Just Beyond Daybreak (Star Crossed Book 1)

  Just Beyond Daybreak

  By

  J.R. White

  © J.R. White 2017

  Terms and Conditions:

  The purchaser of this book is subject to the condition that he/she shall in no way resell it, nor any part of it, nor make copies of it to distribute freely.

  All Persons Fictitious Disclaimer:

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter One

  Magic Town was a dingy maze of alleyways tucked away in a section of Atlanta that never made it to the travel guides. It was crawling with some of the lowest members of society and if a person had to be honest it also had quite a few members of high society slinking around from time to time. It was a place that Meredith Blackburn despised venturing into. After four nights of searching questionable bars and occult shops, the young witch found herself standing in front of a small Chinese shop called Heavenly Herbs. Flexing her fingers, she could feel the flow of magic in her veins cycling painfully slow and it only reminded her how important it was for her to find the man she was looking for.

  Meredith despised the man just as much as the area she knew she would find him in. Malcolm Blackwood was one of those high-society brats who had slunk down to Magic Town after displeasing his family. At least Meredith liked to think that he slunk, but entered with a cocky stride would fit his character more. Malcolm had been the second-son playboy that every family dreaded, but for some reason he held a type of charm that made everyone want to be near him. For all her detest of the man, Meredith was no different. Just like every other woman, she’d been drawn to him too.

  But the Blackburns and the Blackwoods had been at each other’s throats for more than a millennium. It was family bickering left over from their roots in the old country, and that left little room for feelings besides distrust. So Meredith ignored the attraction and focused on the man’s arrogant attitude.

  Nonetheless, he was one of the best magical trackers on the East Coast, and that was what she needed.

  A week earlier, Meredith had woken up in her apartment to a very distorted feeling. While everything in her home seemed in place, a rancid smell filled the air. She had rushed to her study, where she found the source of the smell. Above the mantel, the small safe door was ajar; and on the floor below it, spell books, rare stones, and an assortment of occult items her family had collected over the years were scattered about. Inside the safe, Meredith found a steaming pile of mess. She had instantly dropped to her knees, searching through the items on the floor. Her search revealed that the thief had taken just one thing. Her family’s Dragon’s Eye had been stolen.

  It was the source of their strongest magical abilities. Without the Dragon’s Eye, her family’s power and her own would quickly fade away, taking their life energy along with it. That was why Meredith found herself roaming the dark streets of Magic Town, searching out the only man who might understand enough to use his skill to help. Or he could turn her away, laughing the entire time. It was a risk that Meredith knew was incredibly possible.

  After four nights spent searching for Malcolm, she had gotten her first real lead. A tall Voodoo vender had quietly told her that there was a Chinese herb shop hiring him to teach a niece. Meredith had paid handsomely for that little tidbit, but it had led her straight to Heavenly Herbs. Inside, a hunched man sat behind the counter. A warm, spicy scent filled the air, wrapping around shelves stocked high with jars of exotic plants and rare oriental stones. Glancing over his wares as she strolled up to the counter, Meredith watched the man remove a long pipe from his mouth. “How may I help you?” he asked in heavily accented English.

  “I’m told you hired Mr. Blackwood to tutor your niece in the occult,” Meredith said, meeting the man’s dark sunken eyes. The little Chinese man flashed her an alligator grin and quickly replaced his pipe. After a dozen rounds of “it’s none of your business,” Meredith knew that she was being shut out.

  She spotted an odd amulet hanging around the man’s neck. A deep green jade stone encircled by a golden frame. Meredith could make out the chaotic twists and loops detailing the frame and felt the corner of her lip turn up in a half smile. These were the type of trinkets normally kept out of sight, tucked under shirts, and for good reason. It was a powerful hiding charm. What this little old man was hiding from she didn’t know, but it must have been big. Either way, it wasn’t her problem.

  Letting her natural power crackle between her fingers, she reached across the counter and grabbed the man’s shirt in her fist. Jerking him forward, Meredith snatched the deep green amulet. “You’re going to take me to Mr. Malcolm Blackwood or I’m going to destroy your little toy,” Meredith threatened, letting what power she could muster flash through her eyes.

  It proved to be enough. Fear raced across the old man’s features. His eyes went wide and the pipe hung useless from his lips. The shopkeeper gave her a fearful nod and jerked his head towards a doorway she hoped led into the back. “I take you,” he said, and cautiously, Meredith released him.

  She held out a hand, signaling for him to show the way. The little man scurried from behind the counter and pulled back a curtain leading deeper into his shop. With a bow of his head, he waved her to follow. Through the tight hallway, Meredith could see a ray of light spreading across the floor. It was escaping from under the door the man led her to. When Meredith saw him lift his hand to knock, she quickly stepped around him and opened the door herself. I’ll be damned if I give him any warning, she thought as she pushed the door open.

  Inside, she found a scene she hadn’t been expecting. Malcolm, a healthy man in his mid-twenties, was sitting on a little cot. In front of him, a young Chinese woman was on her knees, her long dark hair fanned out over his thighs. The scramble to right themselves had started just seconds after the door had creaked opened.

  “Part of the lesson,” Malcolm started to say as he jerked his jeans back together. Meredith would never know what his full explanation was going to be though, because the moment he turned his eyes up to see her he stopped dead. As the Chinese woman rushed to set her own clothing to rights, Malcolm stared at Meredith and Meredith stared right back. He hadn’t changed much in the past few years. Bright blue eyes were set against a handsome face, and a sprinkling of stubble dotted his sharp jaw line. Straight golden hair framed his face. The collective look would have most people thinking of angels, but Meredith knew better.

  Although those crystal-clear eyes never left her own, Meredith felt exposed. Having his full attention, even in a moment of shock, sent a hot flush through her body and a flurry of butterflies through her stomach. She knew better than to hope that Malcolm felt anything but utter surprise at seeing her, but the flutter of her heart reminded her that she had more than family issues for avoiding the man.

  All the staring must have caused a spark of jealousy in the other woman. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and propped her hands on her narrow hips. “What the hell?” she demanded. That was when Malcolm’s shocked trance ended and he leaned forward, presumably to calm the woman down.

  He tried to take her hand, but the woman dropped down in his lap instead. “Anmíng, calm down,” he said quietly, brushing a bit of her hair behind her ear. The woman looked at him sharply and started to ramble off in a mix of Chinese and English.

  Rolling her eyes, Meredith stepped furthe
r into the storage room. The little Chinese man that had been hidden from view behind her stepped in and left little time for Malcolm to calm her down. In a burst of mangled words the man had silenced the woman and was chasing her from the room. Meredith only understood a few broken words, dishonor and discipline, but it was enough to know that the man was very upset with the situation.

  Meredith let her eyes trail after them until the door closed. When she looked back at Malcolm, he was still staring at her, but her heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t shocked anymore. Instead, he was studying her with an appraising eye. Gathering up her courage, she said, “Mr. Blackwood, I have a business proposition for you.”

  The man only stared back at her, seemingly deaf to her statement. Instead of repeating herself, Meredith crossed her arms over her chest and waited. His lack of a response only stood as a reminder of why she couldn’t stand him. She was convinced that Malcolm Blackwood was incapable of rational thought. Instead he shoved aside conventional courtesies and handled everything with an air of lazy negligence.

  “I’m not interested,” he said, breaking eye contact and launching himself up to his feet. His shirt hung open, exposing a long line of his chest and well-toned abs. Meredith’s gaze trailed downward just beyond his belly button to the natural v-shape of his hips. Snapping her eyes back up, Meredith watched him start buttoning the shirt.

  “Enjoying the view, Sweetheart?” he said with a light chuckle.

  “I need your help, Malcolm,” she answered, ignoring the urge to retrace the path down the front of his shirt.

  Fastening the last buttons, he shook his head. “I don’t want to know and I don’t want any part of it.” With his clothing back in order, he started packing away an assortment of magic items that were scattered across a crate. As he was stuffing a small crystal ball into his leather shoulder bag, he looked back at her with a sneer. “Still here? I said I’m not interested. I don’t want anything to do with you or the rest of the Blackburn family.”

  Meredith was startled when Malcolm brushed past her, his shoulder grazing against her chest as he passed. A tingle she hadn’t felt since their school days made her shiver. Furious at her own body for remembering the old attraction, Meredith tried to focus on the task at hand. “Malcolm, it’s about the Dragon’s Eye. I just need a tracking spell. That’s it. I’ll pay you very well for it,” she whispered forcefully, turning to follow him out of the store room.

  Shoving the curtain aside, Malcolm charged into the front of the herb shop and stormed towards the door. “I already said no,” he said without taking notice of the angry Chinese man behind the counter. “Besides, wouldn’t that be compromising your bloodline or something?”

  Hot on his heels out the door, Meredith shot back, “Our families have worked together before and you’re the best at what you do, Malcolm.” The man didn’t even turn around to say anything else. He just stomped off down the sidewalk. Taking long strides to keep up with him, Meredith charged after. He could try to ignore her, but she was pretty sure she had a stubborn streak just as wide as his.

  Like most of Magic Town, the sidewalk was poorly lit. It caused Meredith to step a bit faster to keep up with Malcolm. It would be easy for him to get too far ahead and slip into some shadow, leaving her to start searching again. Watching his strong figure heading away from her reminded Meredith why she had stopped dealing with him in the first place. With a set of wide shoulders and a build cut from granite, Malcolm was hard not to watch. From the time they were introduced in a private boarding school up until their last year of college when he disappeared, the man had always drawn her eye in a way that made her tingle.

  He was different from his older brother. Like night and day, really. His brother had never caught her attention for more than a second and then only because he had placed himself in the spotlight. While the older Blackwood brother was equally attractive, for some reason his appearance didn’t offer the same mouthwatering effect as Malcolm.

  Shaking the thoughts from her head, Meredith quickened her steps again until she was nearly beside the man. “At least let me tell you what’s happened,” she said, following him as he took a sharp turn into an alley way. Glancing around, she hoped he was just taking a shortcut. “Please, Malcolm.”

  The dark alley was less than appealing, especially when Malcolm spun around on her. Even though he didn’t advance towards her, Meredith felt a twinge of fear. Instinct told her to take a step back and give him some space, but Meredith just lifted her chin and stared at him. His blue eyes went wide and it seemed as if he was about to start yelling at her. Instead, he threw his hands up in the air and let out a gruff sound as he spun back around and made his way towards a metal door Meredith hadn’t noticed before.

  He jerked the door open wide and stormed inside. Meredith followed, letting the door close behind her. She found herself trailing Malcolm up a stair well. With a click, light flooded in around her, and she saw that the stairs opened into a studio apartment. Books and papers were thrown about here and there. There were several columns of books that could have easily stood higher than her five-foot-tall figure. The disorder suited him. Even if he had been able to walk away from his family, he still had that eccentric streak that all Blackwoods were known for.

  Malcolm just strolled straight into the mess, and Meredith took this chance to start talking. “Someone has stolen the Dragon’s Eye. They may be after something in your family too,” Meredith said, leaning back against the cluttered counter. She folded her arms over her chest and watched as Malcolm flopped down on the couch. “Shouldn’t you be taking this a little more seriously?”

  Without taking his shoes off, Malcolm kicked his feet up onto the armrest and tucked his arms behind his head. Looking way too relaxed, he said, “Why? Because the Blackburn family can’t properly set up a protective ward? Shouldn’t the head be taking care of this?”

  A flare of anger made Meredith tighten her jaw. The bastard didn’t even keep up with the families anymore. That was the only reason he wouldn’t know her grandmother had passed away months before, leaving her to take care of her family. Turning her eyes away from him, Meredith looked around the small apartment. The kitchenette was just behind her and a single door lead out of the living room. Briefly she wondered if that led to a bathroom or a bedroom. Looking back at the pillows and blankets scattered next to the couch, she settled on bathroom. “How do you live like this? It’s your college dorm all over again,” she said, letting her eyes fall back on him.

  One of Malcolm’s pretty blue eyes peeked open. “I happen to be very happy here, Sweetheart.”

  Pushing herself away from the counter, Meredith wandered among the paper columns. She could feel Malcolm watching her and hoped she looked as confident as she normally felt. As she moved through the room it became clear that his apartment was almost completely dedicated to magical research. Not realizing how close she had wandered to the man, Meredith paused when she spotted an odd set of hand-drawn symbols on a sheet of paper half hidden under an aged book.

  Her hand lifted to uncover the rest of the page when Malcolm’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Meredith instantly jerked around to meet smoldering blue eyes. Power fired off in those unfathomable depths, stealing her breath for a second and sending a warm tickle through her lower belly. He hadn’t moved away from the couch and was still stretched out, but somehow he seemed to have grabbed control of the situation. The way he stared up at her was both inviting and intimidating at the same time.

  Steadying her breath, Meredith quirked an eyebrow and asked, “Don’t feel like sharing either?”

  He stared at her for a long moment before letting out a long sigh. “Not really, so if you’re done judging my lifestyle, please show yourself out,” he said, letting go of her.

  The sudden loss of his heat around her wrist sparked disappointment, but Meredith tightened her jaw and let her hand drop from the stack of books. “Maybe I should be talking to your brother instead,” she mumbled, stepping aw
ay from the man.

  Malcolm let out a small chuckle. “Go ahead and try to have this talk with my brother.”

  Meredith rolled her eyes, wondering briefly if his brother would be more help. It was true, the other Blackwood wasn’t well known for his tracking skills, but maybe he had hidden talents. She also wouldn’t have to worry about constantly being distracted by this quivering feeling if she just bit the bullet and went to his brother instead. “Fine. Just remember, Malcolm, someone is targeting magical items and your family hoards them just as much as mine.”

  Turning on her heel, Meredith headed towards the stairwell. Just as her foot lowered down onto the first step, she heard Malcolm say, “Good luck.”

  Letting out a sigh, she turned her head to look at him. He had thrown a hand up in a weak wave and was still stretched across the couch. For an instant, Meredith wished she had that freedom. The freedom to lay back without any worries and maybe talk Malcolm into one or two of his private lessons. If only.

  “Take care, Malcolm,” Meredith said quietly and hurried down the stairs to get away from the man.

  Back out on the street, Meredith shoved her hands deep into her jacket pockets. Worry ate at her stomach. Working with Malcolm to track down the thief had been the only plan she had. Asking his brother was too much of a long shot and meant being truly indebted to the Blackwoods. Besides, making a formal request would take more time than Meredith had. Now, alone, she would have to find a way to track down the Dragon’s Eye on her own. Pulling off a tracking spell would drain a great deal of the magic she had left, but she didn’t see any other reliable option.

  Sparing one last longing glance back at Malcolm’s apartment, Meredith felt a ping of disappointment. Then with a deep sigh she set out to find all the things she would need to perform a tracking spell.

  ****

  The sound of her shoes descending the stairs was almost enough to drive him crazy, and when he heard the door click closed Malcolm knew he had made a mistake by letting her walk out. Clinching his teeth, Malcolm swung his feet off the couch and sat up. He had seen her magic flickering behind her eyes and it was like a flickering firefly compared to the lightening that was once there. “Damnit,” he grumbled as he raked his fingers through his hair.