“So, what’s your name?” I sit straight in my chair, hoping I don’t look too intoxicated.
Which I am, of course. Probably a good idea to lay off the alcohol for a bit.
“Syd.” Her phone buzzes, and she picks it back up.
Her nails are painted different colors and designs. A small black star is tattooed on the knuckle of her ring finger. Wonder if she would let me play scavenger hunt for the rest of the ink on her body. I promise to be thorough.
She frowns at her phone.
“Stood up?”
“Yeah. Hey, look, I’m gonna go pay for my drink and head out.” She reaches down for her purse as she stands.
I sit forward. “Why? Where you gonna go?”
She shrugs one shoulder, her gaze scanning the bar and her frown deepening. “A club, probably.”
“People still go to those?” I shake my head.
She lowers her gaze to me. “Well, people who can’t stand all the excitement here, I guess.”
I laugh. “Okay, fair enough. Finish your coke first?”
She glances at her drink, then settles into her chair again.
“I’m Dimitri.” I lean back and continue to ignore my drink. “And, for the record, I rarely come here. Just glad someone else who doesn’t have great-grandchildren found their way to this crap hole.”
Her expression and shoulders relax. She takes a drink. “Dimitri. That’s Russian, right?”
“Nah, Greek. I think.”
“You’re Greek?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” I give in and chug my rum and coke.
“Ah, well, my family is Irish and some Arabic,” she says.
Comparing ancestry reports is not what I have in mind.
She continues. “So, what do you do for a living?”
“Private armed security,” I say. My usual ansawer. It’s not entirely dishonest, and it also helps explain my arsenal if a woman happens to see it between the front door and bedroom. I try to guide the conversation back in the right direction. “You live in Phoenix or just passing through?”
“Live here,” she says.
Damn. Tourists are easier to convince into a wild night.
She glances at her phone and frowns again. She isn’t impressed with me whatsoever. I probably should just let her go, but I only have twenty-four hours to catch and release.
And now parts of me are riled up. I really would like to find the rest of her tattoos.
Might as well go all-in.
“Yeah, I live here too,” I say, “and I think it’s very important to know thy neighbor.”
She sizes me up. “Don’t you mean, ‘love thy neighbor’?”
I smile at her. “I’m willing if you are.”
Her eyes glint as she leans forward. “Oh, thank god. I thought we were going to talk about our family history all night or some shit.”
And just like that, it is time to go tattoo hunting.
Twenty-three year old Dimitri has to do what he is told—literally. Controlled by a paranormal bond, he is forced to use his wits to fulfill unlimited deadly wishes made by multimillionaire Karl Walker.
Dimitri has no idea how his family line became trapped in the genie bond. He just knows resisting has never ended well. When he meets Syd—assertive, sexy, intelligent Syd—he becomes determined to make her his own. Except Karl has ensured Dimitri can’t tell anyone about the bond, and Syd isn’t the type to tolerate secrets.
Then Karl starts sending him away on back-to-back wishes. Unable to balance love and lies, Dimitri sets out to uncover Karl’s ultimate plan and put it to an end. But doing so forces him to confront the one wish he never saw coming—the wish that will destroy him.
Summoned is represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA.
Find out more at http://www.summonedtheseries.com
Author Bio
Rainy Kaye is an aspiring overlord. In the mean time, she blogs at <a href=http://www.rainyofthedark.com>RainyoftheDark.com</a> and writes paranormal novels from her lair somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona. When not plotting world domination, she enjoys getting lost around the globe, studying music so she can sing along with symphonic metal bands, and becoming distracted by Twitter (@rainyofthedark).
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Cover Design: Kris Wagner https://www.facebook.com/digitalgunman
Model: Adam Jakubowski https://www.facebook.com/LadyJakubowsky
Photographer: Marcin Rychły https://www.facebook.com/karrdepl
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