Page 42 of Left Hand of the Divine
Atticus turned and pointed towards me. “That would be Roux’s fault. Besides, it was only a little blip of mortality, really.”
I grinned wide. “What can I say? Sex with me is a deadly experience.”
“Is that so?” A sensuous voice said, pulling my attention back to the Guild members. The man who spoke was beautiful.Impossibly so and almost too beautiful to look at. Dark, mysterious sapphire eyes, full lips, pale, luminous skin and rich auburn hair that fell to his shoulders in soft waves. He exuded confidence, and I was instantly drawn to him. The room faded into insignificance the longer that I looked at him. This gorgeous man had to be the incubus.
The incubus continued to stare at me, and he rolled his bottom lip between his teeth in a move that was so hot, so blatantly sexual, that my entire core clenched. “Any chance I could try?”
I let loose a breathy laugh. “Absolutely not. I’m not sure you could handle me.”
The incubus smiled wide, and he held his hand out. “I’m Daire.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said as I shook his hand. It was warm and soft but with a firmness lurking beneath his delicate touch. Steel wrapped in silk. “I hear sex with an incubus could also be considered deadly.”
“Only when we’re starving, and I try not to let my hunger get that desperate,” Daire said, his dark eyes assessing each of us in turn.
“I’m Lazarra,” the lady in the lavender suit said, interrupting my appreciation of the incubus. She had skin the colour of honey, and her eyes shimmered like drops of whisky. Her platinum blonde hair was scraped back into a severe bun at the nape of her neck, and her long legs ended in stiletto-clad feet. Wow, she was tall. “Blood witch and Head of the Guild. This is Rory, my second in command.”
Where Lazarra was serious and to the point, Rory looked like he belonged on a beach. His skin was golden, his hair a soft blondewith sky blue accents and all messy. He smelt like the sea, and I could imagine him spending lazy days under the sun.
“How do you do?” I asked as I shook his hand, a little mesmerised at meeting a merman. I’d never had the chance to meet one before. They weren’t known for their trips to the Underworld but I had heard tales of some living out on the shores of Elysium. Not that anyone had ever seen them. They were mysterious creatures and rarely out of the water.
“Very well,” he said cheerfully, his voice as smooth as silk. His skin was rough against mine, and there was something about his aura that had me curious to know him better. I especially wanted to know how he ended up working at the Guild. “Pleasure to meet you, Roux.”
The man next to Rory looked bored and like he wished he was anywhere else. He also had that slight pale shimmer that identified him as a ghost. He didn’t hold his hand out, and I didn’t ask for it.
“I’m Jefferson,” was all that the ghost said, his words clipped. Okay, guess we weren’t going to be best buddies, then.
“I’m Avery,” the woman next to Jefferson squealed. She threw her arms around me in a hug and squeezed me hard. The scent of mountain pine wafted from her, and I could feel her wolf shift beneath her skin. Most people wouldn’t, but I could always feel the Hounds beneath the skin of the twins because I’d spent so muchtime with them.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Avery,” I replied, casting a pleading look at one of the guys to help me. This tiny woman was about to break a rib.
“Perhaps you should let the Reaper go,” Jefferson drawled.
“Sorry.” Avery stepped back, a sheepish look on her elfin face. She seemed on the petite side for a wolf, but I knew that looks could be deceiving. There was no way this woman was on the Council without some serious prowess backing up her stature. “I am a big fan, and I have been so eager to meet you! I’ve been following you on the DeadZone for years, and I love it when you smack some punk-ass, no-good-for-nothing douchebag in the face with some Reaper justice.”
What the fuck? “You follow me on DeadZone?”
I didn’t even know Icouldhave a following on DeadZone. That was our social media down here, and it was supposed to only be for the Underworld, but someone leaked it to the surface, and now everyone is on there. The dead and the living alike. I avoided the thing like the plague.
Rafe chuckled. “It’s quite the impressive page. I think Norman set it up when you kept going rogue and causing havoc topside.”
“You’re quite the star outside of GRIM,” Rayne added.
I was flabbergasted. Not only had Norman—our PR guru—kept this from me, but so had the twins. To be fair, if I had known about it, I’d probably have told Norman to take it down. “Let me see—”
“As delightful as this is to watch, I think we should probably be moving on with why we are here,” Lazarra said as she pulled out a chair. “Please, sit.”
I sat in the chair opposite Lazarra, the twins to my left and Atticus and Thane to my right. The welcoming atmosphere of the room dissipated into a serious, thick tension. It brushed at my skin with a clammy hand and made the room feel incredibly close.
“Thank you for joining us this afternoon,” Lazarra began.
Rory pulled out a large number of files and placed them on the table in front of him.
“It wasn’t like we had much choice,” Rayne growled. I placed my hand on his thigh and squeezed gently. We needed to remain level-headed until we knew what we were dealing with. Pissing off the Guild wasn’t going to get us anywhere.
“No,” Lazarra replied, her voice curt. “But I’m glad you didn’t run. Then we would have had to send investigators after you, and it would have become this whole thing, and it’s just so much easier that you’re here.”
“Happy we could help, then,” Rafe drawled, and I flicked him a pleading glance.
