Page 10 of Too Cursed To Kiss
“Please. I have so many questions. Don’t leave me alone.” I forced my voice to crack pathetically. I’d already established a frontal attack was idiocy. The best I could do was to keep him talking until I could think straight enough to come up with a decent plan.
His lips pursed as if he wasn’t buying it. “I will come to talk if you promise to stay on the bed. Do we have a deal?”
I nodded, and he came in but locked the door behind him. Great, it was an electronic lock. The only way out of here was with a key code or on a stretcher.
“Fine. Let’s start with an easy question. How about you tell me your goddamned name?” My head pounded.
“You can call meVald.” He was still wearing the fucking sunglasses.
“Vald? Like V-a-l-d? What are you, some kind of vampire?” I cackled hysterically. “Bet it stands for Vladimir.”
“It’s W-a-l-d, as in Waldemar. It is a family name. Heritage is important to my family. And no, I am not a vampire. They are mythological creatures.”
The purr of his voice dissolved parts of me. It was ridiculous, but there it was. We are all slaves to our desires, and it was not a rational moment. “Why were you at Gentry’s? Did you see who killed him?”
“I came too late to retrieve the poisoned item. You picked up the pen.”
“Yeah, and it was in my purse. Wait, what were you doing at The Signet? If you were waiting for me at the club, how did you know I was going there?”
“You talk to yourself. I have very good ears. My car is very fast.” His smile curved up on one side. I would get those sunglasses off him if it was the last thing I did.
“Okay, I’m tired of your snappy answers. Why not tellme the whole damn story, from the pen through to the exploding ring part. Start with what the hell happened in the club that landed me in your trunk.”
Wald studied the frosted glass window, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. His shirt clung to muscled arms that my eyes were now glued to. The gloves were a weird attraction. I wanted them off as much as the sunglasses. “The less you know the better off you are.”
“You mean poisoned? Stuffed into a trunk? How about I decide what I need to know?” It wasn’t really a question, but I was extremely aware I was not quite in a position of control.
“I suppose, because you’re safe now and we are waiting, I could answer some of your many questions.” He half smiled, which I definitely shouldn’t have liked as much as I did.
He rubbed one gloved hand over his bare forearm. “I don’t know your Gentry personally. I came for the pen. You took it. You went to the club. I heard you tell the man that you were going to talk to the band. I went backstage first, to wait for you, but I ran into an old acquaintance, and we had a discussion.”
“Yeah, discussion my ass. You were doing more than that.”
He cocked his head. “We all have secrets to keep, yes?”
“No, no, we don’t. How the hell did you know Gentry even had a pen? Your story reeks.”
“Telling you only exposes you to more danger. You don’t need to know. You’re healed now.”
“Come on, you asshole, you’d better lay it down. I’m in freakin’ Spokane because of you.”
He shook his head.
“Then at least explain the ‘heal’ me part. With details.”
He paused, rubbing his chin as if he were thinking of notreplying. “I have some knowledge of herbs, and my touch is special.”
“Well, that’s as clear as a damned tar pit. What exactly doesspecialmean?” I toyed with a rough edge of a tear in my leggings. Maybe I could sew it up.
“I have a healing gift, and I work as what you might call an herb doctor.”
“You’re not big on details are you? Fine. That’ll do for now. What about the exploding ring?” I rubbed my eyes. The room got slightly less fuzzy.
“The man you saw had it, but it didn’t belong to him. I was attempting to get him to tell me about it when you interrupted us.” He shrugged on the leather jacket over the black-collared shirt. He must have changed. My mind wandered back to the club.
“You said the porcelain blocked something about the ring. Or did I dream that?”
“The porcelain and the water, yes. When you took it, I could find it again.”
