She finally dropped her guard, noticing the duct tape had changed configuration again. Where there had been three strips, now there was a circular sort of clump.
“A rose,” she murmured to herself, recognizing the shape he’d created. In the middle, like a bee rubbing within the pollen, awaited her earpiece.
The BMW was rightwhere the fae had said it would be. Zorn was, as well, his hands on the wheel and his knuckles white. He stared out the windshield, unmoving.
She’d never seen him so amped.
She knocked on the passenger window with her knuckle before pulling the door open.
“Gremlin.” His voice would have sounded its customary calm, always cool and collected and in control, if not for the intensely relieved sigh that rode each syllable.
She tossed the earpiece into a cupholder. She’d used it immediately to tell Zorn she was okay and that she’d meet him shortly.
“I expected you fifteen minutes ago,” he said, not looking over at her.
“One of my knives escaped the folder. It was hard to find.” She closed the door behind her.
He grunted and turned on the car. It wasn’t until he’d pulled away and turned a corner that he finally spoke, breaking the silence.
“Tell me what happened. Don’t spare any details. If you won’t be finished by the time we get home, let me know and we’ll take a detour.”
As ever, Zorn was prepared to do damage control. He would decide which secrets she could keep, and which she’d need to tell everyone else. The problem was, some of the secrets she couldn’t tell even him, lest that fae decide to silence them all.
She finally glanced at the clock on the dash. Nearly two in the morning. The fae had spent a couple of hours with Rutherford’s computer. What were the odds he’d left behind incriminating files as to what he’d been looking for? Probably slim to none.
Then again, that fae was not from this realm. He might know what a communication device was and could clearly find and disable tracking devices (probably with the help of her thoughts), but effectively wiping a computer was very likely beyond him. Erase files, sure. But that wouldn’t stop Amber and Henry from recovering whatever had been stamped on the hard drive. In this, the fae was outclassed. And in finding that information? That was outside of what she knew. It would be his shoddy work that snitched, not her. Every fiber in her being said that mattered. She was growing a sixth sense where his deals and candied words were concerned.
Maybe, just maybe, if Kieran and Lexi’s team could figure out what the fae was going after next, they could get there first and destroy it. And now Daisy had a weapon. If she also had the upper hand, it would be him walking into a trap this time. And he wouldn’t be walking away after she got through with him.
A weekafter the charity function, she paused beside her car in a dimly lit parking lot following a gruelingnight out. Her whole body vibrated with anger and disgust, her fingers itching to close around the knife tucked against her thigh, hidden by her fashionable but slightly billowing dress.
“I think you should come over,” Liam said, standing beside her, leaning heavily against her car. His gaze roamed her face, never pausing very long on her eyes. His interest was more in her lips, or her bust. Her butt when he didn’t think she’d notice. In undressing her with his eyes.
She’d accepted a date with that hot bartender from the charity thing. Normally she would’ve killed him for what he’d admitted to her, or let Zorn do it. Zorn could be oh so colorful. But…she had questions.
“I mean…” He lifted a hand to trace a finger down the line of her arm. She stopped herself from shivering with unease. When he reached her elbow, he yanked her closer.
The breath nearly left her with the unexpected force of that move and the aggressive lust burning in his eyes. If she’d been a normal girl on a first date, this would’ve made her incredibly uncomfortable. His manhandling her like this, the two of them all alone, implied strongly that he was dangerous. That he would ignore rules when no one was looking.
But she already knew all that. In hushed, gleeful tones, he’d relayed all that over dinner. Over drinks a week ago. He enjoyed what he did to those Chesters,mutilating them, tying them up, and beating them until they stopped struggling. Worse, probably.
But she wasn’t normal, and she didn’t like her prey knowing they were being hunted. And so she smiled when she half fell against him. She laughed, pretending this was okay. Pretending these antics didn’t matter. And in her gut, her fire burned brightly. His time on this earth was drawing to an end.
“We’re just getting started,” he murmured. His breath smelled like fish, and his cologne was sickly sweet. “I want to show you my dungeon.”
She couldn’t help the shiver this time. How the fuck was this kid still alive, seriously? How had no one killed him before now?
Then again, she wouldn’t have known to manipulate a confession if it hadn’t been for that fae. She’d have almost certainly been blind to his “hobby” and ended up beating the shit out of him for manhandling her like he was currently doing.
He reached around her and squeezed her butt. He turned and pushed her against the car, trapping her body between it and him.
“You’re so fucking hot,” he groaned, smashing his groin against her hip.
Let’s just get this over with.
She angled her face up.
“Oh yeah,” he said, crashing his lips onto hers as he ground against her. His tongue shoved between her lips and did a strange sort of swirl in her mouth. Hisjaw opened and closed in a strange rhythm, and she wasn’t sure what was actually happening, just that she should’ve forced a breath mint on him beforehand.
