Biting Oz: Biting Love, Book 5 Read Online Free Page B

bows.
    Good thing the kids had gone, though. With the secondary characters and even some of the stars flubbing it, Director Dumbass harangued us until midnight. By the time we played the last note and packed up, I was more than ready for that drink, whatever Nixie’s “why not”.
    Which remained unexplained. The instant Takashi laid down his baton, she abandoned her instruments and dashed out of the pit. I leaned over to ask Julian if he wanted to come to Nieman’s, but he was turned from me, face pressed to his phone, talking earnestly and inaudibly.
    So I disassembled and cleaned my instruments. Even with three, he was still on the phone when I finished, so I gave up.
    Rocky and I were trudging up the aisle (thankfully with less equipment than when I came, as my stand and light would stay for the duration of the run) when Julian stopped us.
    I blinked. “You’re off the phone?”
    “A bit of a problem with my household.” Julian’s voice was a deep, cultured baritone that slipped over a woman’s skin like pearls, so it took a moment for his words to filter through my primitive slobber-brain. Not only does he have a voice set on sex, the man is inhumanly gorgeous. Black hair, startling blue eyes, aristocratic features, and a body that, when he chooses to show it off, can turn a woman’s chair into a Slip ‘N Slide. But he’s so totally in love with Nixie that he has the letters VT stamped on his forehead: Very Taken. Not really. Almost, though. His devotion to his wife only makes him more attractive.
    Black hair, blue eyes, unnaturally handsome…actually, Julian reminded me of Glynn. Though there were subtle differences. Julian’s eyes were laser-sharp, Glynn’s were dark jewels. Julian’s hair was perfectly trimmed, Glynn’s was spiky and a bit too long. Julian’s nose and jaw were exquisitely honed, the Renaissance noble; Glynn was the druid prince—watchful, secretive, yet possessing great power and able to fight when necessary.
    I flashed a mental image, a tall, broad-shouldered figure swathed in a dark cloak, twirling on a nighttime battlefield, huge silver blade dancing in the moonlight…ooh. That made me hot.
    Julian cocked a brow at me.
    I flushed. What had he been saying? Oh yeah, trouble with the household. Julian owned a set of townhouses, so I mentally substituted “apartments”. He occasionally used odd words, probably because he was old Boston money. At least that’s what Nixie said. “We’re going to Nieman’s,” I began.
    “Yes. I heard you’re going out with Mishela.” His tone was unusually cool.
    “Her and Glynn. Want to come?”
    “Junior, the thing is, Mishela and Glynn aren’t like you and Rocky.”
    He was warning me off, just like Nixie…no, not just like Nixie, because of Nixie. The bricky titch had pulled a Sales Maneuver—siccing a well-meaning relation on me. (Cousin Liese had tried to get me to talk her mom out of marrying a reformed bad boy. It backfired because I kind of liked Race.) “Not like us? Are they brain-sucking zombies? Space aliens?” I gasped. “Mimes?”
    “No, of course not.” He looked away. “Not exactly.”
    “Then what? Exactly.”
    “Well, I…” Frustration shaded his features. “I can’t say.” His eyes returned to mine and they were an eerie shade of violet. “But be very careful.”
    Though I mostly ignored Nixie and Julian’s weirdness, that shook me. Smiling to cover it, I latched on to Rocky’s arm and pulled her out the door. He watched me with those strange violet eyes the whole way.

Chapter Two
    Even having to swab and dismantle three instruments, the little interlude with Julian, dropping off my stuff at home and walking to the bar, Rocky and I got to Nieman’s first. Well, Mishela had to take off stage makeup and get notes from Director Dumbass, a gruesome experience. That pancake’s nasty too.
    I chatted with Rocky on autopilot, thinking about Glynn, or rather thinking about how to not think about Glynn, which