Page 42 of Love & Heart Braking

Except the woman there wasn’t a kraken.

Acribus stood gracefully. “Miss Concordia, how good of you to come.”

“It’s my honor.” I managed not to roll my eyes.

“Heart elemental.” Mr. Hucs sniffed in disdain.

“Siren,” I replied.

The earth guardian straightened from the largest thronelike chair at the table. “Cerys Concordia, you have come to deal with the twelve. I represent my father, the eldest Ventram. You may call me Tiqlig.”

“Sure. And who are you?”

The woman I’d directed my question to glared daggers. “Li Boquit.”

The Boquits were in communications—telephones, letter zingers, you name it—they owned it. Not one of the top four, but they were allied with the Dethnels. Fitting a kraken in the room was likely a regular issue, so her presence made sense.

“How about we get to it?” I asked.

Tiqlig gestured to my seat on the opposite side of the ring, across the huge expanse of the room. Would we be shouting at each other all night?

I sat and dug around in my tote, finding the document in under a minute.

“Have you considered emptying your bag, Miss Concordia?” Tiqlig asked. Of all of them, the earth guardian confused me most. He didn’t give anything away. Acribus liked to distract and bait. Mr. Hucs like to stab emotional daggers and assert himself as the alpha. Li just looked butthurt that she’d been ordered to attend by the Dethnels. Tiqlig came across as mild, like he really didn’t want to be here at all. But not in the same way as Li—more that he genuinely didn’t like being in the meeting.

Slapping the document on the stone desk, I glanced up. “Does a centaur have four legs?”

A glint of amusement glimmered in his eyes.

Li’s lips curled. “Not if you cut them off.”

Acribus wrinkled her nose. “Do try not to be so uncouth, dear.”

The younger woman glowered at the phoenix.

“That document is significantly thicker than the contract we sent you.” Mr. Hucs eyed the stack.

At least ten times thicker, yes. “Here are my terms. I’m not happy about this arrangement in the first place. If my safety is in question at all, then I won’t sign. This is supposed to be a negotiation, but these are the only terms I’ll accept.”

Acribus peered at the Opifi who’d accompanied me. He stood by the door. “That will be all, Lrad.”

The fire mage bowed, though his face smoothed far too convincingly at the order. But the Opifis were one of the lapdogs of the Cinereses from memory.

“Laters, Paygrade,” I called after him.

Back stiff, the fire mage paused, but continued out of the chamber after a leaden moment.

Mr. Hucs faced me. “You seem to be mistaken about what exactly the nature of our dealings with you are, Miss Concordia.”

“You want to experiment with me and my power in order to harness love and manufacture it for yourselves. Because you don’t have enough money as it is.”

He exchanged a look with Acribus, then fixed his green eyes on me once more. “So you got the phoenix to talk.”

“Austin told me this before you lot cursed him with a nondisclosure.” I grimaced at Acribus. “He really, really doesn’t like your daughter, I’m afraid.”

Flames erupted in her eyes, but unlike when I’d visited her family estate, her flames weren’t conveniently out to give anything away.

“Can’t blame him.” Li inspected her nails.

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