Page 38 of City of the Lost
Oh, fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. Rock, meet hard place. There was no way out of this except the tailored truth.
I sat back in my seat and locked gazes with her. “Well, it all started when The Collective failed to do their job.”
She canted her head. “Go on, I’d like to hear you talk your way out of this one.”
It was my turn to smirk. “You see, it went down a little like this ...” I filled her in on the missing kids, using my connection to The Gables to explain my involvement. I filled her in on the rescue, leaving out Barnaby’s help with the luck potion, and then my capture and subsequent release on signing the contract with Elora. “And that’s how I ended up living with a Shedim. Elora wants me to find one of her Shedim who’s gone missing on this side of the border, a runaway, and Azren is kinda her equivalent of law enforcement.”
“And the contract makes him your employee so circumvents the Treaty,” she clarified.
“Yep.” I held up my hand. “Don’t worry, I checked and it’s just one Shedim, just Azren.” Thank God I wasn’t Pinocchio.
“And you have a copy of this contract?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sure. I insisted on a copy while Elora breathed on me with her fiery I-want-to-eat-you breath.” I gave her an incredulous look. “No, I don’t have a copy. You’re just going to have to take my word for it, and while you have us locked up in here interrogating us, more Lost could be roaming the city. Not to mention those metal things. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get out there and do my fucking job.”
Okay, so I was rambling; indignation was my shield, but it was working. Loraine’s tight expression eased somewhat. “The dragon liege had a duty to inform us of this rogue Shedim in our territory.”
“Yeah, well, you’ll have to take that up with her.” And hopefully she’d cover her own ass and not give away the whole truth. “I’m just doing what I need to keep my skin, and I’d like to get back out there.”
“The Lost and the Genisi aren’t your problem any longer, Miss Bastion. We have it under control.”
Well, that was fine by me. “In that case, we’re done here.”
“No,” Hon said. “No, we’re not.” She pushed off the wall. “The Genisi have attacked her twice now.”
Three times, if you included the attic, but heck, she didn’t need to know that.
“So?” Loraine asked.
Hon made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “Keep up, Vincent. It means there’s something in her DNA they’re attracted to, which means they’ll come for her again, which means ...” She left the sentence hanging.
“That we can use her as bait,” Loraine finished. Was she clenching her teeth? Yeah, there was obviously no love lost between these two.
“Bait?” Azren spoke up, his voice rough. “No.”
“Aw, sweet,” Hon said. “But you don’t get a say.”
Azren raised his glowing jade eyes to meet hers. “The contract with my liege clearly states that she is my responsibility while I am in her employ. So, yes, I get a say.”
Hon opened her mouth to argue, but I held up my hand. “Enough.” I looked at Azren. “Those things are dangerous. If we can stop them, then I’m doing this.” I looked to Hon. “But first, I need to know what the fuck we’re up against.”
“No,” Loraine snapped. “She doesn’t have clearance.”
Hon took a deep breath, her jaw ticking dangerously. “Then get her clearance. Now.”
10
Clearance took an hour. An hour of shitty office coffee and silence, because they’d left Azren and me alone, but like hell was I saying anything that could incriminate us, because even the walls in this place probably had ears.
Azren paced like a caged animal, his movements fluid like silk. He’d shucked off his jacket, leaving his biceps bare, and the tight, thin fabric of his T left little to the imagination; every ripple and shift of muscle was a mesmerizing distraction that made even the machine coffee taste bearable. He raked a hand through his hair, tousling the locks into the just-got-out-of-bed look that made my fingers ache to touch him, to slide through those silken strands and cup the nape of his neck, and—
He speared me with his gaze, pinning me to the spot with the power of his regard. Inky shadows ate at his irises, and for a moment, it was as if he’d touched me, a brush along my cheek, feather-light but definitely followed by a push that tested the barriers I’d been erecting and struggling to hold in place for the past week. What was that and why was my heart pounding?
“Wila?” He sounded confused.
I shook my head. “Later.”
Why was I attracted to the guys who were off limits? And why was the attraction always that little bit too intense? This thing between Azren and me, it was weird and unnatural and out of my control.
