“After the gig,” Elara adds. “The gig with the backstage passes. Bro, you owe me that much, at least.”
“Sure, Elara.” Sin shakes her head with a tired smile, leaning against my side. I lift my arm and tuck her closer, my heart beating faster as she rests her head briefly on my chest.
“Anyway, the leaks about your location seem to have done the trick. Your guy’s on the move again, headed in your direction. He should be in Meridian within the hour.”
Sin re-enabled tracking on her phone a couple of days ago and almost immediately her location was splashed all over the internet. Those girls from Willow Ridge sure work fast. Faster than I think any of us expected, that night we had to abandon her phone at one hotel to get some fucking privacy at another one across the city.
She glances over at Iri, whose mom apparently has demon mobster contacts, even halfway across the world. “Are we good to go when he gets into the city?”
Iri nods. “As long as you’re sure you want to do this, they have an enforcer in the area. All it’ll take is one phone call.”
That’s Step Two in Sin’s plan.
As it turns out, the monster mobsters aren’t too happy with Orlog disappearing off the face of the earth without paying them what he owes. They’ve been more than happy to get someone involved in Sin’s plan for him.
Her chance at retribution.
I share a glance with Iri and can tell we’re both fighting our instincts to lock Sin away so she doesn’t have to face Orlog herself. But she’s insisting on acting as bait in person.
Still, I can’t say I’m happy about her having to face the slimy fucker that spent years exploiting her powers and her loyalty.
Gripping the sofa cushion beneath me, I squeeze hard, imagining it’s Orlog’s neck.
“I guess we better get into position and see if he shows up.”
Sin
AN HOUR LATER, DORIANand I are sitting at a café in the middle of Meridian City. I’ve got a frothy, pink cocktail in front of me and Dorian has a coffee and a massive slice of cake. We’re both wearing our matching shades, and it would be a damn cute date if I didn’t feel two seconds away from throwing up.
I shove my hands under my thighs to hide the way they’re trembling, but clearly I don’t do a good enough job. Dorian pulls my chair closer to his, leaning into my space. He then presses a gentle kiss to my lips, lowering his shades for a moment as he checks in with me.
I give his thigh a reassuring squeeze and nod, murmuring. “I’m fine.”
“Right. Well, I’m going to take a piss,” he says, just loud enough to be slightly inappropriate in public and I roll my eyes.
That’s the cue, though. It’s his planned response to the message we both just received, letting us know that there are eyes on Cedar Orlog and he’s in the area. While he might have the balls to approach while Dorian is with me, it’s more likely to happen if I’m alone. Hence the bathroom subterfuge.
Fuck.
This is it. He’s actually here.
I laid the bait. Splashed my location all over the internet over the past three days.
I just knew the Herald wouldn’t be able to resist.
Risking a sip of my drink, I swallow hard and quickly put it down again with a grimace. My stomach turns over itself and I have to take a deep breath as saliva fills my mouth.
Do. Not. Puke.
Barely thirty seconds after Dorian has left the table, a shadow passes by me, and I freeze.
Well, that was quicker than expected.
“Hey, none of the interviews you did asked about your best friends. Next time you do an interview, you should mention me and tell them how great I am,” a female voice says. A very familiar female voice.
She then leans over the table and takes a massive bite of Dorian’s cake.
“Elara,” I hiss, recognizing her instantly, even though for some reason she’s wearing a long blue wig. “What the fuck are you doing?”
