In-Between Work and Play (The Jocelyn Frost Series Book 1) (6 page)

Pinching the
bridge of my nose, I waited for my eyes to focus.  Having been at it for
several hours, now the stupid, tiny letters on the page I was reading started
to blur together. I felt like ripping apart the book, but that would have been
childish.  I should have known only a tiny fraction of the collection was
actually written in English.  Most of the collection was written in Latin.  It
had been several years since I had to read anything in Latin, but at least, I
managed to get the general idea of what was being described.

Well past my
breaking point, my eyelids felt like lead.  My head bobbed as my eyes drooped.
The back legs of a chair sliding on the floor caused my head to jerk up.
Opening the next book, the unique aroma of mustiness and age filled my nose,
reminding me of research papers from long ago that I hated writing.

The words
shifted from blurry to clear.  This book was written by someone with meticulous
handwriting.  Skimming the page once more, I didn’t find anything worth
rereading. 

Spell after
spell dealt with handling cramps, increasing fertility, surviving the birthing
experience, ways to cause sterility, treating venereal diseases, and
menopause.  Ugh, nothing on contraceptive methods.  I slammed the cover shut. 

“Please be
careful with that. We only have one copy of each of these books.”

“Sorry…” I
lifted my cell phone.  With a quick tap of my thumb, the screen displayed the
obnoxiously late hour.  I tossed the phone on the table, not caring if the damn
thing broke. “I can’t believe this is so difficult!”

I shifted my
gaze toward Dex and the mountain of documents that towered over him.  “It’s not
so bad.  I’ve found at least four different spells dedicated to curing genital
warts.” 

The color
drained from my face. “I’m not even going to ask.”  Ugh, gross, I did not want
to touch that one with a yardstick.

Laughter filled
the air as Dex fought to hold it in.  The sound echoed through the stacks. 
“Don’t worry, I’m STD free.”

My delirious
chuckles rang in my ears.  It was already after two in the morning.  My father
was a god of light, and, as the darkness wrapped around this part of the
In-Between, my overall being continued to weaken.  Unlike my new associate,
whose daddy was a moon god, Dex was probably used to keeping such late hours. 

Glancing back at
Declan nearly brought a squeal to my lips.  His eyes were completely black.  I
got up and sat next to him for about a minute.  “Dex?”  I waved my hand in
front of his face.  “Earth, I mean, the In-between to Mr. Declan Rivers!” 
Nothing.  Perhaps he was having a conversation with Bill and Ted?  I leaned in,
puckering my lips, which grazed his.  Still nothing.

Whatever… I
needed to get back to work.  A dusty text to my right was calling my name. 
Flipping it open, Greek symbols jumped off the page.  For the love of Odin, I
couldn’t read Greek.  Pushing it to the side, I found that the next one was
written in Norse Runes.

Declan

“Aghhh!”
Ted barked in my ear.

“What
is it now?  Are the wisps teasing you again?”
I
twisted my lips and casually glanced toward the brunette whose nose was stuck
in a thousand-paged book.  She flipped through it, skimming through a small
section before pushing it aside.

Jocelyn’s eyes
were starting to cross.  Poor girl, it was already after two in the morning. 
Normally, I stayed up until at least to three unless I was scheduled to work
the early shift. 

My father, Djeheuty,
also known as Thoth, was revered as a moon god in Ancient Egypt.  Although it
may not have seemed like much, I rarely needed more than four hours of sleep a
day.  That left me with a lot of free time.  Jocelyn, on the other hand, looked
like she was well past her mental breaking point.

“Agh?”
Bill barked.

“Yes? 
Is everything quiet out there?” 
I
shifted my conscious mind into those of the statues.  Darkness and a warm
breeze greeted me. There was nothing but an empty park that stretched at least
a block to either side of me.  Strobe lights and loud techno music hammered the
air from the Department of Sex Magic building, indicating the nightly orgy was
in full swing. 

An image of a
male baboon mating with a red-assed female filled my mind. 
“Agh!  Are you doing this with her yet?”

“Bill…
Ted… Let me make myself clear.  I am not mating with Jocelyn Frost.  I’ve only
known her for two days!”

Another image of
a very curvy, platinum-blonde vampire that I hooked up with a couple of months
ago popped into my mind. 
“That was one
time, guys, come on!  No man in his right mind would have passed up mating with
that vamp.”

The next image
made me cringe.  Their human forms were copulating in so many different ways
with the same blonde vampire, they could have made the authors of the Kama
Sutra blush.  “
That’s great guys. Just the
images I want to have burned into my memory.  Who needs porn when you have two
horny gargoyles—were-baboons—imagining how they would have my sloppy seconds?” 
Both of them barked their endorsement. 

Unlike most
weres, Bill and Ted transformed into humans during the full moon.  The rest of
the time, they were forced to remain in their statue baboon forms.  I’m not
even going to mention some of the crazy places I’ve found their statues the
morning after a full moon. 

I pitied them
enough to have searched just about every source I could think of to let them turn
into humans more often, but sadly, I couldn’t find anything.  The only person
who could reverse the spell was my father, and he had his own reasons for
turning them into stone.  What those were, I wasn’t privy to, nor were the
baboons willing to speak about it.

Returning my
mind’s eye to my own body, I cast another quick glance toward Jocelyn’s table,
and found her fast asleep.  Crap, the familiar ache of my loins threatened to
rip my pants open. Damn it.  That’s what I get for checking in with those damn
baboons. 

For the love of
cheese, I needed to get my head back into the game.  Just because Jocelyn was
looking for a way to fornicate without getting pregnant, didn’t mean that she
would give me the honor of letting her try out whatever we eventually found.

Wincing, I
shifted myself through my slacks.  After a thorough mental chastising, I found
the strength to refocus on the task at hand. 

Two hours passed
before I exhausted all the reference materials that I pulled.  I even went into
the healing books to see if there were any references to pregnancy prevention
spells.  Nothing popped up.  And yes, that was after I took a quick break to
deal with my happy camper. 

A draining
weariness tugged at the edges of my consciousness, reminding me that it was time
to go home.  Running my fingers through my dark hair, I decided to call it a
night. 

The tables were
a mess, but that didn’t bother me.  Our current location in the stacks was
rarely used by most patrons.  Most ordered their books online or just made use
of the secondary resources found in the database.  If anything, I was the only
one who ever ventured this far into the stacks.

I slid a couple
of spellbooks and scrolls into my messenger bag before turning my attention
toward the sleeping beauty.

Even though she
looked completely at ease, I was afraid that Jocelyn might start to drool all
over the book that she was using as a pillow. 

Hmmm…
What should I do with her?

I couldn’t just
leave her with her face plastered in a book.  Besides damaging the book, I
could only imagine the neck cramp she would wake up to.  It also didn’t help
that I was working mid-day tomorrow, so if I left her, I would get into
trouble. 

Brushing a
strand of hair from her face, I leaned in and whispered into her ear,
“Jocelyn?”  A soft sigh escaped her lips.  “Jocelyn,” I spoke louder, “it’s
time to wake up.”  She sat up, but then slumped back over in my direction.  
“By Osiris, you’re a heavy sleeper!” I smirked as her eyes slowly opened. 

“Come on,
Sleeping Beauty.  Let me walk you home. It’s almost dawn.”

A yawn escaped
her plush lips. “I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.”

I pulled her
onto her feet. “No worries.”

 “I’ll be fine
getting home.  You don’t have to go to the trouble of escorting me all the way
there.” She swayed on her feet.  I would have wagered that in another minute,
she would plop back down and pass out again.

“The streets
aren’t safe at this time of night.  And you, Miss Frost, are a child of the
light. You’re weak right now and not quite fully conscious.”

Her brows
knitted together as fighting words crossed her face, which were quickly
replaced with a look of resignation. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For being
honest?  I don’t know.  I just want to go back to sleep.  Let’s go.”  Cranky
much?  That’s okay. I can take cranky, especially when it melts away so fast.

“Arg!
You still here?” 
Ted barked into
my mind.

“Yes,
I’m still here.  Anything interesting going on?”

“No!”
Bill complained. 

“Guys,
Jocelyn’s ready to pass out again.  I’m going to walk her home.”

Bill and Ted
roared with excitement.  They sent me dozens of images of red-assed female
baboons fornicating with various males. 
“Stop
it!  I’m not going to take advantage of her.  Good night, guys.  I’ll see you
two tomorrow.”

The streets were
eerily silent, amplifying our steps, which seemed to echo off the stone
buildings. Too tired to speak, we walked most of the way to the Residential
District in silence.  Actually, I walked. Jocelyn practically glided there in
her sleep.  Her glossy curls stuck to my sleeve like an electrically charged
balloon.  By Hathor, she smelled good.  I could only imagine what her… Stop
it!  Mental slap. 

Too late, my
sense of smell heightened, and pierced through her lavender-scented hair. 
Hathor help me, she smelled as fresh as the dawn.  My inner baboon roared,
sending blood straight to my penis.

Beating down the
urge to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, my other senses started to
diminish.  I almost missed a dark shadow that crossed my peripheral vision to
my left.  A second later, another one darted off to my right down an alley. 
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  An old, musty odor swirled around
us as the breeze bounced off the nearby buildings.

Crap, vampires.
The flow of blood shifted their heads, allowing me to transition into an
instinctual mode of behavior.  Nothing mattered more to me at that moment than
protecting my female.

I picked up our
speed.  Judging by the strength of their scent, there had to be at least four
males nearby.  Females generally masked their scents with deodorizers and
perfumes.  Males could do the same thing if they cared enough, but unless they
were involved with someone outside their enclave, they rarely bothered. 

My plan was
simple. If I could get to the Residential District, the security cameras would
alert the Enforcers.  Not that I wanted their help, but I was definitely not
willing to risk Jocelyn’s safety.

I grabbed
Jocelyn’s hand, pulling her into a sprint.  She didn’t fight me.  If anything,
she seemed to understand that we were in danger.

The Borough of
Converging Worlds was designed as a safe haven from predators like vampires. 
If the vampires worked or conducted business there, they were supposed to
frequent the blood bank in order to fill their sustenance requirements.  All
employees, draftees, and interns contributed quarterly in order to keep the
vampires adequately fed.  There was absolutely no reason for them to hunt us.

“Damn heels!”
Jocelyn almost twisted her ankle.  “For the love of Odin, that stench is awful,”
she gagged.  “Just because they are undead, why do they feel the need to smell
like a morgue?  Didn’t they ever hear about personal hygiene?  That would mean
using water, however, and not all vampires can handle water.”  Nervously, she
started to hum the Wicked Witch of the West’s theme song.