“And why’s that?”
“Because the man I need information on is…” Petra paused, trying to think of a way to describe him that encompassed just how dangerous he could be. “…influential. Incredibly influential. And paranoid. If I could pay someone like Rasmus to do it, I would, but I don’t think they’d take the job — or live to collect.”
Shade tipped his head against the grimy wall. His throat was a beautiful arch. A perfect ridgeline of muscle and bone stretching out from the black collar of his dress shirt. His lips pursed. “Mm, sounds very dramatic. Did you take acting classes when you were a kid? Bet you made a real cute Dorothy or some shit.”
Petra breathed through her nose twice, fighting the urge to show him her teeth. “It’s the truth.”
“Now, why should I believe that?”
“What?”
In slow, languid movements, the demon rose from his seat to tower over her. For the first time since she spotted him, she noticed that he wore a black on black suit, neatly tailored and minimalist. It seemed at odds with the mop of curls on his head and yet also perfectlyhim.
When he stepped away from his chair, Petra’s middle tightened, preparing her to stand up as well, to stop him from leaving until he heard her offer. Her desperation was almost tangible, oozing out of her pores like stale sweat.
Before she could launch herself out of her chair, he stepped up to her knees and casually pushed them to one side with the back of his hand.
Petra watched, bewildered, as he hiked up his slacks and dropped into a crouch before her. At last they were at eye level — and far, far too close.
The air between them wavered, just for a moment, as her magic crackled to life in response to the threat. Petra clutched the tacky armrests of the chair.Rein it in!
Being a luminist, a witch with the ability to manipulate light, was all well and good until one lost their temper. Then things tended to catch fire. Normally, she kept fantastic control on her magic and tried to lean on that rigid self-discipline as she grappled with her emotions.
She failed, though. She could tell by the way his eyebrows rose and that smile made another appearance.
Reaching across her body to snag the glass from the table, he sighed, “Now… I’ll be the first to say there’s nothing wrong with lyin’. I love to lie. I try to do it every day.” He swirled his drink with one hand while the other found a home on the armrest just behind hers, overlapping their limbs until he’d made a cage out of his body.
“But the thing is, Zenna, when it comes to clients, I don’t like liars. There’s only ever room for one of those in any relationship, I reckon, and since I’m the more skilled party here…” He tipped the glass toward her. “Why don’t you drink hard liquor?”
He’s fucking with me,she realized. The thought scalded her. Hehadbeen fucking with her, probably from the very first word out of his mouth.
If her spine got any stiffer, she worried the entire column would shatter. Speaking through her teeth, all pretense stripped away, she answered, “Lots of reasons. Most pertinent being that I can’t risk it.”
He took a deliberate sip. His eyes never left hers as he collected a drop from the rim with the tip of his tongue. “Does this look spiked to you?”
“Why would you spike a potential client’s drink?” Petra tried to rein in her tartness, but it was hard when she needed this so desperately and he was just…provokingher. There wasn’t any damn time for games. “I’m not worried about you drugging me. I can’t afford to have my senses dulled.”
“I don’t have any plans to hurt you.” Those glowing eyes went heavy-lidded. “Yet.”
Petra’s temper got the better of her at last. Leaning closer, until they were almost nose to nose, she whispered, “Believe it or not, demon, youaren’tthe boogeyman I’m afraid of.”
She didn’t expect him to move away, but she also didn’t anticipate he’d tilt his head to one side and suck in a deep, noisy breath. As he did it, movement drew her eye over his shoulder — to the writhing shadows that blanketed the pool table and floor all around him.
“Nowthat,”he murmured on his exhale, “is the truth. Stupid of you, but honest.”
Chapter Two
Petra eased back.It meant he won, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t scared of Shade, not really, but she also didn’t have any particular desire to die by shadow strangulation that night, either. “What? Did yousmellit on me?”
“No, I just like the way you smell.” Before she could dwell too deeply on that, he asked, “What’s your name?”
Her mouth went dry. It was useless to lie again, seeing as he somehow knew she’d given him a fake one, but that didn’t mean she had to give him an answer. “I’d rather keep that to myself. You don’t need it to take the job.”
“Need it? ’Course not.” Shade’s attention drifted over her face, down her throat, to examine her jacket and plain blue shirt underneath. “I don’tneedanything. I don’t need this job. I don’t need this whiskey. I don’t need your name. I don’t need to see your real face.” His gaze traveled back up to fix her with a look so flat, so bland, it managed to unsettle her more than that violent smile. “But I want it.”
“And I want a man of reasonable skill and a healthy disregard for danger to help me before someone puts a bolt in the back of my head,” she shot back.
Shade had the gall toroll his eyes.
