Free Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) by Dawn Ibanez

couldn’t remember the last time she found herself in
a relationship, and that scared the hell out of her. “Yes?” she asked.
    He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. “What is
your connection to the Vampires?”
    Madison slowly licked her lips as she glanced at the archway
into the kitchen. “It’s a long story,” she warned. Her eyes went round when
Troy growled and lifted her over his shoulder. “Troy!” she squeaked.
    “How many times are you going to make me tell you that I’m
not going anywhere?” he asked as he carried her up the stairs. “I don’t care if
it takes you the rest of the afternoon to explain, I just want to know.”
Without knowing which way to go to her room, he turned to his left and started
down the hall.
    “Put me down,” she ordered. A growl of her
own escaped as he continued to walk down the hall. “Troy, I’m not a
child.”
    Troy nodded. “I know. But you’re trying to act like one.” He
reached the last door on and stood in front of it. “You need to stop expecting
me to just drop you and leave.” He lowered her to the floor and held her face
in his hands. “So just shut the fuck up and explain.”
    Madison looked into his eyes for a moment. He wasn’t angry
with her, which was somewhat surprising. He just wanted to get to know her. A
small smile crossed her face. “How can I shut up if you want me to talk?” she
asked quietly.
    His shoulders fell as he pressed his forehead against hers.
He started to chuckle as her hands came to his waist. “You know what I mean,”
he said before kissing her nose. “Why are you so close to so many Vampires?”
    “We raised her,” Casper’s voice answered from down the hall.
    Madison’s back went rigid as she caught sight of her friend.
She had always known that Casper had some sort of feelings for her, but for her
own peace of mind she always ignored him. As Troy turned to him, she tightened
her grip in his shirt. “My magic came to me when I turned five.” If she was
going to be honest, she was going to have to start now. “I was shipped off by
my parents to New York to live with another Necromancer named Pan. The only
downfall was that Pan wasn’t always around. He had things that he always had to
work on, and he couldn’t take a child with him. Crispin babysat me a few times
and then Victor came to the city looking for his daughter. He found me and I’ve
been his ever since.”
    Troy slowly nodded. He had a number of questions running
through his head but there was only one he wanted answered while they had an
audience. “So this asshole down the hall is like your brother?”
    Madison’s shoulders fell as she heard Casper hiss. She knew
what Troy was doing. He wanted her to put Casper in his place, or he would, in
a bloodier fashion. “Casper’s like a brother, yes,” she agreed. “But don’t
think that you two can just trade insults and I’ll always take your side.” She
then looked around Troy to Casper. “Or yours. You of all people know that I
will call it as I see it.” She stepped away from Troy and glared at both of
them. “So I will warn you both now, my name is not Bella.”
    Troy grinned at her, flashing his dimple. “I’ve always been
partial to Team Jacob,” he quipped.
    A laugh escaped her before she could stop it. With his sense
of humor, she was either going to hate him or fall completely in love with him.
    Casper hissed out a breath as he picked up on Madison’s
thought. “If you care,” he spat, “Father has taken the boys and the Princess to
Éclair’s.”
    Madison held onto Troy’s arm and glared at Casper. “Who the
hell do you think you are?” she asked moving around Troy. When Casper didn’t
say anything, she went on. “You know I care about my boys.”
    “You could have fooled me,” Casper countered. “As soon as he
showed up, you run off to fuck him in the woods. All you leave behind is an
order to watch them.” He folded his arms over his chest and scoffed.