I’d suspected as much, but it was good to have it confirmed. I gave the pendant a grim look.
Until now, the attacks on me had been annoying but mostly harmless. I might have suffered a few minor injuries but there’d been nothing close to what the woman had thrown at me.
She clasped the pendant in her fist. A small thread of the smoke that always seemed to be present in the Blue Pepper drifted down to wrap around her hand and seep between the crevasses of her fingers.
I found myself fascinated with the process. An intense look of concentration crossed Dahlia’s face, her muscles tightening as some hint of other briefly peeked through.
She relaxed and handed the once more fully intact charm back to me. I took it without comment and slid it back over my neck, almost afraid to do so.
This was powerful magic. Not the sort easily performed. There was always a cost to such things. Oftentimes that cost didn’t involve money. No, it was exacted through blood and bone.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think I could afford to turn it down. Not with half the city gunning for me at this point.
“What do I owe you?” I forced myself to ask.
She shook her head.“One dayI’m going to need your help. I hope you’ll be there.”
I considered her with a serious gaze.“I don’t kill innocents.” I thought about it.“Or friends.”
Her smile was slight.“I’m well aware of your limits, Aileen.”
I snorted. Only a spook would consider that a limit.
Her eyes flicked to my right.“Now drink your martini and socialize with your friend. Both will do you good.”
She moved away before I could respond.
In confusion, I looked up to find Caroline standing at my shoulder, her face set in a frown.
She glared at the human sitting next to me.“Move.”
The man opened his mouth to argue before getting a good look at my friend. Caroline was cute in a way that men often fell over themselves to oblige her. With her blond hair styled into waves around her face and blue eyes that seemed to stare right through you, she looked like the girl next door who’d grown up to be a sexy teacher.
Since being bitten by a werewolf, she’d gone from nice girl, to having a hint of the wild in her movements and expression. To a human, it would be a tempting combination.
This one was no different. He picked up his drink, aiming a flirtatious look her way before stumbling to the other side of the bar.
Caroline settled herself into his seat, flicking her hair over her shoulder and crossing her legs.
“You told me you had work,” she said without preamble.
I lifted an eyebrow and gave a meaningful glance at the human she’d just ordered out of his seat. She ignored that to lift a hand at Dahlia, pointing at my drink to request her own.
“I did have work,” I said when she gave me an expectant look.
She glanced around the room.“Funny place to run a gas station from.”
I shifted uncomfortably.“Liam called in one of his nights.”
Her head spun back to me. The way her eyes widened would have been comical on someone else.
“The Liam? The badass enforcer you’ve been moping over since he left?” She leaned back in her chair.“Now, this should be interesting.”
“I haven’t been moping,” I said in an irritable voice.
Caroline took the martini Dahlia handed her with a smile, taking a sip before making a moue of pleasure.
“This is delicious,” she told Dahlia, before drinking some more.
