He looks at me, concerned, and stiffens when I can’t help myself and wrap him up in a hug. He gently pats my shoulder, and I can’t look him in the eye when we part, so I rush off to shower and dress. I want this done tonight. I want us to discover this fae’s name and tell the Huntsman, and then he can send whoever he needs to bring her in. He can do it himself for all I care. I want to be back at home, back in my bed, where I can think about all the stuff this job has raised in peace.
Jakob is already waiting at the club, of course. He smiles when he sees me, and his control is better than it was last night—the smile reaches his eyes.
I don’t bother with our game. Instead, I slip right into the booth, and that seems to take him by surprise.
“Here I thought you might give me the runaround again.”
“If I’d planned on that, I just wouldn’t have bothered coming back at all.”
He strokes a finger down my jaw. “Now that would be a shame.”
I don’t lean into the touch, but I don’t bat him away, either, and I let him serve us both spiked blood like he did last night. This time, I drink faster, letting myself sway where I’m sitting. Tension has the bond between me and Vlad quivering. I’m goingtoo fast, maybe, but it’s not like I’m actually impeded by the drink, and if Jakob thinks I trust him—or that I’m willing to get closer to him for whatever reason—he might let something slip.
“You should slow down, little bird,” he says once I’m three glasses deep.
I pout at him, twisting my body so I can lean my shoulder against the cushioned back of the booth. “You’ll look after me, won’t you? You said you’d be a gentleman.”
Something in Jakob’s grin shifts. I’m wearing shorts again tonight and his hand lands heavy on my bare thigh. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
I huff and reach blindly for my glass, making my movements thick and clumsy. I don’t want to hurt anyone—I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted that. Having that vampire die in my grip was more than enough, and it’s what has me surprised that the Huntsman allowed me on this job at all. But Jakob? It’s not about the way he’s touching me. It’s that I know he did the exact same thing to all those other vampires before… whatever happened to make them burn themselves up.
“Just a little one,” Jakob says. He plucks my glass from my hand and fills it again. I give him a smile before I lift it to my lips. How can I get the fae’s name from him? That’s all I need to do.
I drink my fresh glass—Jakob has been sipping on the same one all night—and when I set it down, he reaches out and swipes his thumb over the corner of my mouth. The pad comes away crimson. Fuck. Now or never. At least if I get him alone, I can try to use my powers to get an answer out of him. We do this, we go home and maybe, just maybe, Vlad will come to realise that I’m more than only his turn.
Before Jakob can move back, I grab his hand and suck the tip of his thumb into my mouth. The blood tastes like blood, fine, but I study the way Jakob’s eyes darken and how he shifts in his seat.
“I always forget how hungry you fledglings can be.”
I shift back in my seat, letting his thumb fall from my mouth. “So hungry,” I reply, voice breathy, and his grin only widens.
“Let’s go somewhere more private, little bird.”
“Your place?”
“Oh, I’m sure I can do better than that.” His hand moves higher. “I wouldn’t want you to starve.”
I giggle, even though I really want to bite him, and he gets to his feet before extending a hand to help me up. When I sway and fall into him, his arm slips around my waist.
The bodyguard perks up, but whatever signal Jakob gives him has him settling again. I don’t look for Vlad. I feel faint echoes of his concern, but what else can I do? If Jakob gets bored of me, he’ll go and look for another victim. We can’t have that.
He ushers me through a door marked for staff only, hand sliding up to rest under the cropped T-shirt I’m wearing this evening. How far will this go? How far can Iletthis go? I do my best to distance myself from the bond between me and Vlad. He doesn’t need to know any of it. All he needs is the name.
Jakob presses me up against a wall next to a closed office door and tilts my chin up so I’m looking him in the eye. “I’m going to make you scream for me.”
My stomach rolls. Gross. But I smile and laugh drunkenly all the same. I just need him to get me through that door. Once it’s shut, we’re unlikely to be interrupted and already my power is buzzing, reacting to this man who I clearly want nothing to do with.
“Can’t wait,” I murmur, and Jakob opens the door to let us into the office.
I realise at once that something is wrong, even before I see the woman sitting in the chair. Her magic floods the room, icy and sharp, and when she nods at Jakob, he shoves me further inside and closes the door.
Wards settle around me. They’re not like the wards the rest of the Hunt can conjure. Even the bond between me and Vlad is blocked, and panic claws at my chest.
“You found an interesting one,” the fae says approvingly, and I finally look at her. She’s high fae and not even trying to hide it. The pointed tips of her ears emerge from long blond curls, and her eyes are flat and dark. In the faint glow of the lamp on the desk, her dark skin shimmers.
“Thought he might be,” Jakob says. “Shame you won’t let me have fun first.”
“I should go,” I say. It’s utterly inane, but I don’t know what else to do. I have to get out of here.
