“Gods and devils, Shadow. Did you really think I waslyingall this time?” His jaw ticked again. “I told you I can’t share my magic with people. I told you I’dhurtpeople I tried it with. How many experiments do you suppose it would take, before I killed someone?”
My eyes widened even more, but finally, something had clicked.
Was he seriously telling me he couldn’t have sex withanyof them?
Jesus Samhain Christ. Was he telling me he was avirgin?
Cold fury seeped into his words. “Fuck off, Shadow.”
“I’m not judging you,” I said, frustrated.
“TheUnderworldsyou’re not––”
“I’m not,” I snapped. “And what you said just now, it’s not entirely true anyway, Bones,” I pointed out. “Maybe you can’t share your magic withallwitches, or even a lot of witches, but clearly, there are at leastsomeyou can.” I swallowed, then shrugged. “I mean… you can share it with me.”
There was a silence.
Then he let out a cynical, disbelieving laugh.
“Trust me,” he said harshly. “The thoughthadcrossed my mind, mongrel.”
Whatever look must have come to my face, it made him look away.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.
19
A New Offer
He wore only a towel when he emerged from his washroom, wreathed in clouds of steam from the shower, his hair wet, looking taller and more broad-shouldered, and even more scarred than before, given his flushed skin.
He scarcely looked at me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off him.
Even knowing it might be weird, rude at least, I continued to stare.
He walked straight to what turned out to be a walk-in closet to the left of his bed. He opened the door and disappeared inside, and that time, realizing he must be getting dressed, I did look away. I very deliberately didn’t look in that direction at all when he left the door open.
“What if we made another deal?” I asked him. “A different one?”
I’d raised my voice slightly so he could hear me from inside, clutching a mug of espresso and milk in both hands as I sat on the edge of his bed, my legs dangling down. I kept my eyes trained on the desk in his study.
He scoffed through the open door, his voice hard.
“You planning to prostitute yourself, Shadow? I’m flattered, but I think I’ll pass.”
I rolled my eyes, but bit my lip as I felt myself flush.
“Eye of Ra, you are maddening. And no, thatwasn’twhat I had in mind.” Tossing my head, I cleared my throat, still speaking a touch loud. “What if you went back to using me to manage your magic, though?” I asked next. I took a sip of espresso, my eyes on his desk. “It’s pretty obvious you haven’t found a good substitute, given how you’ve looked for the past six weeks. You’ve looked positively awful, even on the carriage from London.”
There was another quiet moment where I could only hear the rustling of clothes. The sound got broken by an occasional, sharper scratching sound that struck me as likely to come from hangars being moved around on poles.
“And?” he asked, after that pause. “What would I be paying you in return for this generous privilege, Shadow?”
I exhaled another exasperated sigh.
“You’ll let me help you with Alaric, of course,” I said. “You’ll let me in on whatever it is you’re doing yourself, in relation to Dark Cathedral. We’d work on it together, like we did with my parents’ murder. You wouldn’t keep putting me off with vague and dire warnings about how I need to keep away from it all.”
There was another silence.
