Page 24 of Wicked Curses
The honey scent of her filled his nostrils as her hand brushed his. Unexpected warmth spread from his fingers as she stomped up the wooden steps to the massive arched door with the small pane of barred glass in the center of it.
Orin followed her up the stairs and toward the library as a pixie fluttered in front of the window. She flitted away, and a second later, an orc replaced her.
Orin was prepared for the emergence of the tall orc who opened the thick wooden door, but Sahira wasn’t. Her step faltered, and she almost stopped walking, but Orin nudged her forward.
Yes, it was rare to see an orc outside their realm and rarer to find one of the brutes running a library. Orin would bet his dick that such a thing had never happened before, and he truly enjoyed his dick.
Orcs were known for their destructive tendencies. They were as violent as they were ugly, and Gromuck was no exception to this rule.
At nearly seven feet tall, the female orc towered over most of those she met. She had a broad forehead and clawed hands and feet. Her sandals emphasized the bent and twisted angles of her toes.
Orcs are probably so pissy because their feet hurt all the time.He hated it when he got a pebble in his shoe, never mind one toe caught under another.
Gromuck, like all orcs, wore a simple scrap of cloth around her waist, and another piece crisscrossed her breasts. Every inch of her consisted of chiseled muscle, from her broad shoulders to her hideous toes. She had pointed ears, but the left one stood straight up while the right flopped over.
Her canary-yellow eyes narrowed on Sahira as Orin nudged her into the building. Like many orcs, Gromuck’s skin was green, but the flesh tone of orcs often varied between green and gray.
“Your new help has arrived,” Orin announced as they entered the library.
Gromuck grunted as she closed the door behind them. Her large feet thudded against the wooden floor and quaked the walls when she walked by them and toward the library’s main area. Like all female orcs, a single black braid dangled against her waist.
Orin didn’t follow her as Sahira remained planted in the entranceway. Unlike the rest of the library, this section was only a single story and didn’t reveal the enormity of the building beyond, but it did have a door to his left and one thing decorating its wooden walls.
“What is that?” Sahira asked as she pointed to the three-foot-tall symbol above the arched entrance to the library.
“No one knows,” Orin said.
“What do you mean,no one knows?”
“I’m not sure how else to say that so you can understand. Nobody in this realm understands what that symbol is or why it’s here. It’s also inallthe original buildings in town.”
“They’ve been there since the first vampire arrived, and then Belda arrived,” someone else said.
The witch from the log cabin strode out of the library and stopped beneath the arch. Her chestnut-brown eyes were questioning as she surveyed them, and her chocolate-brown hair had been braided and wrapped like a crown around her head. It emphasized her pretty features.
“I’m Elsa.” She glided forward and extended her hand to Sahira.
For a second, Sahira stared at the hand before clasping it. “Sahira.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Orin believed she might mean that, which made him suspicious of the woman. None of the witches and few of the warlocks were happy to have Sahira here.
“You too,” Sahira said.
“I’m Orin.”
The witch studied him briefly before shifting her attention back to Sahira. “I work here, too, and Gromuck asked me to show you around.”
“Okay,” Sahira murmured as she focused on the symbol again. “I didn’t see this at the pub.”
“That’s because it’s not as big or noticeable.” Orin stepped closer until his chest brushed her shoulder. “I’ll show it to you when we return.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
A shiver randown Sahira’s spine, but she didn’t know if it was because of that symbol and the knowledge that it was on every original building or if Orin’s close presence caused it. His breath had tickled her nape when he spoke, and as much as sheloathedthe man, that breath had warmed her insides in a way they shouldneverwarm around him.
Focused on the symbol and Elsa, she hadn’t realized he’d moved so close.Damn the dark fae and their affinity with the shadows.
