He studied her slender neck, every inch visible since her coiffed hair was braided in an elaborate bun. Christian swallowed but couldn’t seem to get rid of the lump in his throat. Would she hear him sneaking up on her? Now that he was stronger than her, it wouldn’t be difficult to snap her neck. But if she scratched or punched him and he didn’t heal right away, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Viktor. Christian had been waiting for an opportunity like this ever since he found Lenore’s hair and blood on Raven’s clothes when they found her in a coffin. If he confronted her, would she confess it? Maybe. But Lenore was a paranoid creature who didn’t like people having blackmail on her. That was how he’d wound up in a coffin himself. The strategist who coined the phrase “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” was probably an immortal.
Christian rounded the desk and noticed how staged it looked. It was too clean, too organized, and none of the items made sense. An ink bottle and quill? That woman wouldn’t risk blotting her expensive wardrobe with ink, let alone staining her fingers.
“I keep the daggers in the bottom drawer.”
“Do you now?” He opened the drawer, and his heart quickened at the sight of those beautiful blades. She didn’t keep them in protective sheaths but had just tossed them in there as if it was a junk drawer.
Lenore closed the safe. “We’ll need self-protection until we get our powers restored. I should have realized that cider was spiked. I always mute my hearing during parties, but why didn’t I notice my vision wasn’t as sharp?”
He gripped a dagger. It would be so easy to blame her murder on irate guests. While he was dithering about whether to kill her, Lenore stuffed money into a leather satchel.
“You’ll have to carry this. It’s too obvious if I’m toting around this hideous thing. Christian? Christian!” She snapped her fingers.
He blinked a few times.
“What’s the matter with you? We don’t have time for daydreaming.”
It wouldn’t take but a brief investigation to find his emotional imprint on the dagger. The higher authority would send Regulators of the Security Force out to investigate. His impulsive action would guarantee him a spot in Breed jail and the dismantling of Keystone.
“I’m not used to the quiet,” he finally answered.
“Now is not the time to start falling apart.” She reached inside a closet and grabbed a long coat.
“Did you know about his plan?”
“Don’t be absurd.”
He stalked toward her. “I don’t need to see the change in your pupils or feel your pulse to know you’re fibbing.”
Her lips thinned as she speared him with her unforgiving gaze. “I didn’t haveanythingto do with the tainted drinks. Do you think I would have put myself in such a vulnerable position?”
“But youknowthat fella who raised the wall.”
She sat in a wingback chair by the door, holding the coat in her hands. “I used to. Many years ago. Godfrey still owed me a favor, but this wasn’t part of it.”
“And what was?”
“You can’t tell Viktor. If you do, I have a few secrets of my own that I’m certain he doesn’t know about you.”
Christian bristled at the threat. “Tell me.”
“It was supposed to be a harmless show. I wanted Godfrey to claim me in public.”
“For what purpose?”
“What else, you fool? To get Viktor. He’s a puzzle, and I can’t seem to move our relationship to where I need it to be. You know how Shifters are with all that male dominance and fighting for their women. I thought this would be just the push he needed to make his intentions known. Godfrey was supposed to back down after Viktor made our courtship public. That was all we agreed to. That was the favor I asked of him.” She turned her gaze up to the ceiling and sighed before meeting eyes with Christian. “Right before it began, an old friend warned me about him—said he’d developed a god complex. Narcissism has never bothered me, but admittedly I know little about what he’s been doing these past years. I certainly didn’t know about these new gifts. When I last saw Godfrey, he was just a Stealer. But he’s so much more than that now. I don’t knowwhathe is anymore. He must have found an Infuser to keep some of those powers to himself, but they’re not easy to come by. This is what I get for leaving the country. Godfrey was unscrupulous then, but he owed me a favor. I assumed he’d changed after a century, but never did I imagine he’d pull a stunt like this.”
“All these years, and you’re still playing men’s hearts like a fiddle. You should have known it would come back to bite you in the arse one day.”
Lenore stood and put on her coat. “Don’t be foolish. Men are emotionally weak. They need motivation, and jealousy is the best motivator. A woman requires assurances that she’s not wasting her time.” Lenore spun on her heel and gasped when her coat disappeared.
Christian furrowed his brow. What dark magic was this?
She hurried to the closet and swung open the door. “Impossible!”
“We don’t have time for this nonsense. If you’re dead, I wager you can’t be picking yourself out a new wardrobe.”
“Half-dead,” she bit out, throwing the satchel at him. “I suppose you’ll have to carry everything. I don’t want to risk it disappearing in my hands.”
