Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
She was the one who’d given him his first camera after warning him that even if he tried to capture images of preternaturals, they wouldn’t show up in the pictures. That their glamours worked that way. He’d tried, though. And each time, he’d been disappointed that the things he saw didn’t translate to film. So he’d gone back to photographing humans and other inanimate objects.
Would he even find that same joy in the process now? Or had Brian finally finished what his parents had started and killed what was left of his idealistic side?
He knew the answer to that.
Yes.
Ezra sat on the bed in the massive bedroom they’d given him, scooted until his back was to the headboard, and just stared at the small nook off the room.
Ezra is a spoiled rich boy without ambition or focus.
Alaric was right. Ezra didn’t really have anything of substance left in him. He’d spent the months since leaving Brian just going through the motions. He planned to go to school, but for what? It wasn’t like he needed more education to run those charities. It had just been something to do, and they pretty much ran themselves.
A feeling of stark emptiness made his body go cold.
Truth was, he had no purpose. Had nothing but money.
And he was pretty sure he now, also, had no heart.
Chapter Nine
Alaric
Alaric heard someone in the kitchen, and since he knew both Bain and Finn were outside, it had to be Ezra, who’d been unnaturally quiet after he’d watched Alaric doing yoga that morning.
He walked into the kitchen to find Ezra with an open bottle of whiskey and a glass on the island counter.
“Want some?” Ezra asked as he lifted the tumbler and guzzled half its contents.
“No.”
“So stoic,” Ezra muttered half under his breath as he glared at Alaric. “Always on the job.”
“One would think you’d like that. Appreciate it because I’m keeping you safe.”
Ezra licked his lips then took another swallow of whiskey. “How are you going to keep me safe if more of those elementals show up?”
Just how much liquor had Ezra had? His cheeks were flushed, eyes half-lidded, and his pupils were blown. Alaric felt a stab of concern at what had brought this on, though having a two-million-dollar hit out on a person would probably be enough. Was fear making him hit the bottle?
“What? No answer?” Ezra slurred the questions.
“Like I told you, this house is warded—they can’t get inside. And Finn stayed because he’s able to find them easier than we can.”
Ezra ran his finger through the drops of condensation on the counter. “Did you know I have only one friend? His name is Corbin. He’s the best. Puts up with so much.” He wiped his fingers on a hand towel, then picked his glass back up. “You said Finn is a jinn and Bain is a… basilisk? So Bain turns into a snake? That’s wild.”
Sheesh, the alcohol had Ezra’s brain bopping all over the place. “Part snake, part man. He’s actually quite a beautiful creature both ways.”
“Ever hit that?”
And Ezra was back in asshole mode. Good to know. Though Alaric did wonder what set him off. “No. Bain has always been just a friend. Like your Corbin.”
“How do you know we haven’t banged?”
“Suppose I don’t. It was just a guess.”
Ezra snorted. “You’re right. We never did. Corbin goes after big guys. The bigger, the better. He has this need to feel… Doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t be talking about his private business. It’s amazing he’s stuck around me as long as he has. No one else does.”
Alaric studied Ezra’s red cheeks and the half snarl on his lips for several moments before asking, “Have you ever considered that you purposely push people away?”
“Better that than to let them get close only to disappoint me.” He glared into the dregs of his glass. “Two whiskeys, and my tongue gets loose.” He swallowed the last bit and quickly poured another glass. All the way to the top.
So technically, he’d had more than two…
Alaric bit his tongue, not really wanting his client blackout drunk should something come here. He trusted the wards, but chaos could still happen. But the tense set of Ezra’s entire slim body told him nothing he could say would matter.
“Do you know that my father absolutely hated me?” These words were even more slurred than the ones before. “Hated my guts. Always did. I have no memories of him ever feeling differently—not even when I was small and still cute.”
Ezra could still be cute—if he kept his mouth shut. But Alaric didn’t tell him that.
“With Ezekiel, he was different.” Ezra swirled the amber liquid around, seeming almost mesmerized by it. “It’s not like he hugged my brother, either. Neither of my parents were physically demonstrative. But he was…nicer to him, and Ezekiel could do no wrong when it came to Mom.”