Page 97 of The Last Slayer
I scrambled to my feet, putting the bed between us. What I was thinking couldn’t be right. “You’re the Alexandros? The incubus king?”
He smiled, and it hit me like a fine whisky, smoky and intoxicating. “At your service.” There was a rathe
r unnecessary emphasis on the last word.
His sexual aura oozed pure bad-boy. I finally truly understood the dilemma my clients faced, the one I’d always scoffed at, and I was at once embarrassed and humbled. I was a trained hunter, exceptionally good at my job, and I probably wasn’t even mortal anymore. Yet I’d nearly succumbed to Alexandros’s allure. Sure he was a king and all…and unbelievably sexy…but…
I ignored Alexandros as best I could and turned to Ramiel. “You invited the king of the incubi here?” Really, it was just too much.
“He can be a useful ally.”
“Oh he can?” Maybe I’d forgotten to tell Ramiel I’d vowed to hunt down every single creature of nightmare until I found Miguel’s killer.
“Incubi gather Sex and—”
“If you’re looking for that, we can contact the Federation of Mageship.”
“That would be rather silly,” Alexandros said.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” I didn’t even look at him. I couldn’t. Besides, what did he know anyway? Ramiel was a dragonlord. The Federation would kiss his boots while delivering every drop of Sex it had on hand.
“Who do you think supplies your precious Federation?”
I froze for a moment, then had to put a hand on the mattress to steady myself. This was worse than Ramiel telling me my mom was the last slayer. “You?”
“Well. Not personally.”
“But…”
“Sex is ours to sell. Don’t worry, we don’t gouge the Federation much.”
That was so not the point. I couldn’t believe the Federation had official business dealings with creatures of nightmare. We were supposed to protect people, help them overcome their addiction to incubi and succubi highs. But instead, we were secretly buying magic boosters from the enemy. So in a way, we were financing…well, whatever it was that creatures of nightmare wanted to buy. They could’ve been getting magic or information or whatever to negate our efforts to contain the damage.
And my own fucking membership dues had probably bought the gorgeous outfit Alexandros was wearing.
Then something else hit me. Jack was one of the most influential members in the Federation. Did he know about this?
I had always disliked the Federation, but now that flared into a towering rage. No wonder I was always on their shit list—I had been the most successful one at cutting off their source of supply! Bastards. Just wait until I exposed their hypocrisy and double-dealings. If that wasn’t enough to bring them down, I’d unleash my wyrms on them after I claimed Eastvale.
“Well, Ramiel,” Alexandros began. “Are you ever going to introduce me to this charming creature?”
Ramiel closed his eyes and sighed. “Alexandros, meet Ashera del Cid.”
For the first time the incubus king seemed a bit unsure of himself. “Is that a joke?”
“It is not.”
“Isn’t she supposed to be…” He frowned. “What’s the new word…? Fugly?”
“Excuse me, I’m still in the room.” I strode between the two ridiculously attractive men. “I really am Ashera, and no, I’m not fugly.” I put my hands on my hips. “Besides, ‘fugly’?”
“I try to keep current with modern mortal terms.” Alexandros gave me a wolfish grin. “It often heightens the experience.”
I resisted the urge to smack him and turned to Ramiel. “He and I cannot be allies. I can’t stand his kind. I kill incubi for living.” Well, I had until about two hours earlier.
“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Alexandros said. “If they lose to a mortal, they deserve to die.” He made a tch noise. “What a disgrace.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I said.
