Steeped in magical talent but cursed by a prophecy, Dark Arthur would much rather fix up old houses than enter the melee between good and evil in the realm of wizardry. Too bad Fate had other ideas when he steps into the small town bookstore to collect an ancient spell book. He finds a woman who not only possesses remarkable gifts, but also brightens his life with her presence. Protecting her from evil wizards would be difficult enough, but an easy task compared to guarding his heart.
Destiny Jones’s life has been a roller coaster of late, after taking over her late, great aunt’s bookstore. A mystical customer shows up to collect a previously purchased book and Destiny knows he’s trouble. The extent of her magical experience includes rumors of low-wattage witches in the family, unless one cares to include her ability to hold two-sided conversations with her cat. Now, she finds herself reading runes in ancient spells and facing dark wizards in her spare time.
Dark and Destiny must join forces to overcome the evil sent their way. As the danger increases, so do their feelings for each other. But, in the end, will it be enough?
“Okay. So back to the problem at hand. There’s no place to secure the books?” She added detergent, turned a knob, and hit the start button before returning to the living room.
He glanced her direction from the table. “No.”
She frowned. “Then why was ‘find the books and hide them in a safe spot for generations’ on the docket as a possible plan?”
He shrugged. “It was the easiest fix.”
“With them staying at my house?” Her voice rose in pitch at the end of the sentence.
“No one found them here so far.”
“Yeah, but that was before first Kooky and then Bad-tempered Demon showed up.”
Dark smirked.
“So, what do we do now?” She sat down at the table opposite him.
He gestured toward the books on the table. “I want to go through these, find useful spells, and add them to my repertoire. You can help by reading the runes. We can cross reference the symbols with this other book. If all else fails, there’s the internet.”
“Okay. Now what about visiting the tomb of the evil wizard master?”
“Tomb is a bit ... misconstrued in this case. Not too far away, one of the older guys runs an establishment. He’s in-the-know and might provide a little insight for the right price.”
“Dare I ask, what that price might be and please tell me it’s not dropping someone in a volcano or offering them a tasty snack of fresh human blood.”
Dark scowled. “Where do you come up with this nonsense?”
“Lots of late nights with very little selections on television, obviously.” She waved her hand. “So, tell already. What’s the price?”
“A fairly expensive bottle of cognac should do it.” He gave a slight nod.
“What do you consider fairly expensive?”
“Not enough to break the bank, but enough to make this a once in a year thing.”
The numbers revolved around in her head. “Like a vacation?” Her mouth fell open. “A bottle of liquor costs as much as a yearly vacation to…well, somewhere?” She shook her head. “For that price, he should not only spill all the beans, but dry clean your clothes, take you out to eat several times, and buy you a lifetime subscription to Wizards Quarterly.”
He smiled wide enough to flash straight white teeth. “You should tell him that.”
“What? Me? Why me? I was going to stay home and do the homework assignment.” She gestured to the books.
He learned a little closer and whispered, “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
She frowned. “Oh no. No. No. No. I have a business to run. I have a life.” Well, not much of one, but it sounded good.
“Are you forgetting there’s two evil wizards out there who’d like to get their hands on you? One of them blew up your car.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Well, when you put it that way ...” She sighed heavily. “My life was so easy and predictable a few days ago. Now I’m stuck in the middle of wizard posturing and muscle flexing and my precious car seemed to be the ante for the ridiculous game. I want a refund. A do-over.”
“Sorry, time travel isn’t one of my abilities.” He stared at her for a long moment. “What happened to the kick-butt woman that was just here?”
“She decided she wanted to live,” Destiny fired back.
