A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

could share with me?”
Dallas asked as soon as we reached the hall.
    “What?”
    He shrugged. “You know, whatever you bought
them. I’ll totally pay half.”
    I laughed. He was so gullible, like an
overexcited little boy. Who else would believe he’d scored the jackpot by
stealing a bunch of fake gemstones? Would he ever grow up? “All right. Mom and
Dad needn’t know.”
    Dallas let out a big breath. “You got me
scared for a second. Mom would’ve kicked me out. She did last year. Literally.”
    “Yeah, I remember.” Dallas had been the
only guest to turn up at the anniversary without a clue what the party was for.
In an angry fit, my mother had called him an airhead, who couldn’t find his
brain even if it came knocking on his door. I never laughed so hard.
    “Thanks, you’re a lifesaver. I owe you big
time.” He turned on his heel to head back to the living room when I grabbed his
arm.
    “There’s something else I need to talk to
you about. Come on.” Ignoring his raised brows, I pulled him up the stairs to my
room. As soon as I closed the door behind us, I turned to face him. “You
brought them, didn’t you?”
    His face lit up for a moment. “If you mean
the stones, they’re in my backpack in the kitchen under the table.” A frown appeared
on his forehead. “You told me to leave them there.” I nodded. He breathed out,
relieved. “What do you want with them anyway? They’re worthless.”
    Give
them back to the psychopath owner. But I couldn’t
tell Dallas. Not when the owner wasn’t human. “I’ll return them.”
    “You know her?”
    “Sort of. Actually, no.” I hurried to add, “But
I have friends who do. You wouldn’t believe how sentimental this particular
lady is. They’ve been in her family for generations. Like your researcher
friend, she’s into legends.”
    “My friend deciphered some of the
inscriptions. He said there’s a paranormal race every five hundred years, and whoever
finds the gemstones gets some kind of gift, or maybe it’s a curse. We couldn’t
figure that out.”
    Definitely a curse. I puffed. “Listen, if I
had any supernatural abilities I’d have used them on you already. You know,
turn invisible and pull down your pants in front of Cass and everyone else.”
    “You wouldn’t!”
    “I remember a certain somebody leaving me
all alone in the woods.”
    “You’re never going to drop that one, are
you?” Dallas said.
    I grinned. “Never.”
    “So the owner wants to link this bag of
stones to all the things that go bump in the night. Even if she finishes
decoding the inscriptions, it’s not like she’ll ever meet a vampire, werewolf, or
whatever. I mean what’re the chances?”
    I cleared my throat. “You’d be surprised.”
    “Who cares about this stuff anyway? It’s a
bunch of hogwash, if you ask me.”
    I patted his arm, eager to drop the topic. “Real
or not, let’s give this woman her stones back, okay?”
    “What is she, some old, sweet lady?” Dallas
asked. I groaned. Was he ever going to stop his interrogation?
    “She’s pretty old from what I hear. Not
sure about the sweet part.”
    “Do what you want, then.” Dallas seemed to
be finally losing interest; his glance kept wandering to the door as though he
couldn’t get away fast enough. I narrowed my gaze, realizing I shouldn’t have
asked him to pop over.
    “Are you late for a hot date?” My laughter
rang fake.
    “No, not at all. I’m here to catch up on my
sister’s life.” His gaze swept over the furniture and unmade bed, then back to
the door. I figured I had his undivided attention for all of twenty seconds.
    I plopped down on the bed and turned to
face him. “I quit my job.”
    “What? I thought I was the only job jumper
in the family. I mean, aren’t you supposed to be responsible while I get to be
the reckless one?” He chuckled. “No longer, huh? What will you tell Mom and Dad
when you return to London?”
    “Well, thanks for asking why I quit.” I
pouted. Why hadn’t I thought of my mother’s reaction? I couldn’t say I’d been
fired because no one was ever fired from a work placement. Quitting wasn’t an
option either; I’d heard my parents lecture Dallas over and over again.
    Dallas laughed. “I don’t need to ask because
I know. You treat cooking like it’s rocket science, and doing laundry’s not
your strength either. It’s no big deal, but with no home you’ll have to live
with Mom and Dad for a while. Can’t wait to hear your