Lucas’ deep baritone slices through my sentence. “Can we have a moment?”
My attention and that of Valen’s snap to Lucas. The magician swings into a seated position, his boots planting on the ground with athud. Valen’s lip curls. “Seeing as you aretrespassing, I’m going to say no.”
Lucas turns his glare on the other man. “Yeah, we’re past that since you nearly fucked her on the desk.”
Valen smirks darkly. “My, my, is the magician jealous?”
The warmth in Lucas’ irises douses, leaving them a dark brown. “Not at all. I’m concerned by how far you were willing to take it,weaver.”
Valen’s smile grows, and it’s a terrifying one. He purrs, his head tilting back. “Astoria and I have played this game for many years. If she wanted to fuck me on this desk while you rotted away under a curse, who am I to deny her? Astoria knows I’d stop if she wanted. That’s between us.” His eyes glint. “And not you.”
Lucas’ teeth grind. The two men lock in a battle of wills, Lucas glowering like he wants to turn Valen into a pincushion with his gold threads and Valen grinning like he’s ready to leisurely devour the magician alive. It’s a dangerous situation and shouldn’t be arousing at all.
I suppress the urge to slither my body between them as a suggested battleground. Because that would be wrong. Very… very… wrong.
Lucas snaps his glare on me and my mouth goes dry when he says, “We shouldreallytalk.”
Valen’s eyes narrow and I wet my lips before uselessly whispering, “I doubt he’s going to let us.”
Lucas snaps, frustration evident on his face, “Fine!” He points an accusatory finger at Valen. “You’re going to tell that guy? Really? We don’t need him.We’vetaken on bigger assholes than this guy easily.”
Except Lucas’ rings aren’t working properly. Sure, normally we could take on Valen. Hell,Icould take him if need be, at great cost to myself in my current state, but Lucas? His rings might falter, and I’m not sure if I can protect him. Valen would not simply subdue Lucas. He’d slaughter him and dispose of the body. The trees in the garden have devoured the flesh and bones of the Bauers’ enemies before. There’s a particularly ravenous patch of jacarandas that would make quick work of Lucas’ remains, then blossom out his rings to plop onto the mush on the ground.
There’s no way in hell I’m going to let that happen. I need to keep Valen ignorant of Lucas’ current weakness. It will be a delicate dance, but I can do it. I need to allow just enough truth in to distract Valen.
Unfortunately, Lucas seems determined to derail that plan. He glares at me with a withering intensity that I nearly shift away from. He growls, “Are you going to risk everything by trustingthisguy?”
Valen scoffs, but I cut him off with a stern look before he can incite Lucas’ temper further. I’m not exactly sure what is going on in the magician’s mind, but it’s thrown him off his game and we cannot afford it. It’s a challenge to keep the irritation from my voice as I counter his question with another question. “Do you want Vincentius Bauer the Third to come in and find out what we were doing?”
A heartbeat passes where Lucas’ shoulders tense. Then finally, they sag with a sharp exhale. He slumps back, headlolling to look at me. I offer him a soft smile. “Trust me. I’ve got this.”
He searches me one last time before rubbing his forehead. “Yeah, okay. But if this blows up in your face, I call dibs on a thorough ‘I told you so,’ got it?”
My smile brightens, amusement humming in my chest and lifting some of the tension. “Deal. I mean,” I turn my gaze on Valen, “you’re not going to fuck me over, right?”
Valen’s eyes are darting between Lucas and me, his expression a careful porcelain mask. His eyes narrow a fraction before he smirks. “Of course not.”
I scoff. “You hesitated!”
His head tilts, a playful smile flashing. “Just calculating, my dear. But yes. I will keep your confidence. I told you before, I was never against you.” His smile changes and a flicker of heat flares in me again. “Can I call you Tori once more? I did generously save your thieving magician friend, after all.”
His playfulness is addictive. I shouldn’t play with him, but I can’t stop myself. I return his smile. “I don’t know. Do you think you’ve earned it?”
Something in his gaze shifts and my body turns languid in response. “Perhaps you can tell me why you’re looking for the amulet first, and then we can address…” his eyes roam me, “earning things.”
A giggle bubbles up and I cover it with a cough when Lucas tenses. I smooth my hair back and twist the long length around my wrist. Half-truths will get us what we want and, hopefully, appease Valen.
“It’s called the Amulet of Acerabus. I have a collector looking for it and I happened to remember…” I allow lust to pour into my gaze, my eyes dipping to Valen’s mouth where his fingers rub absently. “A similar amulet falling on my head while in a compromising position.”
Valen’s reaction is immediate. His lips curl against his fingers. His tongue slides over his bottom lip, his gaze going distant as he relives the memory. “Hm.” His attention briefly flicks to Lucas, but I lounge back in the chair and cross my legs. It works. Valen’s focus snaps back to me and where my ripped shirt tugs open. “I remember that… ill-timed toppling. Though I don’t recall the specific amulet that cut you.” His fingers drum a single ripple on his knee. “And why didn’t you simply contact me to buy it?”
“Well,Iwanted to.” My eyes flash to Lucas in mock annoyance and Lucas rolls his eyes. “It would’ve beenmucheasier, but perhaps we can start over. What do you say, Valen? Can we make a deal?”
I try to make my eyes large and pleading, a feat made difficult with Lucas’ disapproval radiating from him in annoying, acrid waves. Valen watches us carefully. I pray to every nonexistent arachnid god in the Weave that he doesn’t catch onto the lie. My body goes hot, sweat beading, but I force myself to remain relaxed and my hands steady.
Another drum of his fingers later and Valen answers, “Perhaps. I’m not sure if we still have the amulet, though. I’ll have to take a look while you’re in your rooms.”
I stiffen. “Rooms?”
