"Arien, may I say something without offending you?"
She smiled, a small curve of her lips. "Would you like me to stop asking questions like that?"
I sighed and nodded.
"Okay. I can do that. Again, my apologies if I've made you uncomfortable."
"You didn't. Though I am wondering why you asked."
"I wanted to talk to another woman about sex."
Now, I was really confused. "Um, can I ask why?"
"Because I want to have it and the male I am most attracted to won't speak to me. So, I will probably need to find another male to copulate with, likely a human. I thought that another woman, especially a human, would be able to tell me how to go about doing that."
Oh, this was so above my pay grade, which was zero since I wasn't getting paid for this endeavor.
"Ummm..."
Before I could formulate a response, the air in the center of the kitchen shimmered and then undulated like the surface of a lake when a drop of water fell onto it.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Get behind me," Arien commanded, her somewhat childish demeanor vanishing. A cold mask took over her features, turning her from a slender, pretty woman into a warrior. The sense ofothernessgrew stronger and the air seemed to thicken and heat. It wasn't steam I was feeling. It was magic.
Holy shit. Arien was a badass. I never would have suspected, but it did explain why Ava was okay with leaving me here alone with her.
Arien murmured a few words in a language I couldn't understand and made a sideways slashing motion with her right hand. A bright blue-white circle appeared in the center of the kitchen around the disturbance. It flared until it was almost blinding before it faded to a dull glow.
Out of the rippling air, a man appeared. A familiar man with black hair and eyes and a handsome face. Andre Dumont.
"Seriously?" I asked.
The shimmering air around him vanished and he remained in the center of the circle. Arien muttered a chant beneath her breath and punched her fisted right hand into her left palm. The circle around him shrank a few inches. He glanced down and his eyes widened.
"Wait!" he called, holding out his hands, palm first. "I mean no harm. I came only to talk."
Arien ignored him and continued to chant. She punched her left palm again and the circle shrank once more. I had the mental image of it eventually closing on him and squishing him in the center like a tube of toothpaste. It wasn't a pleasant thought.
Dumont seemed to realize that he'd better start talking faster because he spoke so quickly his words nearly ran together. "The humans know about us. And about you. They're watching every move you make and you can't protect yourself from it because you don't even know it's happening. I'm not sure what they're planning, but they have soldiers immune to vampire mind control and others who are immune to magic. We are all in grave danger. They are not only watching, but they are planning to come for us."
Arien's chant halted and she stared at Dumont for a prolonged moment. "And how do you know this?"
"Because I'm spying on them as well." He hesitated. "Please. I don't have the skill to get into their system and figure out exactly what they know or what they plan, but you do," he said, looking straight at me. "You can help me."
Suddenly, things made a little more sense.
"Was this the job you offered me?" I asked.
He nodded.
"You had to know I wouldn't break the law for you."
"I had all the credentials in place. You would have thought it was a government contract. What I couldn't lie to you about, I would wipe from your mind."
"Then why send Marcel after me?"
He sighed. "He was only supposed to keep an eye on you, keep you safe. But when he saw you heading toward Ava Amaris' store, he thought you weren't what you seemed. I swear to you that he wasn't going to harm you, only bring you to me. I would have told him that was a stupid idea because I knew you weren't a threat."
