Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 13180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 66(@200wpm)___ 53(@250wpm)___ 44(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 66(@200wpm)___ 53(@250wpm)___ 44(@300wpm)
The excitement, he understood.
Now, he was about to go inside and meet the sorcerer his superiors had brought up often. A sorcerer they believed to be one of the oldest preternaturals in existence and one who possibly wielded more power than they were guessing. Xavier ran a protection service company, but he also delved into investigation and more. The people in Noel’s agency believed Xavier was responsible for stopping some of the more alarming preternaturals from doing damage. Hell, he’d even stopped a trafficking ring run by a human.
Xavier was powerful, but he wasn’t what Noel was nervous and excited about.
Because now, Xavier was digging into a stream of thefts Noel’s agency, Arcane Intelligence, was also trying to investigate, and from what Noel understood, Xavier’s IT guy was close to figuring out who was behind it.
That IT guy was Daniel Ravenwood.
It had been five years since he’d spent the best weekend of his life with Daniel Ravenwood. A weekend where he’d broken every company rule for the first time in his life.
But he’d been unable to resist the very pretty banshee. At his first sight of that lean body, regal face, and interested smile, he’d been hooked. He’d known what Daniel was right away from the clawed fingers and the lack of white in his eyes. Noel saw through the magical glamours that preternaturals used to help them blend into the human world. It was that ability that had led him to join a government agency that tried to police what went on in the preternatural world. Emphasis on the word tried, because when it came to magic, anything was possible. And he thrived on that knowledge. It made his job always interesting.
Which was why his superiors had been shocked when he’d told them this was his last job. He was ready to do something else with his life. He had no idea what just yet, but he’d grown tired of the constant traveling, and at forty-five, he was ready to settle down with someone.
He was hoping that someone was Daniel.
So yes, he was excited to see him, but the nerves were also very real. He’d lied to Daniel, giving him a fake name. Then he’d gotten up in the middle of the night and disappeared, after three days of mind-blowing sex, intense beyond anything Noel had experienced. And their time together had gone so much further than sex. Real intimacy had happened. They had shared stories of their lives, their hopes and dreams. Noel had felt a connection deeper than anything he could have imagined, and he wanted that back.
So he’d spent the last two days in Seattle looking around for a place to live. He’d actually flown in early for that very reason. He hadn’t found one; he was just too wired with both worry and anticipation of seeing Daniel again to give any place the perusal needed. He’d ended up spending a lot of those two days pacing in his hotel room.
And now it was happening.
Daniel Ravenwood was right now inside that building, and Noel had no idea what his reception was going to be like.
He could only hope the banshee would be happy to see Noel. After…or rather if…he got past the lie.
Stepping out of the car, Noel strode into the building. Because he’d been able to see through glamours his entire life, he easily kept his features schooled as he saw demons, an ogre, elves, and more. There was a receptionist at the front who directed him to the third floor, where the main offices of Protective Solutions were. It seemed a lot of the employees hung around the first floor as well.
Once on the third floor, he couldn’t help but look for that head of silky, black hair as he passed between cubicles on his way to the office, which was up a short flight of stairs. But he didn’t spot Daniel, and disappointment filled him.
He knocked next to the open door, and Xavier looked up from his desk before he stood. It was surreal to be looking at the sorcerer who caused so much speculation at his own office. And as Noel walked into the room, he felt a wave of powerful magic.
Yeah, they might have estimated the age and power of Xavier, but none of their guesses were even close. Noel had always been able to sense the approximate age of preternaturals, but where this one was concerned, he had absolutely no idea. Old was all he knew. Very, very old.
Though he didn’t look it, and in fact looked younger than Noel by about ten years. If he hadn’t had his experience with preternaturals, Noel would have guessed him to be about thirty-five. He was also very attractive, though still nowhere as pretty as the banshee Noel hoped to see.
He held out his hand. “I’m Noel Banner. Thanks so much for meeting with me.”