Heat swirls through her blue-green irises, and when she speaks again, her voice is firm. “Yes. We’re clear.”
I release her jaw and return to my spot behind the counter, eager for another drink. But my cognac glass is tipped on its side, two intruders sniffing around beside it.
“Great,” I say, attempting to shoo the ravens off. “I hope you hellions at least had the decency to wipe your feet before making yourselves at home on my countertop.”
“Don’t yell at my birds.” Westlyn reclaims her stool, reaching out to stroke one of the ravens’ heads. “Ignore him, Luce. He’s in a mood.”
She’s baiting me again, but I refuse to walk into her trap. The fact is, we need to finish this conversation. Jude can’t afford to be distracted by his infatuation with her, and she needs to come to terms with that.
Before he gets us all into a situation wecan’tfix with bribes and threats.
“Miss Avery,” I say, my voice even, “I’m simply trying to impress upon you the reality of our situation. We four are the only remaining living gargoyles. We’re living double lives—men and monsters both—and we walk averydelicate balance in this city. Jude’s a risk—always has been. I’ve mitigated it for years, but with his feelings for you complicating things…” I let out a deep sigh, scratching one of the ravens between its wings. “I’m not trying to be indelicate here, nor will I attempt to dictate whose bed you share. I’m just asking you to see things from my perspective and trust that I’m only trying to do what’s best. For my menandfor you.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“If you did, perhaps you’d try talking him out of this ridiculous vigilante mission.”
“His littlebender, you mean?”
“I’m not saying those mages don’t deserve to die—and die horrifically, at that.” My hand tightens around the bottle of cognac, knuckles whitening at the thought of her on those subway tracks. “But first, I think we all need to take a step back and comb through Rook’s intel, fully assess the targets and risks, and come up with a better plan. It’s a perfectly reasonable suggestion.”
“I never said it wasn’t. I just think—”
“It’s a mystery to me, Miss Avery, why you always feel the need to disagree with me.”
“It’s a mystery tome, Mr. Caldwell, why you always feel the need to shut me down before I’ve even finished speaking.”
“Perhaps I’m trying to stem another argument.”
“Have you ever considered we might actually be on the same page? That we might finally find the common ground you were so adamant about when we first made our little deal, if only you’d… Never mind. Forget it.”
“If only I’d what?” I press. “Don’t hold back now, Miss Avery. We’re finally making some progress.”
“Fine. I wasgoingto say, if only you’d try being less of a dick about things, but then I remembered it’s literallyimpossiblefor you to be less of a dick. Dick is baked into your DNA, right along with those stormy eyes and that maddening—”
“The only thingmaddeningin this equation isyou.”
“And here we go again. Blame the new girl for all the things you’ve been fucking up on this earth for the last billion years.”
I scoff. “I’ve hardly been on this earth a billion years.”
“The other guys don’t treat me like this, Draegan. This is definitely ayouproblem.”
“That’s because they’re too busy making doe-eyes at you across the room, which is exactly how you like it, isn’t it? A kiss here, a kiss there, bat your lashes and your wishes are their command.”
“Actually, yeah. Idolike that. A lot. In fact, I’ll take their kisses and doe-eyes to your rudeness and icy dagger-eyes any day of the week.”
“Quite pathetic, really, the way they follow you about. Are they vicious gargoyles, or little lost puppies in search of an available teat to suckle? Who can say?”
I don’t mean it, of course. All their bedroom games and kitchen table dalliances aside, it’s obvious the others are doing what they can to protect her and one another, inside this house and out.
But so am I. If anything is baked into my DNA, it’s that—protectiveness. And here, inthiscentury, inthisrealm, that protectiveness has manifested in an unshakeableneedto keep her safe, regardless of how badly she drives me up the fucking walls.
Let me come, Daddy. Please…
“I don’t know why I even bother trying to have a normal conversation with you,” she snaps. “Fifteen minutes in the same room with you, and I’m ready to turn myself in and take my chances with the demon prince.”
“Last I checked, there are severalthousandsquare feet in this manor. Feel free to relocate yourself to any of them.”
