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I wink. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. If you ever want a demonstration, you only have to ask.”

She huffs, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. “You’re an ass.”

“Never claimed otherwise.”

She rolls her eyes, then peers over my shoulder. The moment I pivot to check what attracted her notice, she lunges for the window.

I close the distance between us in one leap, snatching her wrist as her foot lands on the windowsill. “Nice try.”

An angry buzz is my sole warning before shapes spill up my hand and arm like liquid shadows.

A flash of memory freezes me in place.

Drachen.

For the space of a few heartbeats, the huge, writhing shadow-beasts from the past streak through my mind. The way they corrupted people and forced them to behave in horrible ways. All the deaths they caused, including our good friend, Blair. How a drachen temporarily infested King Sterling of Tirene—my best friend—and almost led to a madman conquering our kingdom.

The sensation of tiny legs scuttling over my shoulder yanks me back to the present. These aren’t drachen. Too small…and far too many. Besides, we eradicated those malignant shadows once and for all.

The woman spins, using the windowsill as a platform to jump over my head. More dark creatures rain down from her sleeve and into my hair before her feet hit the ground behind me.

Instinct kicks in, and I reach for my dagger with one hand while attempting to shake the strange things off with the other, the woman momentarily forgotten and replaced by a primal need to rid myself of the beetle-like bodies. Each one is the size of my thumb, with too many legs that snag in my hair.

They slither up and down my arms, seeking to skitter under my tunic. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds, scurry with chaotic purpose, crawling into my ears, my collar, and skittering across my closed eyelids when I squeeze my eyes shut. My breath shudders past clenched teeth, my mind consumed by images of the insects filing into my mouth, down my throat, up my nose, and taking me over as they burrow into the soft parts of my insides.

I stumble backward, slapping at my face and hair. “What in the actual fuck?”

What kind of woman keeps trained bugs on her person?

My arousal evaporates like water on a hot stone. The bugs were a distraction, and the woman is long gone.

I lurch down the hall after her, still swatting insects from my hair. With each step, more of the tiny creatures fly away to rejoin their mistress.

As I hit the stairs, I track the creatures’ soft glow to the woman as she ducks into an alley.

After a quick glance around to ensure no witnesses, I vault off the stairs. Flaring my wings, I touch down on the ground right where the woman disappeared.

Rounding the corner, I spot my quarry and whistle. “Hey, sweetheart, where are you going? I just want to talk. Have you thought of bathing in herbs to clear up that little infestation problem you’ve got in your clothes?”

Her head starts to swivel before she pulls her hood lower and picks up the pace. The beetles—or whatever the hells they are—find her and slip up her leg into a pouch at her waist.

“It’s okay. I understand. I know a great healer who can help, if that’s the real problem. You’re not contagious, are you?” I follow, ignoring the last few insects clinging to my collar now that I know they aren’t trying to tunnel into my brain, focused entirely on not losing the woman in the dark.

She responds by hunching her shoulders and starting to jog away.

I lope after her. She’s too damn intriguing for me to give up the chase so soon, even if she does store magical bugs in her clothes.

Besides, I’m not letting my only lead escape.

Chapter Five

Esme

Whore? What? How will that stop us from being detained for breaking curfew?

His warmth becomes scorching and overpowering, akin to a fire you can’t escape from.

I have no time to protest before the man lowers his head and brushes his lips over mine.