Page 43 of Love & Heart Braking

Phew. She must feel capable of backing up those words because I got the feeling Acribus was five seconds away from burning her to a crisp.

Mr. Hucs ignored them. “You have no power here, heart elemental. Therefore, you have no say.”

I held up a hand. “Save the pissing contest, Billian. You sometimes wear the same underwear two days in a row, and that’s all the knowledge I need to know I’m your superior. By all means, drag this process out. But it’s just longer between you and selling love.”

Which they, like the many before them, would fail to do. Love was in my blood, yes, but it wasn’t that simple. Outside me, my blood was nothing. It had to be tethered to my magic, maybe even my very soul, to work. And that was why people failed to replicate and use it time and again.

Mr. Hucs’s face turned purple as the three others smirked.

He really did wear the same underwear for two days though—Soleil told me once.

The siren leaned forward. His voice drifted to me, lulling and hypnotic. “Tell us what you’re really planning.”

A distant part of me recognized that he was using his siren voice on me. That tiny screaming was flung into a cage. I blinked sleepily. “Lasagna.”

His brows furrowed. “What?”

“I was going to have lasagna tonight,” I slurred.

Acribus hissed, “Be more specific, Billian.”

He spoke again. “What is your ulterior motive for agreeing to meet with us?”

My mind went blank. “I need to protect my loved ones. I don’t want to leave my home and businesses.”

His voice pressed into the corners of my head. Sweat beaded on my forehead. “What will you do with any information you come across while in our employ?”

My mind went curiously blank again. “Nothing unless I find something really good. Because I’m afraid of you all.”

The siren leaned back, and the pressure squeezing my brain dissipated. I slumped forward, dragging in air. I waited on tenterhooks, eager to see if the cover story Soleil had implanted in my mind after work would pass the test. She’d said the answers had to be believable enough for him not to dig deeper. Her father was stronger and could break through her alterations.

Mr. Hucs tapped a finger on the table. “Unless you find something really good… Now what are we meant to think about that?” He laughed softly with Acribus and Li Boquit.

I narrowed my gaze. “I don’t give a shit what you think.”

That wiped the smirks off their faces. Had I gone too far?

Soleil’s father locked eyes with me, leaning forward again. Shoot. He was going in for round two.

Tiqlig sat back. “Li, collect the document.”

I tried not to be obvious as I released my exhale.

Clearly seething, Li nevertheless walked around the ring to my side. Heart racing, I handed her the new and improved contract.

She snatched it from me, then returned to the rich side of the table.

“We will review your suggested amendments,” Tiqlig said.

“No,” I said.

The earth guardian looked up from where he’d started looking through the document. “Pardon me?”

I just couldn’t figure this guy out. I almost wanted to like the earth guardian. Who seemed more dangerous than all the others combined. “Take your time, but I’d like to get this out of the way tonight. Meeting up is a waste of my time, and I’m booked out for the next few weeks.”

That wasn’t a lie. We had the new branch opening. I was meeting Vera next weekend at the full moon, and then we had another event on.

“Make time,” Acribus snapped.

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