“You set a low bar, little siren. If I recall, Steph shook my hand once, which was more than you were willing to do at the time.”
I stuffed the hard drive into my purse. “And now I sleep with you. Your point?”
He scratched his scruffy chin. “If I had one, it’s lost because now I’m thinking about you in my bed.”
Grinning, I kissed his cheek. “You’re adorable. Don’t pick any fights with Claudius, the goblins or anyone else while I’m gone. Oh, and don’t book your plane ticket yet. We’ll discuss it when I get to your place. Okay?”
Lucen’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I get the feeling this is not going to be a fun conversation?”
“Because you’re a misery-sucking fool for spending time with me?” I opened the car door and hitched my bag over my shoulder.
“Watch her!” Lucen called to my guards as I headed toward the apartment building.
I waved as he drove away, then turned to Gi and Melissa. “I’m going to be a while.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Gi pointed to the fast food place across the street. “We’ll be getting lunch. Call us if you need us.”
Promising I would, I buzzed Steph then entered the building. She met me at her door with a beer. I took it gratefully and followed her inside. Had it really been only two weeks since I’d last been here? Two weeks since she told me she didn’t care that I was a satyr, and I told her the end of the world might be upon us? Something like emotional vertigo washed over me.
Steph turned down the music and pointed toward the bathroom. “Jim’s here. It’s going to be the three of us for dinner. He’s in the shower.”
Translation: if there was anything I didn’t want to say in front of him, this was the time.
“Right.” I took a swig of the beer and plopped the hard drive on her table. “The problem I told you about a couple weeks ago with the furies? This might have some information I need on it.”
Steph grimaced. She’d changed out of her work clothes and, ironically, was wearing a T-shirt that said Yes, I work in IT. No, I don’t want to fix your computer.
“Your shirt goes great with those pajama pants.” I gave her my biggest please-don’t-kill-me grin. The pants were covered in pictures of beer bottles.
Steph picked up the hard drive and waved it in front of my face. “You gave me those pants years ago.”
“I remember. Now I’m giving you a password-protected hard drive. Early birthday present?”
“I get to help you for my birthday? How sweet.”
I spread my arms. “When we save the world, you’ll get some of the credit.”
It wasn’t as funny as I’d intended. Steph froze, and I got a blast of her fear that tasted like the straight citric acid I’d once eaten on a dare. Foul, especially with the taste of my blueberry beer.
“This really has something to do with…” she glanced toward the bathroom, “…that?”
I exhaled heavily. “There could be information on the drive that would help us stop it. I stole it from a goblin’s hotel room.”
Her laugh was one of dismay, and she set the drive down. “Your life has gotten way too exciting. I miss the times when our biggest adventures were tracking down potential rapists in sketchy corners of Chelsea so you could mug them for their souls. I mean, that was way more excitement than I needed in my life, but by comparison, it was like playing with puppies.”
“I didn’t choose this.”
“Nobody ever does, do they?” Steph opened her oven and peeked inside. “I’ll see what I can do. If I can’t do, do you want me to take it to Ben?”
Ben was the hacker Steph had found for me several weeks ago when I needed someone to decrypt files we’d stolen from the Gryphons. He’d gotten the job done—barely—and so far the persuasion I’d used on him had kept his lips sealed about what he’d discovered. That was good to know. Once the goblins found out what I’d done today, they’d be pissed and set on vengeance. Although I was certain someone in Dezzi’s domus could crack the encryption on their drive, I didn’t want the goblins starting fights with the satyrs. The more I could insulate them, the better. Both for Lucen’s sake, and potentially my own.
“Yeah, we can bring Ben in if needed. Thanks, Steph.”
She shut the oven, and a delicious-smelling wind rushed over my nose. “Don’t thank me. I haven’t accomplished anything yet, and you know—the way you said that has a certain deadly seriousness to it I don’t like. Just keep up that tab of how many favors you owe me, and be sure you live long enough for me to collect.”
“I’m putting you in my will for my steel-toed boots.”
“Well, yeah, you’d better. But I don’t want to inherit them until I’m at least eighty. ’Kay?”
I crossed my heart.
Jim joined us a few minutes later, and I spent the next couple hours with them, eating dinner and drinking beer and pretending I didn’t have a long night ahead. Around eight thirty I left so they could destroy each other in whatever computer game they were currently playing, and I met my bodyguards in the parking lot.
“Back to Shadowtown?” Gi asked.
“Not yet. I’ve got another errand. Want to go dancing?”
Gi and Melissa did not, in fact, want to go dancing. They were okay, however, with getting to sit at a bar and having a beer.
Devon met us in the back of Purgatory, and while my bodyguards chilled in a private lounge where no one would look twice at them for not being dressed for the club, I prepared to put part two of my plan into play.
Devon flopped on one of the many sofas decorating his office above the dance floor. “You want me to what?”
“Find out what Claudius knows about the Vessels. Am I speaking English?”
“Not proper English,” he responded, cranking his British accent up about a hundred degrees. “Do you think he’s going to tell me if I ask?”
I pulled my knees in, and my butt sank deeper into the soft leather. “I don’t know. Does he dislike you as much as he seems to dislike Dezzi and Lucen?”
“Ah, so this is why you’re asking me and not Lucen.”
“I figured Lucen was already in deep enough trouble without drawing Claudius’s attention.”
“Yes. Yes, he is. Lucen needs to keep his mouth shut and stay below Claudius’s notice.” Devon scowled. “Dezzi gives us a lot of leeway to speak our minds and do stupid things, but she’s not typical. It’s why we like her.”
I played with the fraying fabric on my jeans. “Kind of like how she didn’t kill either of us when Lucen put me under your protection while I was hiding from the Gryphons?”
“Exactly. And we’re used to that sort of freedom. Claudius…” Devon seemed to be searching for the word. “Claudius would not approve.”
“Obviously. He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you. He thinks you’re inferior and defective. There’s a difference.”
“He’s an asshole.”
“True, but a genetically perfect specimen of one.”
I rested my head against the sofa. “Back to my question—does he hate you too?”
“No, he seems to like me because I’ve been kissing his ass since he arrived.”
“Literally?” I shrugged when Devon narrowed his eyes at me. “Hey, with you guys, I figure it’s a fair and reasonable question.”
In a blur, Devon’s hands snaked out, and he yanked me over to him. I half landed on his lap and struggled to retain my balance. Those hands grabbed me by the hips and held me in place.
Sitting nose to nose with him, I had no choice but to gaze into his blue eyes. “I need to stay away from Claudius, and I can’t ask Lucen to do this. I’m afraid Claudius might…”
“Kill him?” Devon sighed. “So am I. But Claudius isn’t going to open up to me. I’m suspect because I’m here.”
“Are you sure?”
I loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. “You can be very charming.”
“You only admit these things when you want something from me.”
“But I am admitting them. Still counts.” I batted my eyelashes, which earned me a derisive snort. “Look, I even have a plan for you and all that charm. You can tell Claudius you don’t approve of Dezzi defending Lucen or something to that effect. Make him think there’s dissension in the ranks. That you’re an ally of his. You’ll be his spy to keep Lucen in line.”
Devon took my hands and placed them on my legs. “I could do this, and if Claudius finds out I’m playing him or that I sent you the information he shared, Lucen won’t be the only one of us on his shitlist. So, with that in mind, do you still think I should do this for you and your half-baked plan?”
I snatched his tie again, only this time I yanked it tight. “No, I think you should—and will—do this because you’re not an idiot. You don’t want to be standing around jerking off when the apocalypse is coming.”
Devon took a deep breath once I let go of the tie and he could breathe again. “Fine, but you’re going to owe me.”
“Seriously?”
“Three favors.”
I tried to get up, but he pulled me back down by my waistband. He was grinning, and the scent of his clove pheromones was stronger. I fought to maintain my annoyance, but damn. That mischievous expression of his was disarming. The lust he’d been stirring up since he tugged me on top of him was overpowering my better sense. My breaths quickened.
Responding to my mood, Devon slid his fingers against my bare hips, and I tensed further. “One, for asking me to risk my ass for you. Two, for choking me with my tie. And three, for taking offense when I said you owed me.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“I’d be offended if you meant that. But since you don’t, you can pay off one of those favors now.”
I shivered as he slid his hands across my skin and unfastened my jeans button.
It ended up being two favors by my estimation, but who cared?
Lucen was stewing when I got to his apartment. His posture and the aura of darkness that hung around him reminded me of Sweetpea, who was pacing about in his cage. I half-expected Lucen to snort smoke along with his pet dragon any moment.
In a normal relationship, he’d be stewing because I’d been screwing his best friend for the past hour, and I—in turn—would be feeling guilty about it. But I wasn’t allowed a normal relationship.
No, Lucen was stewing because he’d started realizing I didn’t intend for him to come to France with me, and the guilt I felt was due to discussing the situation and how best to argue my case with Devon.
He was hunched over his laptop in the living room. “I’m going with you, and that’s all there is to this discussion.”
“No, you’re not, but I’m fine not discussing it any further.”
“Jess.”
“No.”
“I’m not kidding. The goblins tried to kill you today. The furies are… Well, fuck-all knows what the furies might want with you, but they did abduct you in Phoenix. For sin’s sake, you are in danger, and if you think for a moment I’m about to let you prance off to another continent without me, you’ve failed to consider—”
I pressed my mouth to his and pushed him back on the sofa with my body. Strong arms pulled me against his chest, and his hands groped at my hair. In spite of my mood, my day or what I’d gotten up to with Devon, a needy moan escaped my throat.
Part of me knew this was my fault. I’d tried to derail him, and he’d turned the tables and was derailing me instead. Oh, it wasn’t that I didn’t crave his touch normally, but I could sense he was blasting me with his power too, undoubtedly believing he could seduce me into agreeing with him. Or, failing that, convince me I couldn’t live without him.
Such was the curse and the blessing of having a relationship with a satyr. Er, satyrs. Their magic left them constantly needing sex, and the same magic made anyone with them receptive to the idea. Never mind if she might not be able to walk normally the next day.
Lucen pulled back when he had me pinned to the cushions, and I gasped for air. “I’m coming.”
“Yes, eventually, but not to France.”
“Funny.”
Just as it had been hard to stay annoyed at Devon when he was holding me, it was hard to remain focused while Lucen was pressed against me. The intensity in his eyes was alarming in a too-sexy manner, and the way his chest rose and fell against mine was making me far more interested in wicked ideas than the issue at hand.
I pried my fingers open and released his shirt. “You can’t risk going with me. Claudius is not pleased with you for rushing to my defense or threatening him.”
“All the more reason I should come with you. It puts an entire ocean between me and Claudius.”
My hands trailed up his torso like they couldn’t help themselves. He was sweaty beneath his shirt, the ridge of each ab like silk beneath my fingers. I wanted to lick each one, graze my… Stop it, Jess. Focus.
“How does Dezzi spin that? Think about her. If I disappear, and you disappear at the same time, do you honestly believe Claudius is going to jump to some incorrect conclusion? He might be an asshole, but I doubt he reached his current position by being an idiot.”
“You are more important to me than Claudius’s opinion, little siren.” Grunting, he pushed himself up, and my body deflated at the loss of his touch. “If he pressures Dezzi, we’ll deal. I’d much rather be kicked out of her domus than lose you. Don’t you get that? After everything we’ve been through?”
I did. I got it completely, but why didn’t he see that I was trying to protect him as much as he was trying to protect me?
Tears of frustration burned behind my eyes, and I closed my eyelids, holding them in. “After everything we’ve been through, don’t you understand that I will not let you get hurt? You need to distance yourself from me, for both our sakes.” I grabbed his hands. “Claudius considers me disposable. You heard him earlier. If he thinks the fury threat can be neutralized by killing me, he’ll do it. If he thinks he can get to me through hurting you, don’t you think he’d use you that way? And if he did, understand that I will do anything to protect you.”
Lucen squeezed my hands. “Claudius wouldn’t hurt me to get to you.”
“No? Devon would disagree.”
Lucen swore and flung my hands away, but he didn’t argue the point. It was as good an admission as I was going to get that he knew I spoke the truth.
It hardly made me feel better. Some part of me must have been hoping he’d pull a crazy-ass plan out of thin air, some argument that would convince me, and I wouldn’t have to leave him behind after all. He’d done as much before.
Elbows on my knees, I watched him pace the living room. His jaw was set, and his eyes glowed with the fierce determination I loved. He would either think of something, or he would see reason. There was no other outcome.
Finally, he stopped and stared at me. “Forget it. I’m coming with you.”
Chapter Twenty
We argued the rest of the evening. I used logic. Lucen resorted to outlandish accusations.
“You can’t protect everyone by pushing them away, Jess. This is my life. If I’m willing to risk it and my position for you, that’s my choice.”
I tossed pillows at the bed in frustration. “You’re missing the point.”
He picked up the pillows and re-fluffed them. “You’ve got this backward. You’re the one missing the bigger picture. You cannot do this alone.”
“I won’t be alone. I’ll have Tom.”
“You and Tom do not an army make. The whole point of this alliance, which was your idea I might remind you, was to—”
“The alliance failed spectacularly.” I snatched my phone and headed into the bathroom. “The
alliance is now me, me alone or me with Tom. Olef is dead, Mitch has disappeared, and no one knows who’s next. I will not have you risking or ruining your life over this. It’s not necessary.”
From the privacy of the bathroom, I texted Devon. Lucen insists on going with me. Stop him.
With Claudius, he wrote back. Will handle Lucen next.
I collapsed onto the toilet seat and kissed my phone. Devon might be the only one who could talk sense into Lucen. I guessed that made four favors I owed him.
You excel at driving people mad, he wrote a moment later. Lucky for you, I excel at saving your lovely ass.
Never mind. I’d leave it at three owed, one of which was paid.
Lucen banged on the bathroom door. “I hear your phone. What are you planning?”
“I’m not planning anything.”
“Have you forgotten you can’t lie to me?”
I threw open the door. “Have you forgotten you can be a pain in my lovely ass?”
“Never. I take great pride in torturing you. I have ten years of experience.”
I tossed my phone aside and fell on the bed. Exhaustion and anxiety nibbled away at me from within. All I wanted was to curl up against Lucen and sleep. I was done arguing and would just have to hope Devon could convince him not to be such a dolt.
I got my wish for sleep, but any actual rest was questionable. The clock on Lucen’s nightstand taunted me, and the only reason I knew I slept at all was because I woke up twice from nightmares. Bleary-eyed, I crawled out of bed the next day while Lucen slept on.
Tom must have been up for hours already, and he’d sent me several emails. One of them included my flight information. I read through them all before showering then fretted in the steamy water. Having my schedule was good, but it also raised logistical questions I hadn’t thought of yesterday.
I had a passport and a suitcase, but no way to use my phone overseas nor even an adapter to charge it. Both of those were necessary since I needed to stay in contact with Steph and Devon about what they learned. While these and a hundred other issues were fresh in my mind, I shot emails to Tom and got dressed.
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