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

like a fucking blast.
    “You know how it is,” I said, letting a cheesy smile melt across my face. I didn’t remember anything about Afghanistan, but I was suddenly curious to find out. Something about her tone suggested we’d been very close, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but think I was getting played. There was definitely something off about the way she was acting. It was like forced closeness, making me think she wasn’t sure how to act around me anymore. If that was the case, something had definitely happened during our relationship. I just wished I knew what it was.
    Either way, it was probably best to play it cool. Who knew what she’d let slip if she thought we were reminiscing together. Maybe it’d be something that would help me put pieces of my fractured past back together. Then again, it seemed like I’d been a pretty horrible person in my past. Maybe I didn’t want to know. Maybe, just maybe, ignorance would be bliss.
    “So is it just me and her?” I stepped away from Jenna, creating some much needed space between us and turned toward Vitaly.
    It wasn’t that I was uncomfortable being so close to her, which was strange in and of itself, it was more that I had a girlfriend, or whatever it was you called being imprinted on by an alpha werewolf. Even if our feelings for each other had more to do with magic than anything else, I was reasonably sure if she found me in such close proximity to Jenna, she would probably rip my head off after beating the crap out of me.
    “No, there are two more. Well, two and a half,” Vassago said, glancing at his watch. “They’ll be here shortly. I, unfortunately, won’t be joining you. I have another appointment. Appearances and all that. Play nice, kids.”
    Before I, or Jenna, could protest, Vassago vanished in a plume of emerald smoke that left the smell of rotten eggs hanging in the air like low-hanging fruit.
    “Okay,” I said as Jenna slid into the booth and patted the seat next to her. “Do you have any idea what we’re supposed to be doing?”
    “Rescuing a kid,” Jenna said, grabbing a plastic menu off the table and looking it over. “I’m not the team lead. It’s some Russian guy. He’ll explain it to you when he gets here.” She shrugged. “For now, let’s eat. I’m starved.”
    “Yeah, okay,” I said, sitting down next to her in the booth. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Sure, I was new to the team, but Jenna obviously wasn’t. Still, something told me she knew a lot more than she was letting on. Then again, if the team lead was supposed to explain things, I supposed I could wait. After all, it seemed like she’d be going after the kids too, although she hadn’t used the plural. Odd.
    “So, Mac,” Jenna said, setting down the menu. “Where the fuck have you been for the last week or so?”
    I stopped, my hand still reaching out toward the menu with my left hand. “Oh, you know. Doing things.”
    Jenna stared at me for a moment, and as she opened her mouth to say something, the brunette hostess came over with a small pad in one well-manicured hand. “Are you ready to order?”
    “Yeah,” Jenna said, her eyes shifting seamlessly from me to the girl, and for a moment there was a trace of that darkness. “I’ll have a peach pie. The whole thing. Bring a big mound of ice cream with it, and some French fries.” She glanced at me. “You want the usual?”
    “Huh?” I asked, taken aback. I had a usual and she knew what it was? That seemed a little strange. Still, if this was a thing we normally did, it seemed like I should let her do it. “Yeah, sure.”
    “He’ll have a strawberry milkshake, extra whipped cream. A Bacon cheeseburger rare. And I mean that. You need to be able to chase it around the plate with a fork.” She glanced at the menu for a second, thinking. “Onion rings too. And bring two extra combo number ones. We’re expecting company.”
    “Okay,” the girl said, nodding at the pad before