Read Online Crescent Moon by Delilah Devlin - Free Book Online

might
consider him such.”
    “This some black magic hoodoo?”
    “This is magic. Black, I cannot say.” She drew a deep breath
and turned her face away. “So many people …” Her gaze was snagged again by
tourists walking down sidewalks, cameras clicking, and shop owners calling from
doorways to interest them in their wares.
    “It’s the city. My city,” Juste said, and then turned down
Canal, heading into the French Quarter and his row apartment in a redone string
of servant’s quarters attached to an old mansion. As he pulled into his
courtyard parking space, he wondered how he’d manage to get her inside without
one of his nosy neighbors glancing out. He liked keeping his business private.
And she was strictly business, even if he’d decided he wanted to keep her off
the official books.
    With one last look at the area, he cut the engine. “Let me
come around the car.”
    She glanced at the door, at the handle, and then gave a
vague nod. “The picture is in my mind, but I am not entirely sure …”
    As he walked briskly around, Juste shook his head. She was
nuts. Certifiable. Wasn’t that his luck? He’d always picked women who needed
something. Money, attention, sex. This one needed a keeper.
    He glanced around the parking lot. The sun was setting
behind the building and the trees. Mosquitoes were buzzing. She’d have bites in
interesting places if he didn’t get her inside quick.
    He opened the passenger-side door and held out his hand. She
stared at it for a second, and then took a deep breath and placed hers inside
for him to grip gently as he tugged her up.
    At the contact, Juste felt his breath hitch. Time slowed.
The air grew still.
    Her eyes widened as her gaze trailed from his hand, up his
arm, to his face.
    Abruptly, he let her go and shrugged. Just a weird kind of
day. Not a sign. He ignored the voice of his grand-mère , harping in his
ear about listening to the silence. With cars whizzing by outside the little
courtyard, and distant honks and shouts, he couldn’t hear any damn silence,
much less one that would bring him answers if he stood still and listened. “The
jacket’s open again,” he gritted out.
    Her free hand was wrapped around the plastic bag he’d found
to hold the wrappings and the amulets she’d gathered from the crate. He didn’t
know a woman alive who wouldn’t have been more concerned about the amount of
skin she showed.
    But one corner of her mouth curled.
    He narrowed his eyes, wondering if she’d known her nudity
bothered him all along and was messing with him now. “Uh, you’re flashin’
again.”
    She glanced down at her exposed décolletage. “I’m sorry for
my immodesty.”
    “I’ll find somethin’ you won’t have to think about to keep
covered,” he muttered. “Once I get you inside.”
    Her gaze widened a bit. “I guess I hadn’t thought much about
our destination. Not with everything out there.” She glanced toward the noisy
street outside.
    He reached into his back pocket, pulled out the leather
folder, and flipped it open to show his badge. “Promise, I’m one o’ the good
guys. I didn’t think you wanted to go to the station. There’d be more people
drillin’ you for answers.”
    “Police station?” she asked. At his nod, she dipped her chin
as well. “I wish my presence to remain unnoted.” Her lips twitched. “Not that I
would be in your system.”
    “You an illegal?”
    Her chin lifted. “I am an ancient.”
    More cult talk, no doubt. Cryptic, but not yet annoying. He
placed a hand at the small of her back, ignoring her gasp, and herded her
toward his door. Once inside, he hit the light switch, realizing this was the
first time he cared that his place was sparsely furnished, not a single picture
on the walls or a cozy rug on the old wood floors. But it was clean. He had a
cleaning lady come in every week because he missed things, like pizza boxes
shoved under the couch.
    He gripped her shoulders and waited for her to quit