Raising her hand, creating a scissor shape with her fingers she made a snipping motion and immediately her hair was cut short to shoulder length. Snapping her fingers, the left-over hair lit up with black fire.
Clapping her hands together, she moved to get up.
She looked in the mirror as she got to her feet to see she had dark smudges under her eyes. “Let’s get you together,” she said to no one as she walked into the bathroom.
Finished with getting ready for the day, she walked out of the room and headed downstairs. The moment she stepped out the door a voice inquired.
“Where are you going?”
Blocking her way, was mister Half-dead himself. Today his hair was in a single braid, which was thrown over his shoulder and contrasted sharply with his black suit. He looked far more new money than usual.
“What happened to the romantic poet look?” she joked, stopping in front of him. She placed a hand on her waist, tapping her chin with her other hand. “Hmm, I like it.”
She grabbed the end of his braided hair, and pulled, playing with the tip of it. “It’s stirring the Madame in me.”
Alek’s expression barely changed. “Where are you going Lanias?” He gave her outfit a hard eye. “Especially dressed the way you are.”
She sighed, letting his platinum braid slip from her fingers. “I’m going to a bar; I spoke with Fabian, and he told me about this fella that used to meet with Stanthos. I’m going to see if I can find him.”
“And you were planning on doing this alone.” It wasn’t a question.
“Sure was,” Lanias said with a knowing smile. “I figured you’d know if I got in a pinch.”
Alek took a deep breath. “Don’t you think that making a deal for protection with me would imply that you should come to me for protection?”
She shrugged. “I figured you had enough on your plate, with stuff.”
“Stuff?” His tone questioned her intelligence.
She pursed her lips and clicked her tongue, irritated. “Are you coming with me or not?”
Alek stepped forward, closing the space between them. She swallowed. What made him smell so good. Lanias was going to find out just so she could ruin whatever it was so she wouldn’t feel like dropping her panties every time he got close.
Damn Vampire.
“If I come, you’re going to change.”
Pulled out of her inner musing about his smell, she looked up at him in surprise. “You’re joking?”
He gave a slow shake of the head. “You’re displaying too much of your charm. I don’t want to accidentally kill anyone.”
She snorted. “Kill them, I’m not changing my clothes.”
She’d wriggled her form into a short skirt, and black cropped shirt. Her knee-high boots highlighted the line of her legs. While she wasn’t wearing the dramatic clothes of her past, Lanias was just as particular about her day-to-day outfits now as she was then.
It was one of her few pleasures.
Changing her clothes was akin to asking her to skin herself.
“And the last time I checked, the only one who could tell me what to do died long ago. So, you have two choices, either come with me and kill the few guys who take a look or—don’t come.” She went to step around him, only to feel the free wind around her middle disappear.
She paused and glanced down to see her crop top had been switched out with an oversized black button-down shirt. It took a minute for it to register what happened. Spinning around she was ready to give him an earful, but he was no longer standing behind her. She found Dmitri there instead.
“Where did he go?” she nearly growled, barely holding back her need to yell.
“Father said he’d meet us at the bar. And he said don’t bother trying to change the shirt, he’ll know the minute you do,” he added.
She narrowed her eyes, detecting a bit of laughter in the other man’s voice.
