As I started to turn, Jarod asked, “Are you going to fix her up once you’re done withme?”
“What?”
“The statue in my fountain.” He unfastened the collar of his whiteshirt.
“Depends.” I watched him undo another button, revealing a scattering of dark chest hair. “Did you keep her wings?” I raised my gaze up the length of his neck, catching the sharp bob of his Adam’sapple.
“No. I turned them todust.”
“Then there isn’t much I can do for her.” I treaded past him, praying my fate would be kinder than his statue’s. That I’d leaveLa Cour des Démonswith my wingsintact.
Orheavier.
Heavier would begood.
Chapter 13
The denthat had been used for the party was in fact an outsized dining room. The long, varnished table must’ve been pushed to the side last night, because I couldn’t recall seeing it, and considering it could comfortably seat sixteen people, there was no way I could’ve missedit.
A faded tapestry of a hunting scene stretched the length of one wall; three sets of French doors, all giving onto the courtyard, ran the length of the other. The ceiling was the most spectacular part of the room. Cherubs—the way humans pictured them to be, winged and chubby—flew across a blue sky or peeked out from behind fluffyclouds.
“Uncle had it decorated for my mother as a wedding present. It was her favorite thing in the house. I’ve been meaning to have it paintedover.”
I whipped my gaze off themural.
“I was thinking eggshell. Or maybe I should go with black. To match mysoul.”
I sensed he was trying to rile me up. If he’d wanted to erase his mother’s favorite thing, he would’ve done it before. “Why do you want to get rid of your mother, Jarod? Was she not nice toyou?”
The sharp lines of his face hardened. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me or with the woman who’d found cherubs endearing. I suddenly wished his file had told me more abouthim.
“Do you eat anything besides rainbows,Feather?”
His question jarred me. “Rainbows?”
The sharpness dulled from his features. Which wasn’t to say he looked soft. There was nothing soft about JarodAdler.
“Pots of gold, but only for breakfast,” I ended upsaying.
My answer earned me a smile I might’ve called devastating if I weren’t still terrified about what lurked beneathit.
“I’ll let Murielknow.”
“Does she have asupplier?”
“And here I assumed zealots weredull.”
“You have a surprisingly large number of preconceived notions about zealots. I’m assuming I’m not the first zealot you’veencountered.”
His gaze dug intomine.
Before I could ask him about the others, the doors of the dining roomopened.
“Pardonne-moi,Jarod. I didn’t know you wereentertaining.”
“You’re mistaken, Mimi.I’mthe one beingentertained.”
Mimi?Did Jarod have a nickname for every woman in his life? Not that I was a woman in his life—even though, technically, Iwasa woman and would be in his life for the next twenty-three and somehours.
