“So,” I said, pleased by how confident I sounded, “What are you guys going to give me if I decide to help you?”
12
Tendrils
Allthreebrothersstaredat me like I’d gone completely insane.
Good. Let them be the ones squirming for once.
I leaned back on the couch, attempting to look casual and confident—the way I imagined a movie star might look while a bunch of Hollywood bigwigs tried to woo her.
If, you know, that movie star had wet hair and a pug-in-a-cowboy-hat mug in her hand.
As I waited for them to answer me, I lifted the coffee to my lips and took a long, slow sip.
And immediately choked on it.
“What is this?” I managed to spit out between coughs. “Are you trying to poison me?” Why hadn’t I noticed the coffee waschunkybefore I took a drink?
Octavian looked slightly flustered. “I told you I didn’t know how to make coffee.”
He looked so shamefaced thatIalmost apologized tohimfor even bringing it to his attention, but then I remembered I was supposed to be negotiating here.
I set the mug on the table, trying to ignore the burnt-bitter taste in my mouth.
“So?” I said. “What are you guys going to give me?”
“See? This is what I meant.” Alastor growled, leaning forward in the recliner. “She might have the ability to help us, but she doesn’t have the character.”
“I don’t know,” Radven said, his sharp eyes watching me closely. “Everything has a price, does it not? Why should this be any different?” He nodded at me, and if I hadn’t known any better I would have said it was a gesture of respect.
Pleased at finding an unexpected ally, I continued with a touch more self-assurance.
“You’re asking for a big favor here,” I said. “Not to mention the fact that being in contact with you for extended periods of time apparently causes me intense physical pain.”
“You’d be doing what is right,” Alastor argued. “Isn’t that enough?”
”Is it?” I crossed my arms across my chest. “No one’s bothered to explain that part to me yet. The three of you are masters in being as vague and confusing as possible.”
“Then let us be clear now,” Octavian said, walking over and sitting next to me on the couch, still careful not to touch me. “There will be no more evasions, no more confusion. We will answer all of your questions, even if we have to sit here all day to do it.”
That drew an exasperated sound from Alastor, but Octavian ignored him. Instead, he continued looking at me with those earnest blue eyes.
I didn’t let myself look back for very long, because gazing at Octavian for more than a second at a time only brought up mental images of him on top of me, pinning me down with his big arms, kissing his way down my neck, flicking his tongue against my—
“Fine,” I said, pushing the other thoughts away. This was going to be alongday if I couldn’t go five minutes without imagining the things I wanted Octavian to do with his tongue. It was hard to ignore him, though, because even though he wasn’t actually touching me, he was so big that his presence alone was overpowering, like he had his own gravitational pull.
“To answer your previous question, we are willing to offer whatever it takes for your help in this matter,” Octavian rumbled. “Is it money you’re after? Name an amount and it’s yours.”
I never expected to find myself in a situation where a billionaire told me to “name an amount.” How did I even answer that?
I panicked.
“Uh…five million dollars,” I said, forgetting I was supposed to be projecting an air of confidence.
Across the room, Alastor scoffed. But Octavian didn’t even blink.
“Done,” he said in that deep, steady tone. “Help us, and that money is yours.”
