Page 54 of Demons and Debts
Paris nods, but then looks at his watch. ‘Shit. I can do the tech stuff no problem, but the spells will have to wait until the full moon, which isn’t for a couple days. I can get Korban to go look for a breach along the properly line though. He’s good at finding stuff like that.
‘Good. I don’t want any surprises tonight. There will be a lot of people here who’d love to see us go under and I’m not about to make it easy for ‘em.’
‘I'll get it done, boss. Oh,’ he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a manila envelope. ‘This was in the P.O. Box.’
‘This is our girl?’
He nods.
‘Have you looked at it?’
‘Haven’t had a chance.’
I take the envelope from Paris and put it on the desk.
‘I'll look at it later,’ I say, but I doubt Paris has bought my lie. As soon as he leaves, he knows I won’t be able to resist tearing it open and finding out everything I need to know about our little on-call girl prospect.
‘Be careful with Kor where the new girl’s concerned,’ I warn.
He scoffs as soon as my words register. ‘He doesn't want anything to do with one of those human bitches. Trust me. Getting him to stay properly fed is a fucking nightmare.’
‘Be that as it may,’ I say, thinking about that look in Kor’s eye while he was talking about her earlier, the fact that he’s been watching her, ‘just keep an eye on him.’
‘Will do, boss,’ he says, but I already know he won't. He'll start doing what I've told him to do and focus completely on his task, forgetting about everything else.
I take out my phone and call Theo who I heard come in the door a few minutes ago. ‘She’s in her room. Bring her down, would you?’
‘You're gonna do it now?’ Paris looks excited.
‘I just want to test the waters,’ I say. ‘Plant the seed.’
I tap the envelope. ‘I'll get everything I need from here to make it happen.’
Paris chuckles. ‘She's not gonna know what hit her.’
She comes in a minute later looking petulantly at Paris, and I have an urge to bend her over the desk and give her a good, hard spanking.
‘Sit down,’ I say sternly and find myself tickled when her eyes cut to me at the tone of my voice and she sits, lookingchastened.
‘You weren't straight with us when we made the deal at the bar last week. All you said was you had some stalkers. You didn't say they've been following you around the country for the past ten years killing people.’
She raises her chin in defiance and my palm twitches. ‘I answered your questions. It's your fault if you didn't ask the right ones. You still have to help me,’ she says quickly. ‘I paid you and the agreement was magickly binding.’
I sit back in my chair, looking like I don't give a shit. ‘Actually, we don’t.’
‘What?’
‘Well, the exact words that you agreed to were ‘we will keep you safe’, which we are. We said we’d take care of the guys who were stalking you, and Paris and Sie technically did. Those frat boyswerestalking you. We held up our end. It's over.’
Her jaw tightens. Oh, she's angry. ‘You can't just—’
‘Yes, I can. I already have,’ I say, ‘but I'll tell you what.’ I hand her the documents I've been looking at along with a pen. ‘You contract with us as a human female belonging to the Club …’
Her eyes widen as she opens her mouth, but no words come out.
‘Yes,’ I say, ‘as one of the contracted girls. In return, you can live in a house known for its security.’Once we take care of the potential breach anyway.
For a few moments, she says nothing, taking a look at the contract, at me, and at Paris still standing behind her.
