Seized: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 4) Read Free

brown Jersey shore hair behind her ear nervously and tried to maintain her smile.
    “Um, right this way, sir,” she said, scrunching her nose and looking around the nearly empty diner. Besides us and the hostess, there were only four other people here. They sat in a huge booth in back, and while I couldn’t tell what they were saying, I got the impression most of their banter was nervous chit chat. If I had to guess, that was who we were going to meet and not just because it seemed like the perfect setup to an introduction.
    “I didn’t know places like these required reservations,” I said, glancing at the demon.
    “You need to make a reservation when you rent the entire place out,” Vassago whispered to me before stepping around the podium and holding his elbow out to the hostess. “Shall we?”
    The hostess looked at him dubiously before carefully taking Vassago’s arm. I wasn’t quite sure why she was going along with it since her eyes were a mass of confusion, but then again, if Vassago had rented out the entire diner, maybe she was expecting a big tip? Then again, it could have just been because the manager had told her not to piss off the guy who had rented out the entire place during lunch hour.
    I followed along behind them until we were nearly to the table, at which point Vassago disengaged himself from the girl and smacked her on the butt. “That will be all dear.” He waved her away, and without a word, she spun on her heel and walked back toward the front door like nothing had happened. She flipped the “open” sign to “closed” before moving back to her podium and staring at the door like she still expected more customers.
    “Okay, that was weird,” said a strangely familiar female voice from the table. While I couldn’t recall ever having met her before, everything from her chocolate skin to her blonde dreadlocks and pixie nose made me think I had. “You promised you weren’t going to be weird.”
    “I did no such thing. I never make promises I can’t keep,” Vassago said, flashing his car salesman smile. I glanced from him to her, and as our eyes made contact, recognition flashed across her dark features. Did she know me? Had we met before I’d lost my memories? I’d have to find out.
    “You really found him,” she said, leaping to her feet so quickly her chair screeched on the tile. The next thing I knew, she had her lithe arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. “I never thought I’d see you again after Afghanistan, and from the look of surprise on your face, I’m guessing the feeling is mutual.” Something dark and ominous swam through her eyes as she pulled back a half-step and looked me over.
    A bad feeling seeped into my bones. She did know me, or at least, she had known me, and the me she had known had definitely done something to her. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but knowing what I did about my former self, I was betting it had been bad. Very, very bad.
    “I see you’ve met Jenna before,” Vassago said, his lips curling into a cruel smile. “Care to tell us how you two met?” He raised an eyebrow as if to say “I know so much more about you than you could ever dream.”
    “We met in Afghanistan,” Jenna said, her eyes filling with warmth until her darkness was completely hidden under a mask of cheerfulness. “I doubt he’d have forgotten our last night together either.” A smile crossed her lips. “But then again, Mac’s never been the type to kiss and tell, have you?”
    She wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me close to her body. It worked because she was about as tall as I was. It was so familiar it threw me off, and not just because I didn’t remember her. No, it was because for all I knew, Afghanistan had been last week. I mean I could only remember the last few days. The thought was scary because if that was true, she and I were going to have to have a very uncomfortable talk about my new girlfriend. That seemed