Chapter 13

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Ezra had slept terribly all night long. She had tossed and turned, a hunger in her belly for something she couldn’t have. Well, maybe she could, but only for three nights.

You are being ridiculous.Ezra didn’t have time to fantasize about the King of the Djinn or the way he kissed her. It was hard not to. Zahir was made of fantasies, and that was before she knew of the tongue piercing. She tried not to regret saying no to him the night before. It was the right thing to do. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t only physical. She was a student of magical history. Zahir had been there. He was magical history. The stories he could tell her, the magic he could show her... Ezra clamped down that train of thought.

Her rebellious nature always got her into trouble. It had made her leave Venice, and because of it, Judah was dead. It was better to keep her growing fascination with Zahir firmly in her spank bank and not let it out. It would only end in heartache anyway. Zahir would only be interested in her for as long as she worked for him. As soon as Zachariah and his colleagues were stopped, he would no doubt forget all about Ezra. She was getting too old to risk playing those kinds of games. She wouldn’t be someone who could share either. Zahir would have his harem, and she would end up resentful. No, it was better to let that sleeping dog lie.

It was lunchtime when Ezra woke again. She had seen the dawn and was feeling disorientated. She also registered that someone was banging on her front door.

"Who could that be?" Ezra grumbled and pulled on a kimono. Zachariah and the Cabal would just have charged in. She grabbed a pencil off a bookshelf and twisted her hair up into a knot.

Stumbling downstairs, Ezra opened the door just as the woman on the other side of it lifted her hand to knock again. She was blonde and pretty and vaguely familiar.

"Oh, good, you are home! I was beginning to worry when nobody was answering." The woman patted the brightly wrapped package she was carrying. "I have a delivery for you from Zahir Matani, along with a message. May I come in?"

Ezra scanned the square, making note of the men playing chess again and the woman selling jewelry. It would seem that they were being watched from all sides again. Did they ever sleep?

"Of course you can. I’m Ezra," she said and opened the door wider for her to come in.

"I’m Stella. It’s so good to meet you in the flesh. I’ve had the most amusing morning with Zahir. I never thought I would see him so out of sorts over a woman. Good to know that he’s capable of being flustered every now and again."

Ezra flushed at the mention of Zahir. She shut the door behind her and locked it. That was when she realized who she had let into her house.

"You aren’t Stella Aladoro, are you?" she asked, her voice coming out in more of a panicked squeak.

"I am. How did you know?" Stella replied.

Ezra huffed out a laugh. "My flat mate in Florence is an absolute sucker for gossip. He pointed your picture out in the paper when you married Domenico."

"I hated that article. My mother-in-law insisted on the wedding being listed in the society pages. That’s what happens when you marry into Swords royalty, I suppose." Stella let out a self-conscious laugh. "Don’t worry, Ezra. I am nowhere near royalty. I am as common as they come. I just happen to have special abilities that haven’t been seen in the Republic for a while. We are the same in that way."

Stella obviously knew more about what was happening with Ezra than she had thought.

"I take it Zahir has told you all about the bargain we have," Ezra said. She put on the hot water kettle and looked around for some coffee. Stella placed the wrapped packages on the kitchen table and joined her at the counter.

"He did. I am here to help you. Starting with, I will make coffee and you can go and get some clothes on. Sound good?"

Ezra laughed. "I don’t think you are giving me a choice. Are you?"

"No, I’m not. I think you need a friend, and I am here to be that friend."

"Why? Because Zahir told you to?" Ezra asked and crossed her arms. She didn’t need the Djinn King setting her up on play dates.

Stella shook her head. "No. It is because I know what it’s like to get caught up in a conspiracy involving the Varangians and people who want to sell out Venice to them. I am uniquely qualified to be your friend. Now go and get some clothes on, and we will have coffee and talk."

Ezra found herself nodding in agreement and heading back up to her bedroom. She wasn’t awake enough to argue with someone as forthright as Stella Aladoro.

Once she had washed off the remainder of last night’s makeup and dressed in clean clothes, Ezra went back downstairs to find her mysterious guest. Not that she didn’t think that Zahir had sent her, but she absolutely didn’t trust her. Ezra was a lot of things. Stupid wasn’t one of them.

Stella was sitting at the kitchen table with steaming cups of coffee. She pushed the wrapped package toward Ezra. "For you."

"What’s this?" Ezra asked.

Stella’s green eyes twinkled. "Little presents from your not-so-secret admirer."

Ezra didn’t know what to make of that, so she opened up the package. Inside was a beautiful journal covered with indigo leather and stamped with a design of a bird. A sparrow. Ezra ran her fingers over it, her cheeks burning.

There was also an expensive fountain pen and violet colored ink. They were both stamped with the Vianello Publishing House’s logo.

"These are lovely. Thank you so much," Ezra said and flipped through the thick paper.

"Thank Zahir. He picked them out for you this morning. They have another unique feature." Stella took the journal and opened the first page where a sigil had been drawn in silver paint. "This is a new messaging book that I have been designing. Anything you write in it, Zahir can read in his own journal. He thought it would be a safer way for you two to talk to each other, rather than risk his spies by approaching them directly. Why don’t you try it out?"

Ezra uncapped the fountain pen and turned to a fresh page. Thank you for your gifts. I like Stella, she wrote.

Stella read over her shoulder and said, "I like you too."

Ezra was drinking her coffee when dark red writing rose on the page underneath her script: You’re welcome. Don’t believe anything bad she says about me.

Stella snorted. "You should believe everything I say about him. Including that he was very mopey that you didn’t spend last night with him."

Ezra choked on her coffee. "He told you about that?"

"I believe he was trying to ask for my advice about it. I don’t think he’s actually been rejected for a long time and was struggling with how to deal with it. Fucking amusing to watch. I didn’t think he even knew how to be awkward." Stella went and sat down again. She gave Ezra an expectant look. "Now, I want to hear your side of the story."

"I bet you do, but I don’t know if I trust you enough. You have just walked into my house. You are acting like we are best friends, but I don’t even know you," Ezra said and shut the journal.

Instead of being offended, Stella tilted back her head and let out a cackle of delighted laughter. "I am too old to play around anymore. I have decided that we are going to be friends, and that’s that. I think it’s easier just to be direct about it as opposed to trying to convince you. I can help you navigate this world that you are now stuck in."

"No offense, but a socialite princess can’t help me with much."

Stella’s eyes flashed with tiny bolts of lightning. "Oh, honey, I’m not a socialite princess. I’m a Raven."

Ice cold terror dumped down Ezra’s spine. The Ravens were the secret network of spies that reported to the Grand Sorcerer himself. They never revealed their identity to anyone unless they were about to kill or arrest them.

"A Raven!" Ezra managed to squeak out. She was so fucking fucked.

"Take a breath. You’re not in trouble with us," Stella reassured her. And then she told Ezra a wild story about forbidden magic, an even more forbidden romance, human trafficking, and dealing with those brave and stupid enough to try to make deals with the Varangians.

"So, you see, I’ve been in your shoes, and that’s why I know you need someone you can trust," Stella finished. She tapped the journal. "You can trust him too. I know he acts like a brainless flirt, but he’s one of the smartest, deadliest creatures in all the Republic."

"I’ve never seen him act like a brainless flirt, so I’ll have to take your word on it," Ezra said, her mind spinning.

Stella waggled her eyebrows. "That’s because he actually likes you. It’s hilarious for me to watch, I can tell you."

"I don’t think he likes me. He just wants to know who’s behind the Cabal, and I’m the tool who will get it for him." Ezra decided she didn’t have anything more to lose, so she stuck out her hand. "Ezra Eliyahu, it’s nice to meet you."

Stella gave it a solid shake. "You too. I’m fascinated by your magic, but I really must know something. Why did you turn Zahir down? I mean… He’s Zahir. The walking personification of sex. Do you like girls better? Is it because he never stops talking? I need to know."

Ezra blushed. "I had things to do, that’s all."

"Things more important than possibly the best sex of your life?" Stella asked, her smile widening. "Because he’s had thousands of years to figure out where the clit is."

Ezra burst out laughing. She really did like Stella. "He was acting weird, and it didn’t feel like the right moment. He kissed me, then acted like the cold, bored king once we were alone, and then randomly asked me to sleep with him? I didn’t think he was thinking clearly, and my day had been long enough."

Stella shook her head. "I knew he wasn’t telling the story right. If it makes you feel better, he really isn’t thinking clearly. He likes you, and not just because he sees you as a potential bed mate. It’s left him all out of sorts and off his game. Do you like him?"

"I don’t know him. I generally get to know someone before I sleep with them."

Stella leaned over and touched the marks on Ezra’s arm. "How do you feel about those? You must’ve felt something to agree to spending three nights with him."

"Scared and desperate is what I was feeling. He never specified what we would be doing with those three nights," Ezra argued.

"He said the same thing," Stella replied, the mischief back in her eyes. "I had a friend who once dated a djinn, and she said the sex was transcendental. That it was like a spiritual awakening level orgasm. That’s got to make a girl curious, don’t you think?"

Ezra let out a tight, awkward laugh before going into the cupboards and pulling out a bottle. "I can’t have this conversation without wine."

"Now, we are talking." Stella grinned. "I knew befriending you was a good idea."