Owed A Night (An Obscure Magic Book 12) Read online

  Keeping her nephew safe is her focus, and she applies to an orc clan for protection. The price is set at one night.

  Jennel is looking to settle down, and Redbird City is the place for it. She and her nephew, Corit, are looking for a place they can be safe from hostile orc clans and a decades-old vision.

  She registers as an elemental with the local mayor’s office, and they connect her with the orc clan speaker. She can apply to him to gain protection for her nephew and, hopefully, entry into a clan.

  Once she’s registered, she returns to her new house to meet the movers, and a parade of orcs moves stuff from the van to the house when she meets her new neighbour.

  Day-ek just got off a shift and noticed the fae woman sitting on the deck and a set of three orcs moving furniture into the house. He comes over to introduce himself, and he takes in her curves and the very frank assessment she gives him and offers to give her a hand.

  Jennel introduces Day-ek to Corit, and when her mention of having to meet the speaker inspires a grin, she gets a funny feeling about her neighbour.

  When she meets the speaker and he gives her that cheeky grin while he demands a night with him for each of the three clans he speaks for, she knows that Corit is safe, and she’s got a date. And then... things get complicated.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Owed a Night

  Copyright © 2021 by Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-989892-95-4

  ©Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

  Published by Viola Grace

  Look for me online at violagrace.com.

  Owed a Night

  An Obscure Magic Book 12

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  The moving van was arriving in six hours, and Corit was asleep on a sleeping bag in the house. Dawn was four hours away, so Jennel was ready for her next task.

  She locked the house and got to her vehicle, following her strident GPS’s instructions toward the mayor’s mansion. She knew she was a fright, but this was for an introduction, not a court visit.

  Jen put her vehicle into park when she reached the parking area near the mansion, and she got out of her truck before she could hesitate. She crossed the parking area and knocked at the door. The huge butler that answered had a dour expression and looked her up and down. “Yes?”

  She smiled brightly. “I am Jennel Sparks. I have to check in with the mayor’s office.”

  He looked at her, and a dubious expression filled his features. “The seer? You are the seer?”

  “Yes. I am the seer.”

  He blinked. “Come in then. Ms. Wicks is waiting for you.”

  Jennel nodded and clutched the vials in her pocket. She walked into the mansion and tried to ignore the call of the elements from the floor, ceiling, and current of air moving around her. The butler knocked on the mayor’s office and left her facing the closed door.

  After a moment, she heard movement inside. “Come in.”

  She opened the door, and the faint scent of fresh blood hung in the air. A woman with dark hair and darker eyes was slightly flushed and sitting at a desk while the mayor leaned against his desk with his legs crossed and sleeves rolled up. He seemed very smug about something.

  He looked at her. “Seer Sparks?”

  She knew she looked like a messy teenager, but she gave a formal court bow and said, “Mayor Matthias, I am looking for permission to use my skills in your demesne. And for base protections for me and my kin.”

  “Elves do not seek my permission.”

  She snorted. “I am not an elf.”

  She remained in the bow, and he finally snorted. “Rise.”

  Jennel smiled. “I have blood samples from me and mine. I also need to speak with the local orc clan speakers to gain their protections for him as he isn’t an adult.”

  He held out his hand for the samples, and she delved into her front pocket on her sweatshirt before locating them. She handed him the vials.

  The mayor sniffed the vials, pulled one stopper, and touched the blood to his tongue. His body lit up with power. “Elemental?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Elemental fae. The mage guild must be going insane that you have orc blood.” He grinned. “You will be consulting for the XIA?”

  “Yes, sir. Starting Wednesday. I just have to wait for the truck and get myself moved in. My nephew registered for school and lay in all the supplies I needed to feed a growing teen. So, half a grocery store.” She smiled.

  He closed the stopper with her blood and opened Corit’s vial. He sniffed. “More than an orc.”

  “Of course, sir. He’s my blood.”

  The mayor raised his brows and grinned. “Just so. I will get a call into the orc speaker and make an appointment for you to meet with him. You will do the supplication here on the grounds for your own safety.”

  She paused and nodded. “Thank you. Corit is nearly an adult, and this should be the last time I do this, but there have been incidences in the past.”

  Ms. Wicks looked at her. “What are you doing?”

  Matthias took the vials of blood to a safe. “She is buying safety for a young orc male and a position in the clan that chooses him. If he isn’t selected by a clan, she is buying him safety. They won’t attack him. I assume he looks like an orc.”

  Jennel pulled out her phone and showed him her screen saver. She was five eight if she was ramrod straight. Corit was six eight, three hundred and fifty pounds, grey-green, and he had beautiful features not precisely desirable in an orc. He was only half-orc and a bit. The image was her standing in front of her nephew, and if he had tripped and fallen forward, there would have been no trace of her, taller and twice as broad. He was every inch an orc.

  “He looks happy and expensive to feed.” Matthias chuckled.

  “Hence my working with the XIA. Writing isn’t a stable income, at least not the way I do it.” She grimaced.

  Ms. Wicks peeked at the image. “Yikes. That is a lot of teenager.”

  “Yeah, he’s a good kid, but he has been training for clan admission, and every clan has a different criterion. He is determined to know them all so that he can join any one that allows him entry. He loves studying for tests... but that is the elf in him.” She chuckled.

  She was given the authorization to use her inborn talents within Redbird City. She signed a notice of gainful employment and included her contract number with the XIA. There was a lot of paperwork involved in moving her kind of power and Corit’s bloodline around.

  Matthias typed a message on his phone, and he smiled. “I have sent a message to the orc speaker, but he is at work until dawn. He might not be able to answer the query until he is off shift.”

  She nodded. “Thank you. Is there any paperwork to finish up?”

  Ms. Wicks shook her head. “No, that is everything. Here are your copies of your moving permit, the authorization for your movers to be on clan land for six hours. The letter of introduction to the high school, and a parking tag for the XIA visitor’s area.”

  Jen blinked. “That’s... thank you.”

  “We also have an excellent online grocery delivery service that you can download to help you keep on top of your needs.” Ms. Wicks handed her the bundle and tapped the
code that offered twenty-five percent off the first order. “What they cost financially they make up for in saved time.”

  “Thanks. You thought of everything, Ms. Wicks.”

  “Leo. Please. I also have a niece that I would move the heavens for if I could. I did all kinds of sketchy shit to keep her safe.” Leo smiled.

  Matthias surprised Jen by laughing. She looked at him curiously.

  He grinned. “I was the sketchy shit.”

  Leo’s cheeks pinked. “Right. Well, my card is in that packet. Call me if you need anything. Anything at all. It will be a welcome distraction to be working with someone normal.”

  Jen giggled and covered her mouth then paused. “Oh, wait, you were serious. Thank you, Leo. Call me for any divination that you need.”

  Leo had a random thought. “Actually, can you tell me who this belongs to?”

  Leo held up an earring, and Jen nodded and held out her hand. The moment that the earring struck her skin, she shivered. “Um. Thor. The earring belongs to Thor, the lightning bringer. She has been here recently.”

  Matthias chuckled. Leo took the earring back.

  Jen wiped her palm on her hand. “My least favourite type of residue. Gods are messy. Did I pass?”

  Leo shrugged. “You got the pronoun right and everything.”

  Jen nodded. “Well, I had best get home. I have one day to get unpacked and sorted. The truck arrives in...” She checked her phone. “Three hours. Who knows, if this works out, I might settle down here.”

  Leo smiled. “If you do decide to stay, let me know. I have a portion of my days off, and I love going for lunch.”

  Matthias smiled. “Staying in for lunch.”

  Leo sighed. “We have a really good cook, and he doesn’t like me too far from the mansion during his naptime. Oh, I could invite Hannah.”

  “My real estate agent?”

  Leo smiled. “She does work for the city and is a fun conversationalist.”

  Matthias muttered, “If you keep her out of the sun.”

  Leo snorted. “Right. That. That’s new.”

  Jen smiled. “I will call once I am settled, or I will see you when I come to pledge to the orc clans.”

  “Do you dress up for that?” Leo cocked her head.

  Jen opened and closed her mouth while Matthias laughed. “I will explain on the day.”

  She bowed to them both and took her folder full of permits with her.

  If she got home swiftly, she could get some rest before the movers arrived. She got in her truck and drove, passing the taco truck where it had been since the last time she had been in town. Now, there were more XIA vehicles around it, and that made her smile. At least the XIA was moving with the times.

  She pulled into her driveway and snugged her truck up as far as she could to leave room for the moving truck on her property. Her movers were orcs, and that was one of the reasons she needed the permits for them.

  She returned to the house and checked on Corit. He was out cold, so she crept into her bedroom, stripped, stretched, and got into her sleeping bag. Three hours of sleep would be better than nothing.

  A soft knocking and the scent of coffee woke her. “Aunt Jen, the moving guys are almost here.”

  She scrambled into her clothing and met him at the door. “Thanks for this.”

  He chuckled. “It wasn’t me. The neighbourhood watch brought it by. Apparently, this place used to be infested by gremlins and a poltergeist. They are excited someone new is here.”

  “Are they still here?”

  “In the living room.”

  Jen knew she looked like hell, but she headed out to see another orc in her living space. The woman was wearing jeans and a blazer over a scoop-neck tee. She looked lovely and terrifying because she wasn’t much shorter than Corit.

  The woman stared at her. “You... are Corit’s aunt?”

  “I am. Jennel Sparks.” She extended her hand to the orc female. The gray-green hand closed around hers, and the orc’s weightless grip showed she was thrown off balance.

  “Oory Killgarden.” The woman smiled, her banded tusks gleaming and her silver confined braids swinging.

  “Neighbourhood watch?” Jennel raised her brows.

  “Nosy neighbour.” She chuckled. “I live across the street and down two. I noticed your truck coming back this morning.”

  “Final meeting with the mayor and his assistant to make sure I have all the permits and information I need to complete the move.”

  Oory paused. “Oh, so you know about that?”

  “Of course. The appointment with the orc speaker has been arranged. I just need to get the date. We have an interim permit from the clan chiefs to remain here without toll for three weeks.”

  The woman’s shoulders slumped. “Ah, I was going to tell you all that.”

  Jen shrugged. “I am a quarter orc, so I know the traditions and strictures.”

  Oory looked t her. “You look like a court elf.”

  “I know. Descended from the Blooded Tusk clan. Corit is of the Golden Claws.”

  Corit bowed gracefully. “Corit Aurictempest. At your service, ma’am.”

  Jen smiled at his birthname. He would get a new one soon when he got his clan.

  “By the way, thank you for the coffee, Ms. Killgarden.”

  “Oh, it was my pleasure. Sorry, it is orc strength.”

  Corit laughed. “The stuff Aunt Jen makes is nearly toxic. This is pleasantly mild.”

  The truck trundled up the street and pulled into the drive at precisely seven a.m.

  Oory checked her watch. “You are a stickler for the rules.”

  Jen shrugged. “The only time I bend them is when lives are on the line.”

  “Right, well, I will get out of your way.”

  Jen grabbed her notebook and the folders with the permits and attached them to the moving van and her two childhood friends. They grinned and started unloading.

  Corit insisted that she supervise and set her up on the front porch with her coffee and one of the pastries they had brought in from somewhere in their eight-hour drive.

  Jemmer and Wilk had been friends for decades, and they had moved her three times in the last eight years. Hopefully, this time would be the end of it.

  She was so damned tired of running.

  Chapter Two

  Day-ek Tell pulled up in his drive and looked at the bustle of activity in the previously haunted house. He saw the orcs and was a little surprised. When he checked his phone, he nodded and sent a reply. There appeared to be a small pale creature sitting on the porch, but she was sipping out of a cup from the coffee shop down the road.

  He was exhausted, but he wanted to meet his new neighbours. Based on the multiple beds and sofa bed, it looked like a family.

  He wandered over to the truck, and he asked, “Can I lend a hand?”

  One of the men laughed. “Ask the foreman. She’s fussy.”

  “I heard that, Jemmer, and I am telling your mother! Wilk! Stop laughing!” A light voice rang like chimes in the morning air.

  The one named Wilk came by, chanting, “Somebody’s in truuu-ble.”

  A young male stopped and smiled. “Hi. I am Corit. That’s my aunt Jennel. Come on. I will introduce you.”

  Day-ek looked at the hulking form of the young male without clan marks or any warrior bands. That meant this was a minor. Holy shit.

  The young male led him to the porch, where the small creature was huddled around the coffee cup.

  “Aunt Jen. This is our neighbour.”

  The female got to her feet, and she was taller than he would have guessed, but she had been bundled in a blanket and watching the moving. She was still a foot shorter than her nephew and ten inches shorter than he was, but she was not tall for an elf.

  “I am Day-ek.” He extended his hand to her.

  “Jennel. Call me Jen.” She presented her tiny white hand, and it made his look dar
k and dangerous in comparison, but her handshake was firm and had a strength that surprised him.

  Her hair was the dark gold of honey, her eyes were acid green, and her skin was the colour of chalk. Her lips were the palest pink, and the points of her ears stuck out above the hair. “Not an elf. Fae then.”

  Her eyes widened, and she blinked. “It is better if folks just think it is the elf thing. They can get funny about fae blood.”

  Corit laughed. “Nobody picks up on that. Can you guess what else she is?”

  Day-ek grinned. “Human in there, and... orc?”

  The woman huffed. “May I have my hand back before you start tasting me?”

  His eyes locked on her green gaze, and the temptation to taste her suddenly pounded in his blood. “Was that an invitation?”

  She shook her head. “No. Absofreakinglutely not. No invitations have been issued.”

  “Aunt Jen, are you blushing?” Corit’s expression was shocked, and the movers paused.

  Day-ek chuckled. “Many females are enamoured of the idea of spending time with an orc.”

  “Yeah, but Aunt Jen isn’t one of them. We have been around orc clans for years. I have never seen her do that.”

  The little darling turned to her hulking nephew, and she snarled at him, curling one lip and radiating power that shocked everyone in the area. “Uh, Aunt Jen... calm down. You are tired from the move, and your control isn’t the best right now.”

  She paused and pulled up. “Right. Too much stress, not enough sleep.”

  She returned to him with a sugary smile. “Sorry. I am not at my best today. Thank you for coming over. It is nice to meet the neighbours, and this seems like a friendly neighbourhood.”

  “Ah, Oory has been by. Did she threaten to fine you?” He knew his cousin’s fanaticism when it came to the rules.

  “She couldn’t. I have all my permits and documentation, as well as authorization and registry with the mayor’s office.”