“‘A win-win,’ huh?” She sized us up and did I see her eyes roam in places a woman who despised us would never let her eyes roam? I thought I did. Oh yeah. “Fine. We work together. I’m not interested in being your boss and telling you what to do, however tempting. That’s the way the magi work. We are a team if you insist on it.”
“A team,” Crush said. “I like it.”
I shrugged. “Sounds great to me.” I stuck my hand out, palm down. Crush put his hand on mine and then we both looked at Poppy.
“What?”
“Put your hand on.”
She looked like we’d asked her to touch something nasty … like Crush’s ball sack after a wrestle match in the lava by Jonto’s volcano.
“Go on, it’s tradition.”
“Not my tradition,” she groused, but she finally placed her hand on top of Crushs’s.
Together, we shouted ‘Teamwork!’ and tossed our hands in the air. She stared at us as if we were nutballs.
Maybe she was right.
I had a feeling I was going to love working with her.
I had a feeling she was going to keep us both on our toes and though it wasn’t on my boulder list, I mentally added one more thing—to see what it would be like to kiss Poppy Ballinger.
The End
Want more?
Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! Poppy’s first book—Captured Magic: part of the Magic, Mayhem, & Rebellion series—will be coming in March! Preorder now! You can also find out who Korri is and meet her demons by picking up the Curses, Charms, and Incantations series. Books 1 and 2 are out now! Check out the links below.
About the Author
Jen Ponce lives in the Panhandle of Nebraska with her boys, her animals, and a ridiculous number of books. She’s interested in everything magical, and she may have an unholy love for spiders.
Want to keep up to date on what’s happening in Jen’s world? Check out the links below.
Join Jen Online
www.JenniferPonce.com
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Read More of Jen’s Books
Curses, Charms, & Incantations (Reverse Harem)
Corpse Curses: Book 1
Caustic Charms: Book 2
Magic, Mayhem, & Rebellion (Reverse Harem
Captured Magic: Book 1
Raster City Series (Reverse Harem)
Raster City Rebel: Book 1
Raster City Rogues: Book 2
Raster City Rumble: Book 3
Devany Miller Series (Dark Urban Fantasy)
The Bazaar: Book 1
Slip Song: Book 2
Demon’s Cradle: Book 3
World Weaver: Book 4
Soul Hook: Book 5
Other books:
Blood Curse
Bug Queen
Burning the Devil
The Prison of Despair
The Vampire Prison Experiment Series
D.A. Stein
Chapter One
We raced across the dry desert earth—Virel appeared to be as exhausted as I was, his face haggard, arms and legs pumping. Who knew vampires didn’t have an endless energy reserve? I was so tired, my limbs leaden as I fell behind. He turned his head slightly as he yelled at me to keep going before he glanced forward again. Up ahead, a large outcropping appeared, looming large, and Virel sped faster as if he wasn’t tired, gesturing for me to hurry up. But it was almost like he was moving in slow motion as I slipped on the shifting sand. He disappeared from my sight as he circled around the mass of boulders. When I approached the outcropping, I heard a scream and then silence. Using the last bit of strength I had, I sped up to follow the path Virel had used, only to come upon…nothing.
Forcing my legs to stop, I leaned to rest my shoulder against a huge boulder that tipped out further than the others. I panted in exhaustion, and my chest hurt from my taxed lungs, unable to understand where Virel could have gone. That scream I’d heard had been one of fear and pain, so where could he be?
Pushing myself away from the mountain of stones with heavy burning legs, I clomped gracefully around, which took a few minutes considering how large this cluster of boulders was. How could he have disappeared so fast? And now I was alone in the desert of what had once been called Nevada.
Pivoting around in a circle trying to gather my bearings, I heard a sound in the distance: a pounding whomp-whomp noise I had never heard before, and it made me wary enough to try and hide. But there was nowhere for me to hide behind or under, only the huge outcropping of boulders. The desert was devoid of trees or life or even dead growth of any kind. I was trapped.
Glancing up at the sky, the brilliant and hot rays of sunlight beat down on me as I huddled under part of the rock formation that jutted out enough for me to crouch below, making myself as small a target as I could.
All I could do was wait while my heart pounded in my chest, the movements racing up my veins and into my head, making it thump in time with the beat of my heart. The whomp-whomp drew closer, and the temptation to stand up and look around was almost overwhelming, but I resisted, instead listening to my instincts that told me to delay.
Wait. Wait. Don’t look. Stay, I repeated this over and over in my mind, but the urge to look was almost irresistible and my nerves were edgy with tension. I sat back on my heels and tilted my head, my hearing on alert as the noises started to lessen and wind down.
Not being able to stand, quietly, I ducked under a stone overhang to creep on my hands and knees, tentatively poking my head out and immediately observing the huge metal creature sitting quiet and watching but unmoving. Was the metal creature sleeping?
As I stood, I listened for any kind of uproar or even a whisper from the metal beast, but its eyes remained fixed and glassy. Had it died upon landing?
Creeping forward, I tried to keep one eye on both, where I was going and
