We were surrounded by a hundred drunk, high, horny young people, swaying to the sound of live music. A beautiful blonde with a raspy whiskey voice sang, entrancing me so much I had to wonder if she had siren blood. Almost everyone had their eyes on her.
“Here you are, doll.”
I blinked, willing myself to look away from the mesmerizing vocalist.
Cas seemed to be the only person completely indifferent to the music, his attention solely on me. It made me defensive.
I levelled a glare at the man as he gallantly handed me a fruity cocktail.
“A porn star martini,” he told me. “Doesn’t that sound delightful?”
I was surprised to watch him sip the same drink, complete with a little parasol. “Most men would go for a scotch.”
He shrugged. “I have nothing to prove.”
His confidence immediately made me think big dick energy. I hated myself for it.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Thanks for the drink—er—darling.”
I borrowed the endearment from Lucian, though it felt weird coming out of my mouth. I was stupidly blushing as if this was my very first time on a bloody fake date for work. I’d done it half a dozen times in the last year, with Gideon, Francois, Barron, Irwin, and even Isla without any problem.
I downed my drink in three big gulps.
“Thirsty, huh?” Cas smirked knowingly.
The dick had figured out that I had a hard time finding a proper retort when he flirted with me, and he was taking full advantage of it. It wasn’t fair, really.
I’d always known beauty was a weapon: my foster mother Demetria used her smiles just as efficiently as her knives. Even Kleos had been known to bat her lashes to get away with murder. So did Lucian come to think of it. But none of it had ever worked on me. I thought I was immune to it, not superficial enough to let physical appearance affect me in any way shape of form. Being reduced to a bumbling, blushing fool by Cas when he pretended to be attracted to me irritated me almost as much as his cryptic nonsense.
He finished his drink and put it down on the closest side table before taking my hand. “Dance with me.”
He wasn’t asking.
I winced. Kleos had been required to take dancing lessons by her evil stepmother, but Tria and Gray didn’t demand anything like that from me. Before I could tell him that dancing was not on my list of acquired skills, his hand slid low on my back, right at my tailbone, and my brain stopped.
It turned out that no expertise was required to sway from side to side to the sound of the enticing voice. Cas had natural rhythm, and I allowed myself to let him lead.
One song died, melting into the next. During the pose, I bit my lower lip, willing myself to stay present, awake, and not forget that we were here forwork.
Cas leaned in, his breath close to my ear. “To your left.”
Right. Cas wasn’t really into me. He was just very good at pretending. We were here for work, no other reason.
I glanced left, immediately spotting what he meant for me to see.
There was a fashionable man, a little older than me, dressed all in white, and with a baseball cap over his brown hair, slipping something in the hand on a scantily clad woman in pink. I caught the shine of the green stone, and sensed the familiar energy.
The pink girl giggled, closing her fist around the stone before moaning in pleasure. I watched her eyes glaze over, pupils dilated.
“That was the good stuff,” she told the dealer, handing him some euros.
“Come to me if you’d like more, darling.”
He started to walk away.
I was half tempted to follow, but Cas’s palm slid a little lower and I sucked in a breath, thoroughly distracted.
“Stop watching so obviously,” he breathed into my ear before pressing his lips to my neck.
