Read Online Magick Marked (The DarqRealm Series) by Chauntelle Baughman - Free Book Online Page B

to her questions was if she played nicely. She lowered herself slowly into the seat, set her purse in her lap then crossed one leg over the other. “Mind telling me why you felt you needed to blind me with magick?”
    “Sorry about that.” Lanky shrugged a shoulder. “It was for our own protection.”
    She arched a brow. Talk about paranoid. “Did I threaten you?”
    Lanky set a gun on the center of the table. Her gun. The one that was supposed to be in her purse. Unease crawled up her spine as she eyed her favorite hand piece.
    “Actually, yes.” He leaned back in his chair. “Do you usually stow a firearm in your bag when you need someone’s help?”
    First these men had their magick, and now they had her only weapon? A quick glance around the room told her this had to be some sort of magickal holding cell. There was no door or window in sight, which left zero options for exiting the room. This was going from bad to worse.
    She snorted and tried to play off the mounting discomfort. “I always carry. Doesn’t matter if it’s in my house or in a bar. That,” she pointed to the gun, “is always on me.” She reached her hand across the table, but the tall gentleman got there first.
    He slid the gun toward himself, but left it on the table. “Not so fast. You can have this back when we’re done with our conversation.” He slid his fingers along the barrel. “Until then, it stays right here.”
    Damn. Hopefully she wouldn’t need it. “Fine. As long as you help me.”
    “Deal.” The man smiled and offered a short nod. “Now, explain to me why a vampire would come into a bar, seeking the assistance of two fae men she doesn’t know, regarding magick she knows nothing about?”
    Rho willed herself to remain calm. Maybe she was overreacting. Aside from a little impairment, they hadn’t physically hurt her yet. They could have truly feared for their safety. She was a vampire, after all.
    She smiled back at him, resolving to keep her emotions in check. “You’ve answered your own question, haven’t you?”
    He tilted his head.
    “I know nothing about old magick,” she continued. “That’s why I sought you out.”
    “Why us?” he asked.
    She shrugged. “Referral from a friend.”
    “Who?”
    “Sorry.” She shook her head. “My sources are anonymous.”
    Pudgy gave Lanky a sidelong glance.
    Lanky rapped his fingers against the table. “Tell me, vampire. Why do you need to know about old magick?”
    Rho leaned forward, resting one arm on the table and the other on her purse. Now or never. “Why would someone protect something with old magick? What’s so special about it?”
    “That’s all you want to know? That’s easy.” Lanky shrugged a shoulder. “It’s stronger than new magick. Spells become stronger with age.”
    “All spells?”
    “Not all, but most. I’d have to know what spell you’re speaking of to know for certain,” lanky answered.
    Crap. She really didn’t want to give him any more details than she had to, but she couldn’t exactly expect him to help her without at least a little information. “It was a protection spell. A friend of mine—a magick mover—performed a spell for me to help protect some… family assets. Someone broke in and stole them, and I’m trying to figure out how that’s possible.”
    “And you assume the vandal used old magick?”
    “You tell me.” Of course she suspected it, but she had no way of knowing. Her knowledge of magick spells was limited, at best.
    “What type of protection spells did your friend use?” lanky asked.
    “Strong ones.”
    “Which ones, specifically?”
    No way could she tell him that. As far as she knew, the pool of Dwellers with the ability to pull those spells off was tiny. Any hints would give away her resource immediately, and she couldn’t put Eldon in that position. “That’s irrelevant. I just need to know whether or not old magick can break strong protection spells.”
    Lanky leaned forward in his seat,