He shrugged. I felt like the sucker reaching for a dollar bill on a fishing line.
“How?”
“Some of that could be up to you. You’ll need someone to kill you, and someone to bring you back from death. Since your pal Death seems fond of you, I’d start there.”
“He’s not fond of me,” I said distractedly while my brain ran through this option. Who did I know who would kill me because I asked them to?
“Have you looked at his face when you’re in the room?”
“Kind of hard not to,” I said. “It’s not me he’s fond of. It’s the very idea of humanity.”
“Hate to break it to you, Butter Brickle, but he’s been staring at humanity, at the very idea of it for a long, long time. And not fondly.”
“He won’t kill me while he’s on vacation.”
“You’re so sure of that?”
“After you left the meeting—”
“After I was rudely relocated by your heartless sister?”
I stopped and stared at him for a minute, taking in the details. Sure, I’d heard his words, but it was the tone that threw me.
He sounded…not angry. Anger, I’d expect. He sounded relaxed, content. The kind of tone someone would take after they’d had a great first date that ended with some front-step snogging.
“You liked it.”
He rubbed his tongue behind his top lip and gave me a droll expression. “You’re not listening to me. She attacked me. Jumped me. Impinged on my freedom of movement. I believe there are rules against that sort of thing in this town. I might want to file charges.”
“She’s a cop. The rules are different for her when she’s operating in the best intentions for all citizens in question.”
“Maybe I’ll ask your boyfriend if her attack against me is in the rule book.”
“She didn’t attack you, she removed you from the premises because you were about to cause a riot. And you don’t even hate her for it. You like it. Like that she figured out a way to out-smart you. How did she do that anyway?”
“It’s a common enough spell.” He took a sip of the wine. Even with all this sipping, he hadn’t managed to take even a half-inch off of the level of liquid he’d poured.
“No, I really don’t think it is common. Rossi said it wouldn’t work on all demons. Care to float a theory as to why he told us that?”
“Not at all.”
“Could it be because he mentioned the spell has to be counter-weighted by a demon’s desire? That the demon has to want something from the caster for there to be enough leverage for the spell to actually work?”
“Vampires are not experts in magic or demon kind.”
“What is it about her that you desire, Bathin?”
He sipped wine. Said nothing.
“If you’re falling in love with her—”
His sharp laugh cut my threat short. “Hardly. A mortal woman,anymortal woman would never be enough to…maintain my interest.”
“So you’ll keep your hands off.”
He nodded. “You’re the only Reed for me, Delaney. And I find you very satisfying.”
“Again with the not making me want to trust you.”
