The Unseen Series
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Maya Chevalia
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367K
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15
Chapter 1
Book 1: Silent
The day started like any other. Almost.
Nonali couldnât seem to shake a sense of dread. It lurked as she got dressed and made her breakfast. Her bread popped out of the toaster completely blackened, smoke curling off it like a foul omen.
The feeling followed her to work, and then to lunch, where she met her best friend Vanessa Vereno, or Vee, as sheâd been dubbed by Nonali a week into kindergarten.
Over two steaming cups, Nonali struggled to follow Veeâs prattling account of her latest drama. She clung to her coffee, willing the drinkâs warmth to usher away the chill creeping up her spine.
ââŠBut itâs not like he isnât still incredibly attractive just because he can be a jerk sometimes!â Vee stopped to take a breath and a sip of her almost untouched hot chocolate. Nonali wanted to cry.
More boy talk.
âWeâve been dating on and off for a few weeks, itâs just that he not only has trust issues, but heâs afraid of any type of intimacy and has a tendency to lash out when pushed,â Vee fumed, an identical tirade to their last lunch.
âWhy not just dump him? Sounds like a lot of trouble,â Nonali grumbled, picking up her cup once more as if it would hide her from Veeâs flaming glare.
Veeâs gasp caused the heads of the other cafĂ© dwellers to swivel their way.
âDump him? I think not! I must help him get through his issues and open up! Otherwise, what good am I as a therapist?â She ended with a wink.
âIâm not sure dating is the best venue for getting your moneyâs worth out of that psychology degree,â Nonali said.
âOh, donât be ridiculous.â Vee flipped her long blonde hair. âIâm not obsessed with dating broken people, Iâm just good at fixing them!â
âFixing,â Nonali snorted. âRight.â
Just as Nonali was about to let out a sigh, Veeâs green eyes glinted with mischief. No good could come from that.
âI made reservations at Vixenâs!â
Nonaliâs stomach flip-flopped.
âOh, do we have to go toâŠthat particular restaurant?â
âOf course!â Vee exclaimed. âVixenâs Kiss is one of the most upscale restaurants in the city! The food is fantastic, and the service is always above and beyond!â
âItâs justâŠâ Nonali swallowed hard. âThe ownerââ
In her mindâs eye, she remembered the tall, stunning woman who was standing on the balcony above the dining floor. Nonali could see through the womanâs false human exterior down to her true form: a six-tailed demon fox known as a kitsune.
Knowing that the restaurant was owned and operated by demons ruined her appetite.
âThe owner is gorgeous, what are you talking about?â Vee laughed.
The forbidding feeling hanging over Nonaliâs head started to descend like a weight on her chest.
âBe there tonight at nine, if you would!â Vee said, glancing down at her watch and scrambling out of the booth. She chugged the rest of her drink and waved on her way out.
Nonali looked at her own watch and realized she was already late getting back to the office.
For as long as Nonali could remember, she could see into the world of the Unseen.
Even as she walked down the street to her office, she spotted a man passing by with horns sticking out of his forehead. A woman with a pointed tail brushed to her left.
Standing at the bus stop, a child with feathers coming out of his shirt held the hand of a smiling lady with teeth too sharp to be normal.
Nonali tried relentlessly not to see the Other. Her gaze never lingered too long, she never commented on the things she saw. Ignorance was bliss and she was determined to be blissful, dammit!
She ignored her coworker in the cubicle across from her with his lizard tail, purple scales, and slitted, ice-colored eyes underneath his attractive human persona. She greeted him quickly and quietly, before sitting at her desk, resuming the accounting book sheâd been half finished with before taking her lunch break.
She could feel the weight of his eyes on her as the clicking of keys became a balm on her soul. The simple equations for calculating this quarterâs earnings made the rest of the world melt away.
She genuinely enjoyed her work as this departmentâs secretary and bookkeeper, despite the fact that her boss was an incubus and her cubicle neighbor was a dragon. Most of the rest of the staff were human, and no one bothered her. She assumed a less-than-friendly countenance to keep her workplace undisturbed.
At least, no one usually disturbed her.
A gruff clearing of a throat didnât give her pause in her calculations. Nonali hoped if she just ignored the sound, he would go away, much like she hoped with everything else. For a moment, the intruder hesitated, but he gathered his courage and shuffled a little further into her personal space.
Nonali sighed and put her books aside.
Callum was a tall man, though she supposed a dragon couldnât be anything less. His human body was well built, and easy on the eyes, what with his spiked brown hair, olive skin, and rippling muscles. He did not look as though he belonged in an office.
He was almost bashful, reaching his hand up to run through his hair in a nervous kind of way she had recognized from her many days seated across from him.
âHey, uh, I was wondering if maybe youâd be interested in going out tonight?â he questioned with a slight blush bridging his cheeks.
If Nonali had been normal, and heâd been human, she might have been more inclined to agree with his shy declaration of his interest. However, she could see the hunger and blood lust in his serpentine gaze. If she were to go out with him, she was unlikely to return.
She tried to control her fight-or-flight instinct as fear hammered her heart in her ribs. Swallowing, she replied with the truth.
âI have plans tonight.â
His human facade frowned in disappointment, while the one underneath boiled with rage.
âHow about tomorrow?â he tried.
The lean form of her boss Everett, or, Mr. Norse, peeked around the cubicle opening with a charming smile, though the smile underneath his human mask was angry and strained.
âOffice relationships are prohibited, Mr. Bennett. Thatâs a rule we take quite seriously here. This is your first and only warning.â
Nonali had never been so happy to see the bastard before.
The dragon underneath Callumâs skin rumbled and bared his teeth at her savior, even as on the outside he laughed it off and clapped Mr. Norse on the shoulder before returning to his own desk.
âIs everything okay, Miss Beauchamp?â Mr. Norseâs velvety voice questioned, though his eyes were drawn to her heaving chest.
Nonali struggled to get her panicked breathing under control and smiled up at him politely. Everett had never been anything but professional with her in the workplace, and while she didnât like demons, she respected him as her employer.
âThank you for the intervention,â she said in a low tone, aware that the pissed-off dragon next door didnât take kindly to her rejection or the interference of their boss.
âOf course, Iâd hate to have to fire the only secretary in this building thatâs worth a damn.â He grinned at her, eyes still locked onto the cleavage her button-up shirt provided, though her fearful heaving had since ceased.
âIâll have the reports you need and your scheduled meetings on your desk before the day is out,â she said, trying to distract him.
He groaned and nodded, trudging away from her desk and back into his dark-tinted office. When the day finally let out, she found the drive back to her empty apartment to be a slow one, caught up in afternoon traffic and her thoughts. Hopefully she didnât see Mr. Norse in her dreams again tonight.
Everettâs visitations began not long after she started this job. After a few weeks, sheâd caught him staring at her over the papers handed to him along with his morning coffee in quite the same way heâd been staring at her today.
He had two faces, but they so closely mirrored one another, she thought perhaps she was just imagining it. It was his cow-like tail that sold him out, but she was still unsure of what kind of Other he was. At least until she woke up drenched in sweat after the naughtiest dream sheâd ever had. She knew he had to be an incubus then and there because there was just no way she was that creative, having only ever slept with two people in her twenty-five years of existence.
Nonali had a few dreams about him here and there for a month or so after the first one, but they quickly died off when she noticed that the quality of her work was lacking on the days after his visits.
Every once in a while, however, Mr. Norse would show up in her dreams, using her like an energy drink.
Nonali unlocked her door and threw her bag onto the couch as she kicked off the heels, undressing the further into her apartment she went.
The clock on the wall gave her around two hours to get ready to meet Vee, but she really just wanted to lie in bed in her underwear and binge TV.
The sweet relief of removing her bra was only momentary as she reluctantly plugged in her curling iron and dug out her makeup bag. It took her the better part of an hour just to find a decent dress, settling on a knee-length, deep-red number with long sleeves and generous cleavage.
She wrangled her inky tresses into manageable curls and smeared on lipstick the same crimson as her dress.
***
The intense feeling of unease sheâd felt this morning returned and magnified upon her arrival at Vixenâs, only getting worse as she was led to one of the balcony tables overlooking the restaurant garden.
She had to admit the kitsune had a fine eye for beauty. Already seated, Vee squealed to get her attention, excitedly standing, causing the metal chair to screech violently across the floor. Nonali grinned and hugged her before taking the seat across from her.
The server was quick to swoop in, setting a menu before her and a glass for the bottle of wine at the center of the table, recommending that she take her time.
âYou know this is your treat, right?â Nonali remarked casually as she filled her glass with the sweet-smelling red. Truthfully, she never cared for wine, but her day had been long, and it would take the edge off the bad feeling she couldnât get away from.
âNaturally,â Vee rolled her eyes. âI wanted you to meet Ezra, and I knew the only way to get you to come was to lure you out with expensive food.â
Nonaliâs stomach soured at the thought of meeting another one of Vanessaâs unfortunate pastimes, and she wanted nothing more than to get up and leave. Sensing her distaste, Vee quickly put a hand over hers to stop her from standing. âAnything you want. You can get anything you want from the menu. No matter the cost,â she bargained.
Nonali leaned back in her seat.
âWell, it would be awfully rude not to give him a chance, besides, I did get dressed up and everything,â she acquiesced slyly.
âNonali!â Vee gasped, dismayed at how easily sheâd been played.
âSo where is this mystery man anyway?â Nonali cut her off.
âHe had to take a call, but he should be back in a minute. Oh! There he is now!â Her friend pointed.
The moment Nonali pivoted in her seat, her heart dropped into her stomach and fluttered in fear.
On the outside, he was breathtaking: a thick, messy bun of red hair, broad and heavily muscled, and green eyes reminiscent of spring, but she could see him. The real him.
The man had smoldering, broken black wings and ram horns adorning each side of his skull. Scars covered every inch of that pale skin, and his eyes were darker than pitch from corner to corner.
Terror froze her blood.
