Read Online Simply Irresistible by Kristine Grayson - Free Book Online Page B

Apparently he had enemies out there he wasn’t even aware of.
    “Who mentioned that my name might be different?”
    She blinked, and he got the sense of real pain wafting off her. Normally he would have insisted that she sit down, but he was unnerved by the changes.
    “Well, this is where it gets strange,” she said. “This morning, three women appeared at my apartment, claiming they were in trouble. They say their names are Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and they call themselves the Fates. It gets weirder than that. Are you sure you want to hear about it?”
    He wasn’t sure. But he remembered that dream, and the feeling of foreboding it had given him. Were the Fates warning him? That would make more sense than anything this Vivian was telling him.
    He couldn’t believe the Fates had come to her place. They never left their judicial court and quarters. Often they changed the look of the quarters. In fact, whenever he’d been there, it had never looked the same.
    “What’s really going on?” Dex asked.
    Vivian shrugged. “I don’t entirely understand it. They say they’re in trouble and they need your help.”
    A surge of anger ran through him. They did this to test him. If they pleaded trouble, then they could see if he would rush to their rescue. Of course, they were involving a mortal. Well, technically, she wasn’t a mortal, but she hadn’t come into her magic yet. Which made it all the more likely that this was a Fate trick. They didn’t like people who interfered with mortal lives.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve never heard of these women and I don’t know why they think I can help them.”
    “Why do you lie?” Vivian asked.
    His gaze met hers. The pain in her eyes seemed unbearable. Before he even thought it through, he hurried around the counter and put his arms around her. She was soft, and tinier than he had expected. She leaned against him, almost as if she was having trouble standing up. He helped her to his chair, which was the only one in the front of the store.
    “Should I call a doctor?” he asked.
    She was vibrating with pain. The muscles in her shoulders were taut.
    “No,” she said. “No, really. I’m all right. This’ll pass.”
    Then he realized what was going on. He should have realized it when he saw all that power sparking off her. “You’re psychic.”
    She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
    He hadn’t expected that response. “Sorry? Why?”
    “I didn’t mean to cause trouble or to call you a liar. It’s just that these women seem so desperate, and they told me to come here. You know who they are, right?”
    No sense lying any longer. She would see through it all. “Yes.”
    “So they are magical?”
    “Yes.”
    “And so are you.” It wasn’t a question. She was getting a sense of him. “You also believe that they’re lying so that they can hurt you.”
    “Yes,” he said, feeling inadequate.
    “Why would they want to hurt you?”
    He shrugged.
    “Because they’re bored?” She opened her eyes. “Are people in your world that cruel? No. They’re crueler.”
    He was answering her questions without even speaking. He hadn’t ever been around anyone with this much psychic ability. Or perhaps he was broadcasting his thoughts. He was upset, and that could cause broadcasting. And he found her so incredibly attractive that he could be forcing a connection where there wasn’t one.
    He hoped she hadn’t caught that last thought. “Can I get you something for your headache?”
    “No,” she said. “I already took something. It’ll get better. They always do. Why would they hurt you?”
    It took him a moment to deal with the transition. They no longer meant headache. They meant the Fates.
    “I’ll deal with them,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
    He went to the front door of the shop and locked it, turning the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Then he scooped up Marco Polo, who had followed him, placed the kitten on Vivian’s lap, and walked to the