by Sharon Kay
“Ha. I wish.” Ria sighed as they neared the door of the tech hub. “I’ll be wearing…body paint.”
Gin’s jaw dropped. “Body paint? No. Way!”
Ria grimaced. “Way.”
“Oh my god, you’ll be naked!” Gin clapped a hand over her mouth. “I mean, duh. You know that. Oh my god.” Her eyes glanced up and down Ria’s body. “At least you have a killer figure.”
“Thanks.” Ria reached her arm out to push the door open.
“Wait!” Gin said. “Does Arawn know? I’ll bet he had a shit fit.”
Ria dropped her hand and met her friend’s eyes. “I don’t know if he knows. I assume so, since he knows everything as soon as it happens. But I haven’t talked to him today.”
“He’s not gonna like it. I’d bet money on it.”
“What’s he gonna do about it? It’s just a job, and I’m the most logical person for it.”
“Yeah, and he has a thing for you.” Gin winked.
A tingle shot up Ria’s spine at the memory of her shower with Arawn. She grinned and shrugged. “He’ll have to deal.” She pushed open the door. “Let’s see what these guys can come up with.”
“Hi, Ria. Gin.” A tall Watcher looked up from a table scattered with small metal objects.
“Hi, Wolfe,” Ria greeted the black-haired demon. He was as thickly muscled as any other Watcher, but he was a serious gearhead. He was constantly fixing computers or taking devices apart. His pale gray eyes flicked from her to Gin.
He cleared his throat. “Due to the change in your uh…work wear, I had to—”
“I’ll be naked, Wolfe. You can just come out and say it. Everyone knows it. Or will know it soon,” Ria muttered.
“Uh, yeah. Okay, then, I can give you a few things. Nothing big.”
Ria nodded and stepped closer, picking up a familiar object. “Earpiece.”
Wolfe nodded. “Smaller than usual, but otherwise the same as what you’ve used before. And this.” He held out a thin silver object that looked like a sharply pointed bobby pin with a blue jewel at the rounded end.
Ria took it carefully and peered at the sparkly blue sphere. “I’m guessing there’s something amazing inside here?”
“A camera.” Wolfe nodded, with the tiniest hint of satisfaction in his smile.
“A camera?” Gin exclaimed, leaning in. “Whoa. You made this?”
“Yup. The blue end here is the lens.” He pointed to the tip. “You can position it however the team needs you to. It won’t record, but will transmit high resolution images to our equipment. And this…” He held up a tiny curved knife. “I don’t think you’ll need this, since you can spin your way out of anything, but just in case. This slips under the top layer of leather on the sole of your shoe. It’s curved here to fit along the slope created by the arch.”
“Wow, that’s cool.” Ria took it from him and turned it over. “And the tip is thin enough, I may be able to use it to pry open a hidden compartment.”
“Dumb question, but why do you need the camera?” Gin asked. “You can communicate with Mathias and the group, right?”
“This will be our first up-close look at Renata. All we have are the same photos that everyone in the realm can look up online,” Wolfe said. “But Ria might notice something new, and this way, it’ll be shown to the team. So we can all try to figure out whatever this key is.”
“Makes sense.” Gin gazed at the array of items on Wolfe’s table. “This is amazing.”
Wolfe rested his hands on his hips and looked at Ria. “You’re not allowed to wear any jewelry. That though,” he nodded to the bobby pin. “I’m hoping you can hide in your hair and reposition when you need to.”
“Hide it in my hair.” Ria stifled a snort as Gin reached over to pull one of her long curls and released it, letting it spring back into place. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Earpiece, camera, knife. That’s all you get?” Gin asked.
“Yeah, thanks to the party planner’s Y chromosome,” Ria said. “But it’s okay. I got this. Thanks, Wolfe. See you later.”
She and Gin left the tech hub and headed to the rotunda where the elevators were located. “Have you ever been, um, body-painted?” Gin asked.
“Nope.” Ria shook her head. “Somehow I’ve always managed to dodge that bullet. I think Willow had to, once.”
They boarded the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor, where their rooms were. “I’ll be with you in spirit.” Gin tapped her temple. “I’ll be in touch with Mathias.”
“I know.”
“Take care.” Gin squeezed her hand. “If anything happens to you, I might have to intervene.”
Ria hugged her friend. “Thanks. See you later.”
No way.
He did not hear that correctly. “Repeat,” Arawn barked.
“She’ll only be wearing body paint, sir. And um, shoes.” The nervous voice of Sonja, one of the tech demons, echoed through the phone.
“What the fuck?”
“Um, as I said, it was a last minute change that Thane made—”
“I know. I got it.” Arawn blew out a breath. “Is that the only change?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Goddamn it.” Arawn ended the call without waiting for Sonja to say anything else and barely contained the urge to throw his phone across the room.
Ria would be fucking naked in a room full of men.
Naked!
On a job he had assigned to her.
Mother fucking son of a bitch!
Arawn snarled in the silence of his office. Ria’s full, beautiful breasts and sexy ass. Being gawked at. He growled. If anyone laid a hand on her, he’d know it. And he’d cut their goddamn arms off.
He paced, because the other option was breaking something.
The logical part of him, the calculating, battle-hardened leader reasoned that it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t interfere with her ability to do the job. Ria was a pro, and the best choice for this operation.
Too bad that didn’t kick one ounce of calm over to his possessive side.
Where was this coming from? He didn’t have a claim on her. Didn’t know if he could ever claim another female as his.
But hell.
If he were…
Ria’s name danced around the edges of his mind.
She deserved a man who would give her all of him, not holding any part back. Not tainting her bloodline, any future offspring, with darkness.
A knock on his door pulled him back to the present. “What?” he hollered.
Mathias cracked the door open. “This a bad time?”
“Yes. But if you want to talk about today’s job, get in here.”
The Hunter stepped in and closed the door, his expression somewhere between grim and disgusted. “You heard?”
“Yes. Just fucking now. When did this go down?”
“In the last few minutes.”
“You talk to her?”
“Yes. She took it in stride. Didn’t love the idea, but she pointed out she’s been in more hazardous situations.”
Arawn shook his head. “At least then, she had clothes to conceal as many weapons as we wanted her to have. Now?” He clenched his fists. “Fuck Thane and this last minute shit.”
He could put a halt to the job. But this opportunity to get near the statue was perfect, and he’d be an ass to throw it away. Not to mention Ria was so pumped to get back to work.
“Look, I hate this change too,” Mathias said. “But she never once brought up not going through with it. In fact, she just left to go to the serving company’s location.” Mathias eyed him, probably gauging his reaction.
“And?”
“Everything’s in order. Her false name is in their system, and she has her earpiece, a camera hair pin, and a small blade.”
Wasn’t much. Arawn stopped at the window and rested his hands on his hips as fury surged through him.
“The painting process will take several hours. S
he’ll let us know when they’re en route to Thane’s,” Mathias said.
“Fine,” Arawn snarled. No way was he letting her out of his sight once she was in position. And the second she was done, he planned to throw his shirt over her, bring her back here, and lock them both in the nearest bedroom. “I’m going with the backup team.”
C
HAPTER 10
ARAWN PACED IN THE CONCEALED location a quarter mile from Thane’s estate. Wolfe crouched on the grass, fingers flying over his tablet, locking in the connections that would let them see and hear Ria on this insane job.
“Ember, this is Hell Squad One, do you copy?” the techie demon addressed Ria by her code name.
“Copy that, Hell Squad.” Ria’s steady voice carried through the sound system, instantly calming Arawn’s hackles. Somewhat. She’d had to leave before he could speak to her or do anything about the change in tonight’s situation.
Now everything was in place and in motion. Ria and the other girls had just arrived at Thane’s estate. Arawn, Mathias, Wolfe, and several other Watchers waited in a thick pine grove in case this all went to hell. One more, Scorpio, was concealed like a shadow in a tree close to the house. If anyone happened to get close to them, Mathias’s keen nose would cue them well before the individual knew what was coming.
“Scorpio counts six guards outside the house, Ember. How many inside?” Wolfe asked.
“Ten so far. All bearing gifts.” Ria spoke in code, letting them know the guards were armed. Muffled music created a low buzz in the background, enough to provide an auditory barrier against the predatory Ghazsuls’ excellent hearing. It wasn’t foolproof, but it would help if they weren’t next to Ria and deliberately listening in. “All right, bathroom break is over. Time to join the party. Going silent and switching to camera.”
Arawn clenched and unclenched his fists, hating the loss of her voice but knowing it was necessary.
“Copy that,” Wolfe murmured. The image on his tablet flickered and bounced, then came into sharp focus.
Holy hell.
Arawn stared, knocked speechless by the potent combination of raw sex and beauty before him.
Reflected in a bathroom mirror, Ria looked like a goddess. Her bright blue eyes, shone from within heavy dark makeup. Her hair was piled up in some fancy style that provided a good hiding spot for the camera.
His eyes dropped to the flawless pale skin of her neck, and lower... Wait. He narrowed his eyes. Thought this was supposed to be paint…
Well, shit. Whoever had painted Ria had done a good fucking job and Arawn hoped like hell it had been a female. He had to look hard to see that the enormous, perfectly illustrated necklace she wore was not in fact an actual necklace. It looked like dozens of thin silver chains cascading down her collarbones and covering most of her breasts. But on closer inspection, her deep cleavage and taut nipples were impossible for him to miss. The virtual chains didn’t cover her delicious side curves, nor the rounded undersides. Arawn clenched a fist, fighting to keep a lid on his control.
This is a job. Just a fucking job.
He fought the urge to bust the whole op by breaking down the door, throwing her over his shoulder, and popping into a portal to take them anywhere. Alone.
She took a step back, and tiny sparkles glimmered along her chest. “They even glued on some sparkly shit?” he muttered.
In his peripheral vision he saw Mathias turn to him. Felt the male’s eyes on him, questioning. Arawn ignored it. The only Lash he could think about right now stood in a bathroom a quarter mile away, double checking that her fancy camera gadget was covered.
Nevo, one of the other Watchers on Ria’s team, muttered something and shifted his weight. The male had a thing for Ria a few years ago, flirting outrageously and asking her out every chance he got. Arawn had disregarded it, secretly enjoying how Ria had sweetly shut Nevo down every time. But now, possessiveness flared, fueled by the frustration of her nakedness. Arawn turned to him. “You got something to say?”
Nevo’s eyes widened as he met Arawn’s hard stare and immediately lowered his gaze. “No, sir.”
Arawn grunted and swung his attention back to Wolfe’s tablet. The necklace was the only thing on her top half. On her hips and lower abdomen, painted black feathers stretched and curled in a graceful vertical pattern. The pointed tips reached just to the tops of her thighs. It looked like she was wearing a tiny pair of shorts, made of goddamn feathers. And on her hands were a pair of satin gloves that extended halfway up her forearms—assurance that she wouldn’t summon demonfire and ruin the party.
Arawn ground his teeth. Fire was the least of what she could do.
Abruptly the image changed and he was no longer feasting on the cock-hardening, exotic, untouchable image of her. He, and the rest of the team, saw whatever was in front of her: a door opening, a hallway with other painted females, a guard leading the women to another room.
“Make us proud, Princess,” Arawn said as he watched the image of the hallway open into a larger room. “Do what you have to do, then get the hell out of there.”
Ria eyed the guard who was showing the girls where all the beverages and stemware were, and also warning them not to sneak any for themselves.
“We’ll be watching,” he admonished as his eyes slid over their elaborately painted skin.
She resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. Yeah, you’ll be watching. Watching my ass. But she smiled and nodded.
A flurry of activity drew her attention to the main entryway of the enormous room where Thane strode in, followed by two guards. She’d studied photos of him as much as she’d studied the statue. Like all Ghazsul demons, he had a humanoid form, deep red skin, and small horns above his ears. When Gin had gotten her first look at a Ghazsul, she’d said they looked like devils from Earth cartoons.
Ria was used to them, having fought dozens over the years. Ghazsuls weren’t as skilled at fighting as Lash but they were never to be underestimated. Their bulging eyes missed nothing.
Thane’s one distinguishing feature was thick wavy dark hair that fell to the collar of his black shirt. Most Ghazsuls were bald.
He’s still as ugly as sin, Ria thought as Thane’s black eyes roved all the serving girls, most of whom were petite fae. When he got to Ria he paused long enough to rake her body with greedy eyes. If he was surprised to see a Lash demoness and not another petite fae, he didn’t show it, though his attention immediately dropped to her hands. A satisfied smirk lit his face as he noted her gloves.
“Looking good, ladies,” he said, resting a hand on his hip. “I’m writing your paycheck tonight. I have some special guests coming and I want them to have a good time. Make sure that happens. Entertain them. Make them comfortable. See that their needs are satisfied.”
A water sprite next to Ria shifted her feet and muttered something under her breath.
Thane stepped forward. “Do you have something you’d like to share, fae?”
“Um,” the female stammered. “It’s just…our paint. It might get all messed up if we…”
“It can be fixed.” Thane leered and got closer, skimming his fingers over the sprite’s unpainted collarbones. “One of the artists is here now, in fact, for when you need, ahem, touch-ups.”
What a bastard. Ria stared at his expensive dress shoes, wanting nothing more than to punch the smile off his face. But she forced her indignation to the side, summoning a mental image of the statue.
One of the guard’s phones rang and he answered it. A few rough words of Demonish later, he shoved the device into his pocket and whispered something to Thane.
“Get ready, girls, my guests are arriving.” Thane turned and walked out.
The other fae clustered together, murmuring about what a jerk Thane was. All except for one, the water sprite next to Ria. She looked up at Ria with a sympathetic smile.
“The events we work aren’t usually this, um, unique. A lot of times we don’t actually do anything, we just stand around and look go
od,” she said. “Sorry your first day on the job had to be at a place like this. I’m River, by the way.”
“I’m Cinder. And thanks, but that’s okay.” Ria shrugged. “I’ll just go with the flow.”
River gave a small smile and her eyes dropped to Ria’s strappy four inch heels. “Gods, with those shoes you must be what, six foot five? I always wished I were taller.”
Ria let a half-laugh. She and the diminutive sprite probably looked funny standing together. Small talk was needed occasionally, but now it was go time. The other servers all seemed to have taken up poses around the room. Some were inspecting their paint in a huge mirror along one wall. “It’s—”
Several tall males walked in and wolf-whistled as they scanned the room. “Here we go,” Ria muttered.
“Yeah. Good luck,” River said, and headed toward the newcomers.
“Thanks.” Ria edged to the side, doing her own scan. Caine had said the statue was in an alcove right off this room. They’d gone over the floor plans together…it should be on her right and down about twenty feet—
“Hey, Blondie,” A short, muscular Ghazsul called. His lecherous stare locked onto her chest.
Shit. Ria blinked, pasted on a smile. “Hi, handsome.”
“Get me a double shot of dragon’s blood. In fact make it a round.” He gestured to the three other Ghazsuls standing with him. “Get one for yourself too. I wanna do a shot with a pretty female. Right off those big tits.”
Puke, vomit, perv. Ria forced her revulsion to the back of her mind. She batted her eyelashes, fake-pouted, and put on her best sugary-sweet voice. “It’s against the rules for me to drink on the job. And to mess up my paint.” That part was made up, but if any of these assholes touched her, they’d be sorry. Her undercover work didn’t extend to sexual favors. It never had and Arawn wouldn’t ask it of his female Watchers. “But I’ll get your drinks just as quickly as I can.”
She winked and put distance between them before he could make any more propositions. The enormous bar took up half the wall at one end of the room and was stocked with enough alcohol to make every male here falling-down drunk. Pouring four shots of the deep crimson liquid, she inspected the space. The alcove should be across the room from the assholes she was about to serve.
