Page 48 of A Malicious Menagerie
After all, Mathis fed a celebrity to a vampire. What do I think he would do to me, a virtual nobody with few connections, if I crossed him or was no longer useful? Then there’s the fact that he let mewitnessthe murder without a second thought. Does he really trust that the NDA is going to guarantee my silence? Sure, no one would believe me if I started raving about how Mathis sacrificed a man to a vampire, but I could certainly send the police in the right direction. Why would he take that risk when he could make me disappear just as easily as he did Eddie?
“Do not interfere in my affairs again.”
“Thanks for that,” I mutter, feeling the blood drain from my face.
“Honestly,” Chase continues with a scowl, “the safest thing for you to do would actually be to disappear. Get out before Mathis can get any ideas.”
“Mathis already threatened that,” I reply without thinking, remembering the way his black gaze looked as he loomed over me the night of the gala.
“Those who do tend to disappear. Do I make myself clear?”
Chase’s gaze sharpens. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” I assure him, shaking off my unease. “Anyway, I can’t just disappear. Where does that leave Nan? Or you?”
“I’d survive, especially knowing you were somewhere far away and safe.” He pauses, considering. “Nan is a bit more complicated to figure out.”
I don’t love that response, though it takes me a few seconds of reflection to figure out why. “You wouldn’t miss me?” I ask tentatively, feeling as vulnerable as an open wound. “If I were to disappear?”
“Of course I’d miss you,” he growls, and his quick response is like a balm and bandage to the raw spot in my chest. He steps closer again, pulled by our mutual gravity, until I have to crane my neck up to look into his hard eyes. “So fucking much. But better you’re away and okay than here with me in constant danger.”
“I wouldn’t be okay,” I tell him honestly, my gaze skittering away from his as I make my confession. “I’d miss you too much.”
His big hands come up to cup either side of my neck, and he presses his thumbs to my jaw to tip my gaze back up to his. The emotions trapped in his starry eyes make my breath catch. There’s just so much more there than what’s been spoken between us. And this time, when he leans down to kiss me, it’s slow. Tender. A long press of lips and exchange of breath. I cling to his shoulders, soaking up his heat and strength, trying to absorb enough of both to prepare for the uncertain future ahead of us.
* * *
I’m still on cloud nine from Chase’s kiss as I make my way toward the front of the menagerie later that night. Once again, I’m that giddy high school girl squealing with glee.He likes me! He likes me!
My happy thoughts grind to a halt when I hear voices coming from the carousel up ahead, and I slow my pace. It’s not uncommon for guards to stop and chat, but one of the voices is feminine. As far as I know, I’m the only woman who works the night shift. I glance over my shoulder, wondering if Ishould go back the way I came, but this is the fastest route to my next task. Besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong. Just going about my night and doing my job.
Resolved, I continue along the path, but I halt when the carousel and two familiar figures come into view. In a moment of blind panic, I throw myself behind a tree to hide from Mathis and Radha Gupta where they’re chatting leisurely beside Mathis’s favorite red dragon mount. I’d hoped to never see the actress again after our last unfortunate encounter, but of course I couldn’t be so lucky.
But what is she doing here?
I don’t mean to eavesdrop. Not really. But announcing myself now would be suspicious and uncomfortable. Better to just wait them out. And if I just so happen to overhear their conversation in the meantime…
“What can I do to convince you?” Radha says in her lilting voice, a touch of fond exasperation in her tone.
“Nothing,” Mathis replies jovially. “He’s not for sale.”
My shoulders stiffen.He? For sale?Who are they talking about? Fionn? The centaur?
But does anyone really make sense other than…
“Surely there’s something,” Radha continues, though I struggle to hear her past my pounding pulse. It feels like someone just dumped a whole bucket offight or flightover my head. “A creature you have always sought to possess but never been able to acquire?”
“A dragon, perhaps,” Mathis answers, and they both chuckle. Ah, yes. Cryptid captor humor. “Or…”
When he hesitates, Radha jumps at the small show of weakness. “Yes? Or?”
Mathis chuckles again, wryly this time. “Well, I have never been able to find another Grootslang since the one I slayed when I was young. It’s a sentimental wish for an old man, I suppose.”
Radha is quiet for a moment, and I swear I can almost hear her smug, cat-that-got-the-canary smile. “What if I told you I have a contact who could get you one?”
Mathis’s stunned silence follows. “I’d ask, who is this resourceful contact?”
“You must allow a lady her secrets, Mars,” Radha answers teasingly. “They’re their own kind of currency.”
