Born To Be Wilde: Immortal Vegas, Book 3 (35 page)

Why did I want that suddenly, so badly? When I knew that I would blank with fear once he returned to his immortal state?

“I’ll be leaving soon,” he said, interrupting my racing thoughts by running them into a brick wall.
What? Leaving?
I carefully shuttered my mind again to block my completely unreasonable spike of panic. His brows lifted. “You don’t need to hide your reactions from me.”

I gave him a winning smile.
Oh, yes I do
. “Where are you going?”

“With Viktor returned to the fold, I am reminded of the need to reclaim
all
the members of the Council. Especially those who do not wish to be reclaimed. Viktor is dark, and there is light that is needed on the Council. Light that has been sorely missed for too long.”

I frowned at him. “Who’s left?” I ran through the Council members in my mind. Of the twenty-one Arcana, not all were directly translatable to human forms, I was certain. The Star and the Moon, for instance, didn’t have a clear mortal incarnation.

So I started with the obvious choices. “Temperance, Justice—maybe. The Hierophant, Lovers…” I stared at him. “You’re getting the Lovers? Because that’d be two for the price of one, right?”

Laughter rumbled in Armaeus’s chest. “I do not seek the Lovers. Theirs is a twisted path.” He fell silent again, and I poked him in the chest. He opened one eye.

“So, who?”

“It can wait, Miss Wilde.” He turned over onto his back, pulling me close, so close I couldn’t hear his words too well. When I lifted my head, he grumbled. I pounded his arm. “Who?” I demanded again.

“The Hierophant,” he said, pulling me close again.

I considered that. “The Hierophant. As in the pope. But not actually the pope, pope, right? Because he’s seriously old. And sort of busy.”

Armaeus propped one arm behind his head, impossibly gorgeous, impossibly content. “Not the pope, no. The being I seek is far older than that.”

My eyes went wide. “Who?” I searched my internal Google for Connected: Ancient History Division. “Old, religious, orthodoxy, tradition, not a pope…” My eyes bugged. “Don’t tell me you’re going after Solomon.”

He smiled, and it was a thing of beauty. I’d never seen the Magician so relaxed, and something shifted in my chest.
This
. I wanted
this
. Someone to talk to, someone to hold me. Someone to share the day’s conversation with, when all the bluster and fury had passed.

Someone to stop playing twenty questions.

“Not Solomon.” Armaeus shook his head. “But you’re getting closer, in a manner of speaking.”

“You really suck at this.” I propped my elbows on his chest and stared at him, hard. He gazed back at me, completely unfazed. “Okay, so he’s biblical. Moses.”

“No.”

“Isaac. Abraham.”

“No and no.”

“God.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I waved off his censure. “Kidding.” I shook my head. “I give. Who?”

“If I tell you, will you give in to your body’s demand for sleep?”

“I’m not—” As I said the words, the wave of drowsiness spilled over me, an overfilled cup of sleepy. I shoved at his arm. “I can tell you’re doing that, you know. You’re not sneaky.”

He sighed expressively. “One can but live in hope.”

“Fine. Tell me who it is, and I’ll let you sleep.”

“Good.” He laid his head back and closed his eyes. The darkness encroached further, a comforting hug, and I gave up trying to fight it. I was tired, and tomorrow was another day. The Magician would be leaving soon, he said, and the way he talked, he was going alone.

I’d almost fallen completely under when I realized I still didn’t have the information I’d asked for. “Who, Armaeus?” I prodded.

He grumbled in his sleep, then almost sighed the words. “He is most commonly known as Michael.”

His words hit me square in the face. I popped up like a cork in the ocean and stared at him, goggle-eyed. “Um…as in the
archangel
Michael? You’re serious? He’s really a
thing
?”

“Yes, Miss Wilde, he’s really a thing,” the Magician said. His eyes flickered open, fixing me once more with their gold-and-black gaze, glittering with a twist of grim amusement. His lips quirked into an enigmatic smile. “But it’s going to be Hell to find him.”

Wicked and Wilde

Coming May, 2016!

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http://www.jennstark.com
!

Also by Jenn Stark

One Wilde Night

Tarot-reading artifact hunter Sara Wilde has had her share of tough assignments, but this one just might take the cake. When her newest client hires her to steal a fertility idol from an Amazonian sex-and-death cult, she finds herself south of the equator and shoulder deep in true believers, while Rio de Janeiro gears up for the closing celebrations of Carnival.

Stealing the idol is one thing, however. Keeping it is another.

The arcane black market has drawn a host of cutthroat operatives and Sara’s now in their sights. In a race across one of the most colorful cities in South America on its most famed night of the year, Sara must navigate cunning enemies, backstabbing allies, a fifty-foot wedding cake float and a new, sensually mysterious contact who may be friend or foe… and whose name she’ll never learn if she doesn’t make it to dawn alive.

No matter what the cards predict, it’s going to be
One Wilde Night
.

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Getting Wilde

Using her well-worn Tarot deck, magical-artifacts hunter Sara Wilde can find anything—for a price. And the price had better be right, since she needs to finance her own personal mission to rescue several young psychics recently sold on the paranormal black market.

Enter Sara’s most mysterious client and occasional lover, the wickedly sexy Magician, with a job that could yield the ultimate payday. All she’ll have to do is get behind Vatican walls… and steal the Devil himself.

But play with the Devil and you’re bound to get burned.

Pressure mounts for Sara to join the Magician’s ancient and mysterious Arcana Council, as militant forces unleashed by even darker powers seek to destroy all magic—including the young psychics Sara is desperate to keep safe. The Council may be their only hope. . . but it could also expose Sara’s own dark past. .

From the twisting catacombs of Rome to the neon streets of Vegas, Sara confronts ancient enemies, powerful demigods, a roiling magical underworld about to explode… and immortal passions that might require the ultimate sacrifice. But oh, what a way to go.

No matter how the cards play out, things are about to get
Wilde
.

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Wilde Card

All that glitters may not be gold.

When an antique gold show comes to Vegas, Tarot-reading magical artifacts hunter Sara Wilde’s job is simple: locate and liberate a set of relics rumored to give their bearers access to an ancient, incredible power. With whispers of a war on magic racing through the Connected community, every psychic, mystic, warlock, and witch descends on Sin City to claim the relics first. But no one wants these talismans more than Sara’s client: the insufferably arrogant, criminally sensual,
absolutely
untrustworthy Magician.

And what the Magician wants…

Sara’s heist takes a turn for the trickier as the smoky-eyed specter from her past, Detective Brody Rooks, is assigned to investigate a break-in at the gold show, forcing her to confront the one man in Vegas she can’t bluff. Even worse, just as she finally gets her hands on the goods, the game changes anew. The resulting chase leads her across the world to an ancient Egyptian temple filled with secrets, deception… and hints about her own abilities that could change everything. Desperate for answers, Sara is forced to turn to the one person she knows will lie, cheat, manipulate and steal to get whatever he craves. Only now, it seems, the Magician wants
her
.

Sometimes, when the deck is stacked against you… you’ve got to play the
Wilde Card
.

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A Note From Jenn

The cards that appear at the opening of Born To Be Wilde help Sara navigate her first assignment of the book. Their general interpretations are below – but if you find yourself in a castle looking for treasure, be sure to consider the symbols of the cards themselves, not just their more abstract meanings. Sometimes a cup…really is a cup!

The Star

As Trump 17 of the Major Arcana, the Star is one of the most hopeful cards in the deck. Symbolizing balance, harmony and all things associated with Aquarius, it's both the card of peace, compassion and of having your dreams come true. New opportunities abound for you and you attain your highest potential. In matters of romance, you follow your heart and your intuition and will not be led astray. In matters of creativity, you are on the right track to receive the inspiration you need to lead to profound success. 

The Seven of Swords

The Seven of Swords can mean different things in different situations, but is always a card to note - particularly if you are in the midst of a difficult conversation or a negotiation. As the nimble, sly trickster scoops of swords and steals away in the night, we are reminded of the dual-edged nature of the card. It can mean trickery, deceit or wrongful actions (either on the part of the querent or against the querent) - but it can also mean quick thinking, new strategies, or brash thinking to save the day.