Feeling restless, I pushed up from the desk and crossed the room to the decanter set.He’s a big boy. He made his bed, and now he has to lay in it.At least that was what I told myself.
Pouring two glasses, I forced my mind off Jeremy and back onto the goddess sitting behind me.
“Who’s the acquaintance, and what did Jeremy want with him?” Her voice sharpened, but I caught the faintest thread of curiosity winding through it. Carrying the glasses back, I set one in front of her before taking a sip of mine.
“Donnie Leman. A turned werewolf.” Rolling my eyes, I chastised myself for ever getting involved with him. “For years, Donnie’s been desperate to claw his way into the supe league fighting ring. Willing to take any job, any fight, always looking for a quick buck and an award-winning fight.” I shook my head, knowing his impulsivity and lack of foresight would be his undoing. “Always playing with risk for a big payout.”
I threw my chin at the untouched drink in front of her, my meaning clear.If you want more from me, you’ll have to drink with me.
She let out a husky little chuckle, like she found me ridiculous but maybe amusing enough to play along, and lifted the glass.
The moment the liquor touched her lips, her eyes flared bright with demon magic. Watching the shimmer of it light up her gaze, a ripple of heat swept through me.
Before she could tear into me about how I’d gotten my hands on Syndicate-exclusive stock, I leaned closer and let my mouth curve. “I cashed in a favor with one of your lieutenants.” I winked.
Her body went taut, eyes blazing with the kind of fiery rage that demanded blood the second it was roused. Nowadays, we just called it the Desmond rage, something that only those white-haired, pink-eyed beings were capable of.
I cut in quickly, my voice coaxing. “Relax. I saved his mate from an unfortunate situation, and he simply repaid me with the bottle you gifted them for Christmas.”
The flicker of fury on her face warred with intrigue, and all I could think was how badly I wanted to taste that fire on my tongue.
Her lips pursed like she was dragging a memory out of the dark, and when she glanced down, her hand had already transformed into a vicious claw, the equivalent of a loaded gun aimed squarely at me.
My blood thundered, eyes locked on the lethal length and shine of those claws, wondering, against every survival instinct, what they would feel like pressed against my throat or dragged down my chest. Intrusive thoughts whispered that maybe I was into being dominated, but survival beat that craving back... barely.
“They’d have to be idiots to steal from you or your family,” I muttered, tossing back another swallow of liquor. Her claws retracted, smooth skin reforming like nothing had happened.
Her shoulders loosened. She took another drink, slower this time, savoring it, and exhaled. “You’d be surprised.”
Something about the way she said it had layers. Power, bitterness… exhaustion. I’d be damned if that didn’t intrigue me more. The small possibility of cracks in her armor, even small ones, made me want to press closer.
“Look, Conrad—” The way my name rolled off her tongue set my soul ablaze, her voice cutting right through me like she owned it, like she ownedme.“I don’t know if this is some kind of ‘turned alliance’ or loyalty stunt you’re running, but I need to find Jeremy.”
She dragged her fingers through her hair, frustration breaking her cool exterior before she admitted, almost begrudgingly, “Actually, I’m after Reece Walton. He came here to see Jeremy. Reece is the target, but since Jeremy has a human kid with him now, I need to find him, too. Make sure the kid doesn’t end up dead.”
Trouncing around with a human kid? What the hell was Jeremy thinking?
Her lips tilted, sharp and dangerous, more kingpin than queen, though she probably hadn’t meant it that way. “We can’t have humans getting hurt around supes. But you already know that, don’t you?”
I dragged in a heavy breath, forcing my gaze away from her before my hunger betrayed me. “He came by yesterday looking for fast cash.”
Her brow arched, and I knew I had to spill before she carved the truth out of me. “Sometimes…” I hesitated, praying she wouldn’tsprout claws again. “Let’s say Isometimespay turned supes to take the fall against human fighters.”
Her eyes widened. I downed the rest of my glass.
“I make sure it’s safe,” I said defensively, even though the argument sounded weak. I didn't want her to think I was putting the Syndicate in hot water with the humans.
“Humans get off on the fantasy that maybe they can take down a supe. I give them that glimmer of hope now and then. One night like that pulls in around three hundred to five hundred thousand without breaking a sweat.”
She tilted her head, appreciation flashing on her face until she snapped, “That still doesn’t explain where Jeremy is.”
Damn. I’d expected her to demand a cut or shut me down. Instead, she was relentless. She knew my throat was already caught between her teeth, and she wasn’t letting me go anytime soon.
“When he came in and I told him I had nothing, he mumbled that he would just go see Donnie instead.” My jaw ticked at the memory of Jeremy’s twitchy nerves, the desperation rolling off him. “I told him Donnie would only drag him into shit deeper than quicksand, but he didn’t care.”
“Fuck.” She slammed her palm into my leather chair, and I could hear it crack. Well, that was ten grand down the drain, but I wasn’t about to say that.
“So, you don’t know where to find him either.” She downed her glass and folded forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped, staring into nothing. For a second, that damn ache to take care ofher clawed up my chest, and I blurted out the last thing I wanted to do.
