Billow (16 page)

Unbelievable. Just when I thought the guy was half-decent.

"You can't tell me those barbaric seals are showing you a better time than me."

"Jealous?"

He winked. "I don't need to be jealous. I've got all the goods and then some."

I stared.

After a few long seconds of silence, his curiosity won out. "What?"

"I'm wondering how your clothes fit."

Julian glanced down. He was dressed in workout clothes. "What are you talking about?"

"Your head gets bigger every time I see you. How do you fit into your shirts?" I tilted my head. "Do you have to stretch out the neck?"

"It's not all hot air, darling." Lips curled into a dazzling smile. "Let's put it to the test."

He kicked out and gracefully leapt to his feet. A part of me envied his abilities and another part wanted to smack him for always showing off. Which he definitely was doing.

"Why don't you show me how much you've improved?"

I stood and gave him a withering look. "Please."

"Afraid you still can't win?"

Eyes narrowed. "I'm not the same ondine you first trained."

"True." Playfulness lit up his face. "So let's make it interesting. How about a small wager? I'll bet you still can't take me down."

To be honest, the idea was tempting. I was in the mood for a good sparring and it'd been awhile since I engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a demillir.

I crossed my arms. Best to not look too interested. "What are the terms?"

"If you can't take me down, you accompany me to an event."

Warning bells went off in my head.

"What kind of event?" I asked warily.

"A party," he replied. "And no, it's not a Redavi one. Just a dinner party with friends. I'd like you to come as my guest."

"Like…like a
date
?"

"Yes, like a date, sweet iris." My utter horror seemed to delight him. "And I want the whole thing. Picking you up from your room. Escorting you to the party. Of course, I'm a gentleman so I'll bring you back by curfew. Maybe you'll enjoy yourself enough that I might get lucky after—"

I held up my hand. "No."

"Just the dinner part, then."

"No." I bent to pick up my towel.

"Why not?"

I turned to him, exasperated. "Did you hit your head or something?"

He raised his brow.

"There is no dating." I gesticulated between us. "There's none of that. No. Nope.
Non
."

"You forgot
nein
. And
nyet
."

I closed my eyes.

Breathe.

No one could possibly be that asinine.

"Okay. You? Me?" I spoke slowly so he'd understand. "It's not going to happen."

"Maybe losing isn't what scares you." He stepped forward and I moved back. When he got too close, his scent made me a little dizzy. "Maybe you're afraid of what'll happen if you spend an evening with me."

Right. Mr. I'm Too Sexy thought I wouldn't be able to restrain my poor little hormones around him for one night.

"No," I said in an innocent voice. "I'm worried that when I kick your ass, your male ego won't recover. How will the female population make do without you?"

His mouth twitched. "You haven't asked what you get if you take me down."

"And what's that?"

"You tell me." He spread his arms. "You can have anything you want."

I ignored the cocky innuendo and carefully considered. The stakes had to be high enough for Julian to bow out.

What would make him uncomfortable…

I shot him a victorious look. "If I win, you have to tell me everything you're doing to locate the Shadow. Including what you do outside Haverleau and any secret stuff you do with Nexa."

It was worth it just to see the surprise that flickered through his eyes before he covered it up.

Gotcha
.

He was going to refuse. There was no way he'd spill classified chevalier secrets.

I was about to tease him for backing out when he spoke. "Okay."

I couldn't believe it. He was willing to tell me info I'd been dying to get my hands on.

I snapped my mouth shut. "Really?"

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"If that's what it takes to have you by my side for a few hours." His voice was suddenly intimate.

From the moment we met, I told Julian I wasn't interested in becoming another ondine he seduced. But I suddenly wondered if he wanted more than just a physical conquest.

The thought left me uncomfortable. I could handle womanizing, arrogant Julian. Anything else was too messy to deal with.

"Do we have a bet?"

I had a real opportunity to find out what was going on with the investigation into the Shadow. If I lost, the cost was spending a few hours at a party with him.

It was a no-brainer. Obtaining that kind of information was worth the risk.

Adrenaline coursed through me. "Let's do this."

We pushed aside our bags and cleared the area for maneuvering.

I rolled my neck, stretched my arms, and took a defensive stance in the center of the mat.

Julian circled, his steps measured and unhurried. "I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the number of selkies in the Training Center tonight."

Eyes followed his movements. I gently pulled on my Virtue.

"Is the big, bad First Lieutenant scared of a little ondine magic?" I taunted.

His body was completely relaxed. But laser-sharp focus glittered in those dark blue eyes.

"You don't scare me, sweet iris. Just pointing out it's probably not smart to hurt them. Might make your training classes difficult."

"If I were you, I'd worry less about the gardinels and more about yourself."

He circled closer. "They should be working with you on control."

I tensed. "I have no problems with—"

He moved.

Damn. I'd almost forgotten how good Julian was.

His leg shot out in a perfect roundhouse kick. I jerked away at the last moment, the tip of his shoe grazing my shirt.

I feinted to the left and whipped around, lunging for his upper arm. He didn't fall for it. Julian maneuvered behind and sent a hard jab into my back.

I growled and snapped with a kick to his thigh. Left forearm blocked contact and right elbow drove into my solar plexus.

Sharp pain radiated and breath came out in an oomph.

Need more strength
.

The demanding urge to pull harder on my Virtue flooded me.

I gritted my teeth and fought the temptation.

Julian was right. Doing that in the Training Center would almost guarantee I'd be sitting out for the remainder of the elite program.

Fist flew at his jaw. With a quick swipe, he knocked it aside and grabbed my wrist. Arms snaked around my waist and pinned my hands.

He held me close, back flush against his chest.

Lips brushed my ear. "Oh, I think I like this —"

I stomped on his foot and jammed an elbow back into his stomach. He inhaled sharply and I yanked free.

I smirked. "Did you like that?"

"Good." He grinned. "But not good enough."

His right leg was already in motion and I leaped, narrowly avoiding the low sweep kick. Circling, I landed a solid punch right above his ribs.

Julian grunted. His right fist smashed forward and I stepped back to avoid it.

Too late, I realized my mistake.

Left foot came from behind and slammed against my calves. I crashed to the mat, breath completely knocked out of me.

I glared up at him. Not a hair was out of place and he looked as smug as ever.

I'd barely lasted over a minute. How embarrassing.

Julian extended his hands. "Going to pout all night?"

I took a deep breath. Shit. I hated losing.

"No." It came out pretty calm. "I know what I did."

He brought me down with a simple bait and switch. It was a stupid mistake.

I slid my hands into his, once again surprised by the callouses on his fingers. Everything about him screamed Redavi, but those hands belonged to a chevalier.

It was one of the countless contradictions that made Julian hard to figure out.

He pulled me up with a wide smile. "Looks like you have a party to attend."

Swallowing my pride, I pushed a few strands of hair off my sweaty face. He'd won fair and square.

"You'll probably end up regretting this," I warned. "It's almost a guarantee I'll say something that pisses someone off."

"I'm sure you can manage for one night."

I forced my mouth into a wide, toothy smile. "Isn't this party
fah
-
bu-lous
?"

He grimaced. "You might want to tone down the feral look a bit."

I touched my mouth. He probably had a point.

"It's not that kind of party, anyway. Believe me, you'll be fine." Eyes gleamed with wicked delight. "Maybe I should send over something to wear."

I suddenly pictured myself wearing a little scrap of material that barely covered my ass.

"Uh-uh." I shook my head. "Tell me what kind of party it is and I'll find something."

"Worried I'll dress you up like the woman of my dreams?"

"It's not your dreams that worry me." I eyed him suspiciously. "It's your fantasies."

His laughter filled the air and I couldn't stop the smile spreading on my face.

"It's not formal, but you should probably dress nicely. No jeans." He headed for the door. "I'll see you Wednesday. Six-thirty."

He wasn't telling me something and a part of me still suspected it was a Redavi event. What had I gotten myself in to?

"Why do I need to dress up?" I called out. "LeVeq, this better not be —"

"It's not." He opened the door and glanced back. "I want someone hot to look at all night."

My towel hit the door a millisecond after it closed.

THIRTEEN

A fine layer of snow dusted the tops of the rose bushes. Gusts of crisp morning air brushed my cheeks as I wound through the Royal Gardens.

I'd completed my debriefing with Jeeves and shared everything that happened in Lyondale.

Well, almost everything.

I reported that I engaged with Aquidae to protect Aubrey and Alex. It was a small, necessary lie and I knew it wouldn't impede the investigation. The result was what mattered and two more Aquidae would no longer cause harm.

I walked past the two Royal Gardinels on duty and entered the guest house.

Ian was in the main living area. The bigger surprise was the red-haired ondine sitting next to him on the sofa.

"Hey." His smile faded slightly. "You look exhausted."

I gave my default answer. "I'm fine."

Just another night of tossing, turning, and a black dream that never went away.

Ian and Aubrey seemed fine. Better than fine. Eyes glowed with cheeriness. Knees touched. They huddled over a laptop she balanced on her thighs.

Maybe they'd had a bit of that alone time Alex suggested.

"I didn't see Garreth outside." I settled across from them and glanced at Aubrey. "And you weren't at breakfast."

She nodded. "Garreth was busy. A school gardinel brought me over early and I had breakfast here. I wanted to meet with Jeeves."

"Why?" I asked, surprised.

"I requested they allow Ian access to the Tech Department." She gave a small smile. "The two of us can dig deeper into Gilroy's life and find another way to locate him."

It was a great idea. Combining Aubrey and Ian's talents would make them a formidable pair. It also meant she'd be spending more time with him.

I raised my brow slightly and her cheeks turned pink. Huh. That serious already.

"They're monitoring your email and phone in case he contacts you." Ian remained completely oblivious to our silent girl talk. "I was afraid he'd pull something like this. I thought we covered enough bases to earn his trust."

"I almost lost him when I checked him out with my Virtue. But I worked it hard enough I was sure we had him."

Ian frowned. "You used your magic?"

"Just for a moment."

"Why?" Aubrey asked. "You didn't need to."

"It was an advantage."

And now that I thought about it, I'd discovered something unusual.

"It was weird when I reached into him," I told Ian. "There was like a black tree root embedded in his emotions."

Ian's eyes dropped and he suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Um, yeah," he mumbled. "It's kind of a nix thing. Our dark roots."

That didn't make sense.

"What do you mean? I don't feel that with you."

Nervousness flitted across his face. Aubrey's eyes darted between us.

"Ian." I restrained my impatience. "Just spit it out."

He fidgeted. "Nixes have forgotten how to use the pent-up magic in our blood. That's why we can't shape-shift anymore."

Aubrey leaned forward, eyes shining with interest.

"Part of our magic allows us to hide our essence. It's a protective mechanism, kind of like how a chameleon changes colors. When we used to prey on humans, we concealed our dark, elemental roots so we appeared completely harmless."

I sighed. I saw where this was going.

"I knew you were an Empath," he said in a rush. "And my group was concerned you'd find out I was a nix. So I practiced until I could use the magic to cover up who I was."

It'd worked. The moment I met Ian three years ago, I'd reached into him with my Virtue and only detected an ordinary human being.

"It kind of became a habit. I use it all the time now in case I ever run into another Empath." He gave a weak smile. "I always seem human."

"Is it like the Cloaking Virtue?" Aubrey asked.

Ian shook his head. "From what I know about ondine magic, Cloaking applies to places and a person's memory. But this kind of nix magic hides the essence of who we are. It's specific to a person."

I leaned back and rubbed my eyes. "Gilroy doesn't know how to use it, which was why I sensed that part of him."