Page 32 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
“It seemed like you very much meant to throw the knife.”
“I—” she stammered. “Yes, I . . .” Frustration’s claws dug into her core. Oh, how she hated him. “Actually, no. I meant to throw a tool at you, but I never meant for it to be a knife, and I never meant for it to get anywhere close to you.”
“I mean, if knife play is your thing . . .”
“Emrys.”
“What? I don’t kink shame.” He raised his hands in mock surrender, his joking demeanor back. Apparently, it only took her trying to murder him.
“And what is your kink? Almost being murdered?”
A dimple flashed. “It’s certainly one of them.”
“Then it would seem we are perfectly suited.” She placed her hands on the table, exhausted.
“In solving this murder, we most certainly are.”
“That’s only if I believe you want to solve it.” Quinn glanced at the exit, her heart punching into her throat. “You were threatening her last night.”
“I was.” Emrys slowly walked toward Quinn like a lion observing its prey. He didn’t stop until he was uncomfortably close. She refused to look, but she felt him hovering—towering next to her. His presence sent shivers down her spine.
“I think you should leave.” Quinn returned to examining the intestines.
“And I think you should look me straight in my eyes and tell me I am a murderer.”
“I’ve already told you that a handful of times.” She felt his dark chestnut stare raking and assessing her.
“Now tell me to my face.”
“Is this another kink?” She turned and tilted her head up to find his eyes. “I think you are a murderer.” She tried to keep her voice steady and mechanical but failed spectacularly.
He slid a gloved finger across her jaw, and his body tensed, pain flashing on his face for a moment before it disappeared. “Jane and I—”
“Don’t say her name.” Tears coiled in Quinn’s eyes. “Just don’t . . . please.”
He stepped closer, his vest grazed her arm, and he tilted his chin down to better meet her. “I did not kill her. I needed her help, and now I need your help to find her murderer.” The words made Quinn gulp. “I know that you think I’m a careless,rich fool who spends all of his time partying and wasting my life away—you made that abundantly clear last night—but perhaps there may be more beneath that facade.”
His presence tingled like energy in the air between them. And although she didn’t want to admit it, something was shining through his mask of indifference, but she couldn’t decipher exactly what. Maybe he was a narcissist and able to manipulate people and their emotions easily.
She wanted to ask why he needed Jane’s help, but instead, she said, “I think you should leave.” Then Quinn turned back to the intestines.
“Think of me what you will, but I’ll search for Jan—her killer, with or without your help.”
“I don’t want you here.” Quinn’s chest rose in tight breaths.
“Trust me. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t be here with—”you. The last word hung in the air unsaid. “I cannot let the killer roam free. It’s—” He cleared his throat and stepped back. “I’ll watch from over here. You have more work to do.”
His audacity. Oh, he was so frustrating.
Emrys strolled to the closest counter and leaned against it, sliding his fingers into his pockets, and striking a devastating pose.
But he was right. She did have work to do, so ignoring him, Quinn pulled out the top of a long worm from inside the small intestines. She pulled and pulled and pulled, and the worm kept coming. White and slimy, the tapeworm was nearly three feet long. Considering how long they could grow to, this one was rather small.
“What in all the mirrors is that?” Emrys cursed, his expression one of pure disgust.
“A tapeworm.” Her words were clinical and unimpressed.
