Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“The point?”
“Yes.” His tatters rustled again. “Speaking to you is like trying to shake off the dust and wipe away the cobwebs in order to see out a window.”
“Poetic,” she said drolly before throwing back the shot. She needed a vat of the stuff to be comfortable in this thing’s presence.
“She was assassinated over a deal gone bad, I think. She probably initiated it when she was out of her mind, didn’t follow through or forgot about it entirely, and was held accountable. I have a feeling it would’ve gone similarly between the two of us if someone hadn’t already gotten to her.”
“That’s the only dealing ye’ve had with Ivy House? I never interacted with any until I found myself in O’Briens, contemplating retirement. I don’t know many details about its history.”
His frame tightened a little. “Are you trying to get free information out of me, Niamh?”
She was getting nothing but, actually. That layer of dust was mighty thick. He had a lot of catching up to do.
Niamh wondered if she should point him in the direction of Momar so he could work his way up through the ranks. He’d be on the outskirts at the start, but there would be plenty of pain and suffering for him to consume, and he might eventually work deep into the organization. That or the Mages’ Guild. There were options for him to exploit there.
Then again, he’d want to take over running it, and then they’d have a new, more sinister enemy to confront.
She needed a brainstorming session, not a hasty decision in a bar. Certainly not in this bar, at any rate. The stool wasn’t comfortable enough for long-term seating.
“Just curious, is all,” she said absently, checking the time. “I’ve got to be running.”
“The heir this time around…” He tapped his bony fingers against the bar. “Is she just as powerful? Does she show interest in…politics?”
“Ye don’t know the first thing about magical politics right now, wandering around the streets like a zombie. But if ye did… Ye know how ye had a hard time getting the other heir alone because of all the gargoyles?” She paused before pushing off her stool. “Well, this time I handle the deals with dickless creatures. If ye have a query, ye go through me.”
His hiss said she had the upper hand. It also said she had something he wanted.
He’d assume this heir could give him whatever the last heir hadn’t. A willy, perhaps. Who knew? In life, the man had been vain. He’d always sought to improve his appearance. His image. He’d always wanted the prettiest women or men in his bed. The prettiest things around him.
And now he was a peeling flesh Popsicle. Fate could be a cruel mistress.
He talked of information? She knew more about him than he could dream to know about her. In truth, it was her cousin who’d poisoned the man. She had no idea why, nor did she know why the man had presumed it was his wife who’d done it. Nor had she cared. When she saw an in, she took it.
Just like now.
If Niamh judged the situation correctly, he’d get in contact again. He’d seek to make a deal. It would open a door for Niamh. She just had to figure out how a revenant, a dangerous creature to allow too close, could work into her plans.
What were the odds of coming across a creature like that, a master of disguises and the sort of fear only death could inspire, on holiday? She didn’t yet know if it was a gift…or a curse.
Aurora
“He’s an illusion, isn’t he?” she asked quietly, realizing she was now bodily leaning against Sue, clutching his arm. She couldn’t seem to pull herself away. Despite her pep talk in the bathroom, she had to own that, yeah, that thing freaked her out. She didn’t know exactly why, but something about the creature was a nope. For the first time in her life, she was happy to let someone else handle it.
“I don’t know,” he murmured in a rough voice. “It’s not what it seems, that much I know. I’d like Alpha Steele’s take on it. He’s better at reading strange creatures.”
“Or maybe Tristan’s,” she said, trying to will herself to push away from Sue but unable to do so. He didn’t shrug her off, either, a rarity for a man who seemed to shrug everyone away. That thing out there had him rattled.
“Maybe Tristan’s,” he agreed as Niamh pushed off the barstool to standing.
Sue twisted a little and bent his arm around Aurora, pressing her into his broad back. She clung on like a spider monkey, leaning to peek around his bicep.
“I feel like a coward,” she admitted, shaking a little.
“You and me both,” he growled, and his body said he was laughing at himself to admit it. “I don’t fear death, but I’m glad you walked away first. That means I get the job of hiding back here under the guise of protecting you. I have a reputation to uphold, after all. Pissing myself because of a creature in a slick suit doesn’t fit my image.”