Reluctant Adept: Book Three of A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life (55 page)

Giselle Devon Stafford

Giselle is my only sibling, older by four years. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two kids. We were estranged for most of our lives, but we reconciled just before our mother's death.

Glen Porter

I met Glen, last year, at one of Julie and Steven's parties and we hit it off. We dated for almost seven months until one night he dropped the bombshell that he was sick of wearing "a full body condom" every time he wanted to have sex with me and had no desire to commit to a lifetime of such a nuisance. We broke up that night. Not twenty-four hours later, Julie saw him having dinner with a pretty blonde. (Actually, Julie didn't say pretty. She said something far more unflattering, but it's not the blonde's fault that Glen is a tactless jerk.)

The Insangrim

By all accounts, the Chief of the North American Rout (werewolves) is a hard-working, all-around nice guy who hails from the wilds of Montana. I don't necessarily buy into the every-man's-man-helluva-guy narrative, though. I've spent time with werewolves. Is he a good guy? Maybe. But I'd bet my left big toe that anyone who rises to a level of power in their ranks must be one tough hombre and clever as hell to boot.

Jack Beaumont

I've known Jack since my freshman year at NYU when we lived in the same dorm. Even though he doesn't have a scrap of magic in his five-foot-six-inch Bowflex body, he convinced me to partner with him in opening Supernatural Talent and Company, a paranormal consulting agency, not long after college graduation. The saying 'opposites attract' must apply to friendship too because, between his outgoing, near-manic personality and my organized, button-down nature, we've stuck together to build our business into the success it is today.

Jackie

Jackie is a Rowan witch, in her early thirties if I had to guess. She's brash, confident, doesn't pull any punches, and would do anything for her partners Kim and Brassal. She has chin-length brown hair, brown eyes, and a demeanor as no-nonsense as her wardrobe of jeans and button down shirts. With Jackie, what you see is what you get. She's high on my list of favorite people. The sidhe only allow two individuals to bind their souls, but if I ever get into a position of influence (however unlikely that might be), you can bet that's the first stupid rule I'd change. The fact that Jackie ages—while Kim and Brassal stay youthful by virtue of their bond—is a tragedy in the making.

John Fisk

Fisk was first introduced to me as Agent Fisk—as in
FBI
Agent Fisk. I've since learned that he's also one of the amhaín's part-blood (part human, part sidhe) liaisons. About a month ago, I had my first run-in with
Agent
Fisk when he asked for my expertise to read a necklace that belonged to a murder suspect. After I refused, he found a way to sneak the necklace into a group of items I was slated to read for a cable television show. The necklace turned out to be tainted by the demon Azazel and if not for Kieran's help in breaking its spell, I might have succumbed to the demon's nefarious magic. Fisk's trickery, combined with his caustic personality, has landed him squarely on my personal shit list. As a result, our relationship is what you might call 'cantankerous.' I'll admit, like all the part-bloods I've encountered thus far, Fisk is off-the-charts in the looks department with his squared jaw, clear amber gaze, and muscular physique. For all that, though, the guy's personality leaves a lot to be desired.

John 'Red' Redborn

Red is my best friend, my constant companion. Technically, he's my familiar, bound to me by magic just as his soul is bound to his current form—a stuffed, nine-inch black teddy bear. But Red is no animated toy. He's human—or
was
. In the late 1600s, Red was a necromancer who had the misfortune of coming to the attention of the Court of Oyer and Terminer during the Salem Witch Trials. When he was executed, a local witch coven cast a spell of soulbinding, which he accepted. Red's had several owners during the last three centuries before my father acquired him for me. Dad knew that, as a clairvoyant, I'd be unable to endure skin contact and worried my life would be devoid of human companionship. I was five years old and thrilled beyond measure at his huggable gift. In spite of my early manhandling and countless teddy bear tea parties, Red's blessed me with a lifelong friendship that's helped mold me into the woman I am today. I owe him more than I could ever hope to repay and love him to the depth of my soul. There's almost nothing I wouldn't do for him.

Jason Warner

See The Circle Murderer's Victims.

Julie Peabody

Julie is my best friend. We met through my espresso addiction. She's my primary caffeine supplier and has been for the past seven years. She and her husband Steven own Peabody's Beans, the best coffee shop in Seattle and one of the first businesses to go entirely psi-free—selling goods that haven't been touched by human hands so misfits like me can enjoy them. Julie's a normal, but her brother Tom is a pyrokinetic. Julie has long, straight chestnut hair, big brown eyes, a contagious laugh, and a five-foot-five inch bod that says she works out but not obsessively. She dresses with an eclectic flair that I envy and is always up for trying new things. She's a hell of a lot of fun to be around and I love her to pieces.

Kieran

Kieran is a twenty-seven-hundred-year-old sidhe who doesn't look older than my thirty. I met Kieran when my childhood friend Daniel set up a meet-and-greet between the sidhe and my almost-boyfriend-at-the-time Vince. To say things didn't go well would be a massive understatement. During that meeting, Kieran attempted to kidnap me. At the same time, his cousin, Princess Maeve, succeeded in abducting Vince and once she had him in the Otherworld, seduced him into becoming her soulmate. You'd think that would have put the kibosh on any possible relationship between Kieran and me, but after I spent time with him, fighting possessed telepaths and a demon incursion, I realized that Kieran's an amazing guy. And because the sidhe are immune to my clairvoyance, I can touch him without any protection. He is the epitome of tall, dark, and devastating—six feet four, angular features, keenly tapered brows, and long black hair. Of course, since my life is nothing if not complicated, this gorgeous sidhe doesn't come without baggage. Almost two thousand years ago, Kieran made a big mistake (see: Nuala) and now he's known as 'the Deceiver.' The sidhe border on zealotry when it comes to their honor, but I've made it my mission to convince him that he's so much more than a fallen sidhe.

Kim Pratchet

Kim is currently King Faonaín's last remaining emissary. I met Kim when Kieran and I helped her and her partner Jackie fend off a demon attack at their home on Bainbridge Island. She's a twenty-something part-blood who looks more like a preschool teacher than a skilled magus—petite, pixie-short blonde hair, and a preference for cardigans and ballet flats. Through her soulmate connection with Brassal, she provides King Faonaín with his sole means of communication to his subjects on Earth. Kim and Jackie are house sitting across the hall from me while their house, which burned down following the demon attack, is being rebuilt. Kim might look unassuming, but she is a powerful magic user who can control lightning.

Lorcán

Princess Maeve's second in command, Lorcán, is another sidhe who I hope I never meet. Apparently, the guy is beauty incarnate and has a reputation for going to extremes in doing his part to help breed the king's part-blood army. (Impregnating as many human women as possible in order to create a magically inclined force to fight the demon invasion is the sidhe's brilliant plan to save Earth. Gee, thanks guys.) According to Kieran, unicorns weep and sirens sing odes for Lorcán's exquisite good looks … or something. As far as I'm concerned, nothing can mask a cruel heart, and from what I've heard, Lorcán is a bastard of the first order. He's so awful, his mate killed herself. And years ago, when Kieran was away on an errand for the king, Lorcán attempted to seduce Kieran's mate Nuala. If not for Brassal's timely interference, Lorcán might have raped her. The guy is a waste of air. If we ever meet, you can bet I won't be afraid to inflict some serious damage, especially since Maeve's last order was for Lorcán to glamour and claim me. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

Nick Coulter

See The Circle Murderer's Victims.

Maeve

King Faonaín's daughter, Maeve, is a scheming, manipulative sidhe with the face and body of a goddess. I have fantasies about getting her alone in a dark alley and beating the tar out of her. And not just because she abducted and seduced Vince, my almost-boyfriend, into becoming her soulmate. She's done real damage to people I care about. In her selfish pursuit of the crown, Maeve is responsible for ruining both of her younger cousins' lives. Thanks to her machinations, Kieran is known as 'the Deceiver' and Tíereachán spent the last millennium enslaved to the archdemon Azazel. Can you honestly blame me for wanting to scrape her face across a gravel road a few dozen times?

Maya and Tanu

Maya and Tanu are Talisman Towers' house djinn. As a loft owner, I'm bound by blood covenant to these two alien, otherworldly entities, serving as their master. They use their unfathomable magic to protect our building and its occupants from harm, answering our call whenever needed. Their true form is that of a tumultuous grey mist with mercurial, swirling eyes, but as far as I know, they can appear in any form of their choosing and are often seen in their human guise, roaming the building as middle-aged male security guards.

Michael Thompson

Just after we'd been introduced, Michael, who's a powerful telepath, made the mistake of probing my mind in a secret attempt to test my psychic shield abilities. When I felt his unwanted intrusion, I pinned him and Daniel to the wall of my building's conference room and nearly lost control of my pyrokinesis. In spite of his misstep and my overreaction, we patched things up and have become good friends. Following an impulsive meeting of minds without the interference of our shields, I learned that he'd read my thoughts over a period of years, starting when I'd attended NYU, and, in the process, he'd fallen for me. Not that he was whiling away his days, forlorn with angst or anything. He'd gotten over it and learned an important lesson about keeping himself out of other people's heads over a long-term basis, taking special care around women who intrigue him. Michael is one of my most trusted friends, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about me. After the deaths of Daniel and the Invisius Verso elders, Michael took the reigns of the secret organization of telepaths. Along with the sidhe, we're working together to prepare for the coming demon invasion.

Monica

Monica is our administrative assistant at Supernatural Talent and Company. She greets our clients, schedules our appointments, and generally keeps things running smoothly.

Nuala

Nuala was the amhaín's adept-in-training who, almost two thousand years ago, Kieran seduced into becoming his soulmate by pretending to be one of the amhaín's subjects. When Nuala discovered Kieran's deception (whose actions had been subtly instigated by Princess Maeve), Nuala withdrew from him. And even though Kieran had fallen in love with her, she never forgave him, never opened herself up to him, not in the near century they were mated, ending when she died in an earthquake. His mistake continues to haunt him, even after all this time, and it's why Kieran is known as 'the Deceiver.'

The Oracle

For more than five thousand years, the Oracle has been the sidhe's most revered prophesier. Supposedly, not a single one of her divinations has been wrong. I've never met her, but there are times when I wish I could give her a hard pinch on the ear.

Paimon

I first encountered the demon Paimon when the Circle Murderer, Brian Stalzing, summoned it to do his bidding. However, instead of killing me, the demon turned on Brian, killing him and saving me from becoming the serial killer's fifth victim. Afterward, Paimon forced me into a one-sided blood pact and attempted to drag my soul to Hell. What I didn't know at the time was that Paimon wasn't a really demon but an enslaved sidhe prince. See
Tíereachán
.

Patty Schaeffer

See The Circle Murderer's Victims.

Red

See John 'Red' Redborn.

Tíereachán

When I first met Tíereachán, he'd been in his unknowing guise as the demon Paimon. A thousand years ago, Tíereachán traded his soul to rescue his cousin Maeve from Azazel's clutches, only to learn that she and the archdemon were in cahoots together. A few weeks ago, I managed to steal Tíereachán away from Azazel by sidestepping the sidhe prince into a higher dimension before closing the demon's gateway. Although I go out of my way to avoid noticing, Tíereachán is the embodiment of a sidhe prince—defined physique, golden-blond hair, and graceful yet supremely masculine features. Truth be told, he checks every box on my Dream Guy Wish List, a fact I keep firmly under wraps. If he knew, I'd never hear the end of it. Because Tíereachán tasted my blood while he was in his former demonic guise, we share a connection that I try hard not to dwell on. See
Paimon
.

Trinity Wilson

See The Circle Murderer's Victims.