s distrust of the Council. “That’s why we’ve come to rely on you so much. You’re one of the best earth witches we have in the field.”
    “Stop,” Mick interrupted. “Flattery’s not going to work. Like I said yesterday, I’ll call you.” He didn’t wait for Doon’s response before disconnecting the call. Way to kill my good mood. Now his pleasant thoughts of Allison were marred with unwanted thoughts of Doon and the Council and his damned job.
    A job he was less than enamored with anymore.
    “They’re not so bad,” Joe Pearce said, pushing to a sitting position on the bed. He was still pale and the vampire bite on his neck was still glaringly visible, but now that he’d eaten he seemed to have more energy. He even managed a smile. “Adam’s my friend. Werewolf or not, he’s a good guy. I’d officially be dead if he weren’t.”
    That whole incident had thrown him for a loop, right from the moment he’d woken up to find he’d been rescued by a werewolf. But not only had she easily convinced him of her pure spirit, she’d then introduced him to others. Other beings he was supposed to think of as monsters who, in reality, were more human than half the people he worked with. It was a hard concept to wrap his mind around after a lifetime of hearing about their inherent evil nature.
    Mick ran a hand through his hair and pushed to his feet. A hot shower would help him relax and clear his head.
    ****
    Ali was relieved not to have run into Warner again since the evening before. He was nice enough but she just got the impression he wasn’t going to ever take “no” for an answer. She supposed she could be wrong, but she would prefer to just not have to find out at all. She would much rather spend her time thinking about Mick and the brief kiss they’d shared in the elevator. Her face heated remembering the innocent old lady who’d caught them, knowing they must have looked ridiculous, making out at all in a public elevator. But all the same … she wanted the chance to