Sapphire Flames

by Ilona Andrews

  “It came with the frame.”

  He grinned.

  If I had a gun, I would’ve shot him. I did have a gun. It was locked in the nightstand. Getting it would mean risking being within his reach, and he was very fast.

  “I took some pics in Sydney last week, on the beach. With my shirt off. I can send a few to your phone, if you’d like.”

  How dare . . . “No, I wouldn’t like.”

  Alessandro raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? Judging by the condition of my car, you have a lot of pent-up anger.”

  He’d watched me take apart his Jeep. Probably while searching my room. It was good that humans couldn’t spontaneously explode, because otherwise I would have disintegrated.

  “What does my anger have to do with your selfies?”

  “You might find having a hot pic of me by your bed relaxing.”

  He did not just imply what I thought he implied.

  Yes, yes, he did.

  “If I wanted a hot pic by my bed for relaxation, it wouldn’t be yours.” There.

  “You’re right. Why settle for a picture when you can have the real thing?” He spread his arms. “I’m right here.”

  Oh my God.

  “In your bed. Waiting.”

  Yes . . . No. No!

  He was looking at me as if I was naked.

  It was my most secret fantasy. He was in my room. On my bed. Looking at me. Smiling at me like he wanted me. Everything I’d ever dreamed of was right there.

  My heart pounded in my chest at a million beats per minute. My cheeks grew warm. I gathered all my will into a steel fist. Do not blush. Do NOT blush. Why was this happening to me? He wasn’t even doing anything. He was just looking at me and talking.

  Alessandro studied me, and when he spoke, his tone sent tiny shivers down my neck. It was intimate and seductive, and it promised me all the things I wanted and couldn’t have. “Is it because your family is downstairs? Don’t worry, we can be very quiet.”

  The temptation to cross the room and touch him was almost too much. I could . . . No, I couldn’t. He was mocking me. He saw the picture, put two and two together, and now he was taunting me with it.

  The entire floor of my bedroom was a single arcane circle. I had drawn it with soap on the floorboards to trap a possible intruder. If I activated it, all his jokes would dry up real fast.

  If I activated the circle, I would lose all my work, and it would turn our conversation into combat. Using my wings would get us there even faster. There would be no coming back from that, and I needed Alessandro. I needed the information locked in his head.

  Oh, how I would love to wipe that smug grin off his face.

  I forced myself to relax. It was like trying to stretch a really wide rubber band. My body resisted. Every cell I had wanted to keep focusing on him. On his hands. On his face. On his amber eyes . . .

  “What do you want? Make it quick, Alessandro, I’m busy.”

  He sat up. “That’s not typically a request I get.”

  So funny, so clever. Jackass.

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Today.”

  He reached over and patted Shadow on her fuzzy head. “After our fun trip to the mall, I asked myself if you would ever see reason and walk away from this mess. Would you like to know my conclusion?”

  “No.”

  “I believe you won’t, and I’ll tell you why. You are the kind of woman who stops in the middle of fighting hired killers to rescue a small, foul-smelling, doglike creature.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  He swung himself into a sitting position. “Please hold all questions until the end of the speech. Runa Etterson did your family a favor during your sister’s wedding by removing poison from the wedding cake. She’s your friend, probably your only friend.”

  “I have tons of friends.”

  “And I have access to a computer and your social media profiles. Your younger sister has tons of friends. Your Instagram has five followers, all of whom are related to you, and your most popular post is a book review of The Geometry of Arcane Circles, where you called the author an ‘epic idiot.’”

  I gave him my Tremaine sneer. If I had been an ice mage, the air between us would’ve frozen. “Prime Sagredo, my House is none of your business. My sisters, my cousins, my grandmother, and their social media are none of your business. You have now repeatedly violated the sovereign domain of my family. Get to the point and get out.”

  “That’s new,” Alessandro observed. “I like.”

  What wouldn’t I give to brain him with something heavy . . . “I’m so pleased.”

  “May I finish, Dread Mistress?”

  “I wish you would.”

  “The point is, you can’t abandon Runa. You’re going to turn yourself inside out to help her. It is literally who you are.”

  Alessandro set the pink frame back on the nightstand. All humor drained from his face. Only cold menace remained, sharpened by intelligence and resolve.

  “Unfortunately, you are in over your head. That leaves me with two choices. I can watch you die in a nasty way or I can throw you a rope.”

  Was he trying to con me? Did he need information from me? Trusting him was a mistake, I was sure of it. I’d cyberstalked him, I had researched his family, and I could name his favorite car, wine, and band, but I knew exactly zip about who he actually was. If he told me the sun was shining, I’d run outside to double-check.

  But Halle was still missing. If he knew anything about it, I had to get it out of him. He kept thinking of me as a dilettante. He wouldn’t tell me anything until he saw me as an equal.

  “Keep your rope. I want to know what you did with the two million dollars Sigourney paid you.”

  He came off the bed in a single spring-loaded movement, covering the distance between us in a fraction of a second. Suddenly he was too close.

  My heart sped up, and I didn’t know if it was from fear or excitement.

  Alessandro’s eyes measured me. He moved to the side, light on his feet, a deadly human predator, like a gladiator looking for an opportunity to close in for a kill. I was being hunted.

  “Be careful,” I warned him, turning to keep him in my view.

  He tilted his head, his tawny eyes sharp. “Planning to fight me?”

  “If you force me to.” Big talker, that’s me.

  The air between us vibrated with tension. Magic nipped at my fingertips, ready to punch the arcane circle under my feet.

  “You want to find Halle,” he said. “I need to identify Sigourney’s killer. Two roads going to the same place.”

  He was right. Whoever killed Sigourney likely had her daughter. “Why do you need to find Sigourney’s murderer?”

  “Because she paid me to kill them.”

  “How did she know to hire you? She didn’t pick your name out of a hat. Why did she think that you could kill an assassin?”

  “Some people know I’m good at killing.”

  The planet stopped. My mind struggled to process it. He was a professional killer. No different than the people who’d come after me in the mall. No different than the person who killed Runa’s mother.

  The little hopeless dream I carried inside me died.

  Why? He had everything going for him. Why?

  “Work with me and we’ll get this done together,” he said.

  Working with him would be a nightmare.

  This wasn’t an emotional problem. My feelings didn’t matter. I had to look at this rationally. All I had was the money and that trail ended with him. If I refused to work with him, he would continue his search on his own and we would keep tripping over each other. I would rather have him on our side than competing with me. Two was better than one.

  “If I work with you, will you share what you know about Sigourney’s death?”

  “Yes.”

  “Prove it. Tell me what you know about Diatheke and Benedict De Lacy.”

  He leaned forward half an inc
h. It was a small movement, but it felt like he had pounced on me.

  I held still and stared back at him. No, you’re not getting an inch. I’m going to stay right where I am.

  Alessandro studied me. “When I first met you, I thought you were a shy, innocent, honest girl who was overwhelmed by her sudden rise. But you’re not, are you?”

  Not anymore.

  “You’re smart, ruthless, and calculating. Conniving even.”

  Conniving was going too far.

  He flashed a grin, a quick baring of teeth. “I love it.”

  “I changed my mind. I don’t need your help.”

  “How fortunate for me that it’s not up to you.” He looked over my shoulder. “Why don’t we ask your friend if she wants me to help you find her sister?”

  I wasn’t about to turn my back to him. “Runa, are you behind me?”

  “Yes.”

  Crap.

  “My condolences on your loss, Prime Etterson,” Alessandro said.

  “Did you kill my mother?”

  I’d heard that brittle edge in her voice just before Conway started sprouting black fuzz. Alarm pulsed through me. I spun to face her, putting myself between her and Alessandro. Runa’s face had gone so white, it looked bloodless.

  “No,” Alessandro and I said at the same time.

  “He was in Australia at the time of her murder,” I added. “I’ve verified this.”

  “I have useful information,” he said. “I’m willing to help Catalina find Halle, but this is a one-time offer. Once I leave here, that’s it. Make a decision.”

  I knew exactly what she would say before she even opened her mouth.

  “I accept,” Runa said.

  Whatever little negotiating power I’d had just evaporated. I had to salvage what I could. “Give us some information as a show of good faith and we have a deal.”

  Alessandro flicked his fingers and tossed a black flash drive to Runa. “Your mother was a professional assassin. This is a record of her sins.”

  Runa looked at the flash drive in her hand like it was a snake. “Find my sister. That’s all that matters now.”

  She turned and walked down the stairs.

  The skin on the back of my neck prickled. Alessandro was right behind me, so close, I felt the heat of his body.

  “You tried to save me,” the wolf’s voice said inches from my ear. “I’m so touched.”

  The small hairs on the back of my neck stood up. In my head, he leaned in and kissed me, his lips scorching hot on my skin. Having him near me was excruciating, and I’d just tied myself to him for however long the investigation would take. This was so messed up. So, so messed up.

  Slowly, deliberately, I turned around. “Don’t read too much into it. Do you think Benedict killed Sigourney?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “The body was too burned. I do know that he either did it himself or had it done. When I spoke to Sigourney, she told me Diatheke would be targeting her.”

  “Then Diatheke has Halle.”

  “It appears so.” Alessandro grimaced. “The more pressing issue is that Benedict will retaliate, and soon. He lost one crystal elephant, two Guardians, eighteen killers, and a metamorphosis mage. Reputation is everything in his business.”

  “What exactly is his business?”

  Alessandro tilted his head. “Does this often work for you?”

  “What?”

  “Pretending you don’t know things you have already figured out.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “Why don’t you answer my question and I’ll tell you.”

  “Let me put it to you this way: everyone you met inside that building is a trained killer. Any account managers you met, they are killers. Their managers are killers. If you met a custodian, he’s a killer. The nice receptionist who greeted you, killer.”

  That’s what I’d suspected. “They’re an assassin firm.”

  He nodded.

  Assassin firms were the magical elite’s dirty secret. Not every House had combat Primes, but most prominent magical dynasties had money and a willingness to settle their private feuds through murder. The assassin firms operated in the shadows, selling their services to the highest bidder. Somehow, I never thought I would run across one in Houston.

  “This is a specific type of industry, where reputation is very important,” Alessandro said. “Diatheke is in the middle of a rapid expansion. A year ago, they were still a small firm. Now they’re in the top eight worldwide. Benedict can afford anything he wants, except looking weak. He’ll hit back to save face and to silence.”

  “Silence me?”

  “You, Runa, your family, anyone who works for you. Anyone who can expose them for what they are.”

  The Herald was full of Prime fanfic involving sexy assassins who were secretly bastard sons and daughters of the rich and powerful and went on to have edgy adventures. The reality was uglier and much more brutal. Nobody wanted the assassin firms to exist. People who had engaged their services wanted to silence them to tie up loose ends. Combat Primes wanted to eliminate them to maintain their power. Law enforcement wanted them gone because murder for hire was illegal and difficult to solve. The few times assassin firms had been discovered, the authorities broke them up with the assistance of the local Assemblies. I knew of four cases in the last fifty years and every one of them had ended in a slaughter. The loss of human life on both sides was catastrophic.

  “Do you understand now?” Alessandro asked softly.

  The enormity of the can of worms I had opened finally hit home. Benedict would do everything he could to keep from being discovered. He had a building full of killers at his disposal and he would just keep sending them after us until we were all dead. And if we went to the authorities with what we knew, we would sign Halle’s death warrant. They would slit her throat in retaliation.

  This would end in blood.

  What do I do? How do we prepare to fight this? How did I blunder so badly? Thoughts raced and collided in my head, too fast to make sense.

  Alessandro dipped his head to look me in the eyes. “We’re going to be best friends from now on, you and me. We’re going to do everything together.”

  I managed to pin a thought down and made my mouth move. “Where are you staying?”

  “In the building across the street on the left of the big tree. I like to keep an eye on you. Your security is shit.”

  I was getting really tired of people telling me that.

  Arrosa always said, “When backed into a corner, handle it with grace.” I scrounged up some grace. I had to look very hard for it.

  “How much do you know about the assassins Diatheke employs?”

  “Enough.”

  “I have a recording of Sigourney’s death.”

  He came to life like a shark smelling blood in the water. “Show me.”

  “I’ll bring it over. First, rules. One, do not attack or endanger my family. Two, share. If I find out that you discovered something and took off without telling me, the deal is off. And three, don’t give snacks to my dog without asking me first.”

  “Agreed.” He winked at me.

  “House Baylor is delighted to offer our hospitality to you, Mr. Sagredo. Dinner will be tonight at six. I’ll bring the recording by shortly.”

  He bowed with an exaggerated flourish, went to my window, opened it, and jumped out.

  I ran downstairs and burst into the media room. It was empty. I turned and sprinted into the kitchen. Empty. Where the hell was everybody?

  I tore through the warehouse to the office and all but flew through the door.

  Bern, Runa, and Ragnar sat at the table in the conference room with two laptops, a tablet, and notebooks with scribbled notes. In the corner Mom rested in her favorite chair, scrolling through her tablet. The four of them raised their heads and looked at me.

  “Where is everybody?”

  “Leon is passed out in his room, because he hasn’t slept for two days,” Bern said. “Grandm
a Frida is in the motor pool still working on the Guardians.”

  “Where is Arabella?”

  “She said she had an errand,” Mom said.

  I pulled out my phone and texted Arabella. Where are you?

  No answer.

  I dialed her number. It went to voice mail. Would it kill her to charge her phone? Half of the time her phone was dead and the rest it was dying, because she was always on it. Argh.

  “Something bad happened,” Runa guessed.

  “Diatheke is an assassin firm. They ordered the hit on your mother.”

  Mom sat up straight. “How sure are you?”

  “Pretty damn sure. We’re putting them at risk of exposure.”

  Ragnar tilted his head as if he was considering a thorny logical problem. When he finally recovered from the magic drain and his emotions returned, there would be hell to pay. “We should notify the authorities.”

  Runa’s face went white again. “We can’t.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Because they have your sister,” Bern said. “They’ll kill her.”

  Runa clenched her hands together. “Not if I get them first.”

  “You would never get to her in time,” Mom said.

  “We don’t know where they’re holding her,” I told her. “Diatheke’s building downtown is a fortress. Everything requires a keycard. Once you’re in the lobby, they can drop the grate over the front door and shoot you remotely. You won’t get the chance to kill anyone or to ask any questions.”

  “So we just sit here. Again.”

  “No,” Mom said. “We prepare.”

  “They’ll hit us, sooner rather than later,” Bern told her. “If we can, we need to take some of them alive, so we can bargain. If we get ahold of someone valuable enough, we can trade them to Diatheke for your sister.”

  Runa stood up. “I need some air.” She walked out of the room.

  “Stay close to the warehouse,” Mom called.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her.” Bern got up and followed her out.

  I looked at Mom. Bern had voluntarily left the warehouse. Again. Since graduating from college, Bern did his best to impersonate a mushroom: he parked himself in the Hut of Evil with his servers and basked in the glow of the monitors, escaping only to use the bathroom and consume food. Going outside wasn’t in his repertoire.