“Yes.” My voice came out raspy, like the very obvious idiot I was. But maybe he’d just think it was part of our new show, which was…pretending again, apparently. Fine with me. I didn’t mind. In fact, I more than enjoyed it.
“Good.” His lips curled as his scent consumed me. Fire and smoke. It filled my head until that was all I could focus on. Az. Me. The flames. His eyes darkened as his lips brushed my cheek. Everything within me tightened. Need clenched my thighs, so thick I ached.
I shuddered against him, letting go of my inhibitions. Our lips came so close that I could practically taste the toothpaste on his tongue.
And then he pulled back, leaving me a panting mess.
“I can’t get your scent on me,” he said, his voice going hard. “Lucifer would smell it the second he saw either of us. We can pretend to be a couple without touching.”
“Oh.” Disappointed, I slumped back in my chair. That had been a nice distraction, dammit. “Wait a minute. Why are we pretending to be a couple in Serena’s law firm?”
He turned his eyes to the next contract, ignoring my question. His gaze pierced the page, and he crumpled the paper in his fists. “I’ve found you.”
I gasped and leaned forward. “Seriously?”
“It doesn’t help.” With a growl, he tossed the contract onto my side of the table. My name was clearly at the top, along with an address in Hell’s Kitchen. Everything else had been scribbled out with black marker. I let out a shuddering breath. The answers were here on this page, I was sure of it. But any important information had been stripped away.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet his. That familiar look was in his eyes again. The one that made it clear he planned to rip off someone’s head. And I had a pretty good idea who.
“What does this mean?” I dared to ask.
“Someone made it here first.” He shoved back his chair, stood, and offered me his hand. “We can ask Serena, but I already know what she’ll say. There will be no record of anyone else being here.”
“So, that’s it?” I motioned at the pile of contracts before us. “We’ve only looked through a dozen or so. Maybe there’s more somewhere.”
“No, that’s the one we needed. The answers are there, Mia. We just can’t see them.” He shoved his finger at the address left unmarked. “That’s the only lead we have. We have to go there now.”
10
The car rumbled down the street. Az’s driver was silent and still, just like always. He didn’t even give us a curious glance when Az barked out his orders. Drive quickly. Avoid any traffic. Watch out for black wings in the sky.
My heart thumped as Az bit his knuckle and glared out the tinted windows. He was acting pretty freaked out, which wasn’t doing much to make me feel better about this little plan of his.
“Az,” I said softly. He jumped. “Do you think maybe it’s a bad idea to go to this address? If Lucifer…” I glanced at the driver, who had zero reaction to my words. “If he messed with the contract, I doubt he would have left that address untouched without a reason. Maybe he’s trying to lure us there.”
“That’s exactly what he’s trying to do,” Az said in a hard voice.
I frowned. “Okay. Then, maybe we shouldn’t go there.”
“We have to.” He caught my hand in his and brought it to his chest. His heart pounded against my fingers. “There’s something there. We need to know what it is. Otherwise, he would have marked it out, too.”
“Except…that means we’re walking straight into a trap. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s maybe a bad idea.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll stay out of sight where he can’t see us.”
I pressed my lips together. “You’re very determined to go through with this.”
“I am.” He dragged his gaze from the window and met my eyes. Flames roared within them, and shadows whispered across his skin. “He’s destroyed all the other evidence. This might be our only chance to find out the truth. What you are. What was done to you.”
Pain ripped through me. My eyes slid shut. “I don’t know if it’s worth it then. Maybe it’s better if I never find out.”
A beat passed before he answered. “Surely you don’t mean that.”
“I don’t know, Az.” I flipped open my eyes to meet his dark gaze again. “How would you feel if you were me? My entire life might be a lie, and it terrifies me. It has something to do with Lucifer and Hell and fallen angels. Magic and hidden scents and fae glamor. Do you know how crazy that sounds to me? I’m a human. That’s all I’ve ever known. This is all just way too much for me to handle.”
“But it’snotall you’ve never known.” His voice softened, and the shadows blinked away. Now, it was just me and him. “Unlike most humans, you’ve been aware of the supernatural world for most of your life. You accepted it. You understand it. And when I came into your life, instead of screaming into my face, you…” He cleared his throat and glanced away. “The Legion noticed it in you. So did our dancers. You seem to fit, Mia.”
Fit. He put words to the feeling I’d had for weeks. Something I thought I might have only imagined. In just a few short weeks, I’d felt like I belonged atInfernalwith the magic, the demons, and the fae. My best friend was even a werewolf. The supernatural world felt like home.
