“We welcomed Kitty into this world, we assumed responsibility for her, and now she is scared and alone. Celeste knows that her daughter is gone. I can feel her grief even now, through our bond. She relies on me to bring her home. Whatever it takes. Kitty must nurse in the next 24 hours, or we may lose her and Celeste both.”
She looked up at him, and he glimpsed desperation in her expression.
“Will you help me, Augustine?”
He looked into her green and brown eyes, and the words came out before he realized he had spoken. “Of course, I will.”
[ 2 ]
The office smelled of a mahogany fragrance with notes of teakwood.
Not a cologne. Augustine wasn’t wearing any.
Not a deodorant. She had caught a faint whiff of that in the elevator. He was wearing Secret Outlast. His hair smelled like a synthetic fragrance blended with notes of aloe, argan oil, and camellia. Herbal Essences Argan Oil Repair, a familiar profile, one of many from the scent catalog stored in her memory. She collected scents the way some people accumulated vinyl records or crystals. When she saw him on the street, he looked like a businesswoman. He must’ve selected her preferred products to better impersonate her.
So thorough.
Not cologne, not deodorant, not shampoo… Ah. There it was. A scented candle in a tasteful jar of matte black glass on a small table in the corner. The lid was on, otherwise she would have pinpointed it sooner.
Diana raised her head from the contract. “I wish to add a stipulation.”
Augustine nodded, his stunning face a picture of businesslike politeness. He was inhumanly beautiful. A prince, with hisblond hair perfectly styled to complement his flawless features, elegant, confident, barely short of absolute perfection. She saw it for exactly what it was—armor.
Why? What was hiding behind the façade? Curiosity scratched at her with its needle claws.
She had long ago come to terms with parallel streams of thought running through her head. Wrangling all of them to focus on only one thing required pressing danger, and right now she didn’t feel like her life was threatened.
“I need to accompany you in this investigation.”
“In what capacity?”
“A partner,” she said. “An employer. Backup. It doesn’t matter. I want to be there, every step of the way.”
He studied her. “The level of danger will be high. There may be times I cannot guarantee your safety.”
“I know. I suggest that we spell it out in the contract. In the event of injury, I will hold MII blameless.”
He leaned forward slightly.
There was something in his green eyes. Something… She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it felt familiar.
“Prime Harrison…”
“Diana,” she corrected. “As you said yourself, we might be in danger and yelling ‘Prime Harrison’ takes a lot longer.”
“Diana,” he said.
She liked his voice. It was smooth and rich. She liked the way he spoke, too, cultured, methodical, unhurried. More armor. He had been forthcoming and honest so far, but there was a distance there, as if they were having this conversation through a piece of transparent glass.
“This is unwise,” he warned.
“I know.”
“Can you tell me why? Is this a matter of trust?”
The rage shivered in her, spiking her hunting instincts into overdrive. She struggled with it, hiding behind a serene smile. He wouldn’t understand. Most humans didn’t understand. Cornelius would and so would her other brother, but Cornelius was across the ocean, in Germany, following a case, and Blake… Blake had very little interest in House matters. They were human problems, and he had chosen to interact with that side of himself only when he had exhausted all other options.
“Do I have to explain?” she asked.
