She grabbed his throat, lifted him until his feet dangled inches above the ground. ‘I gave you a task,’ she growled. ‘All you had to do was watch her and tell me what she did and who she spoke to.’ She shook him.
I almost expected him to rattle.
‘You knew I hadn’t finished with her yet,’ she yelled.
Eyes bulging, Darius let her choke him.
Albie brushed down his uniform, had a sneaky scratch, then said calmly, ‘Put him down, Rio. You can play with him later.’
She dropped Darius and backhanded him all in one fast movement, launching him into the air. He hit the filing cabinet face-first, banging it into the wall, and thudded down, blood trickling from his scalp, leaving behind a head-sized dent in the metal.
Ouch! That had to hurt.
‘Why are you fussing about the sidhe?’ Albie inspected his manicure. ‘She must have left.’
‘They say not at the front door.’ Rio kicked the plastic chair, knocking it over.
‘They are such
challenging
things, the fae,’ Albie said snidely. ‘Maybe she vanished into thin air.’
Rio snarled, lips pulling back from her fangs, ‘I told you, she can’t do that. She may reek of power, but she lacks any ability to control it.’
Harsh but true. Still I wasn’t too happy about the
reeks
bit.
‘And you think you are the one to win that prize?’ Albie gave a disbelieving sniff. ‘You smell weak enough that I wonder you ever gained your autonomy.’
‘Don’t push me.’ She crowded him, topping him by a good six inches. ‘You didn’t enjoy it the last time I showed you who’s boss.’
A sly look crossed his face. ‘I won’t help if
He
senses you’re this depleted. Remember I’m not the loyal sort. All I’m interested in is my blood-cut and if you can’t deliver, then I’ll find someone who can.’
‘You always were a snivelling parasite,’ she sneered at him.
‘I prefer to call it judicious pragmatism.’ He reached for the door handle.
Be ready, Genevieve,
Malik’s voice sounded in my head.
I do not wish to stay for the finale.
He wasn’t the only one. Somehow I didn’t think I’d enjoy the encore.
‘Now if I was you,’ Albie pointed a finger at her, ‘I’d stop fretting about the sidhe and sort yourself out.’
Rio lunged for him.
But he was gone.
She slammed the door shut, leant back against it and glowered at Darius. He was still huddled on the floor, watching her with wide-open eyes.
Our chance is lost. We must wait until she is otherwise occupied.
A long, low hissing escaped Rio’s mouth and she collapsed to her knees. ‘Get over here, you pathetic creature,’ she ordered.
Darius slowly sat up, then dragged his shirt sleeve across his face, wiping away the blood.
Rio’s face contorted in pain. ‘For fuck’s sake, hurry up!’
He lurched forward as if she’d pulled him, then crawled until he knelt before her, his pupils dilating until they almost eclipsed the brown of his iris.
She stroked his cheek. ‘Kiss me.’ Her tone lost its stridency,
mesma
giving it promise.
Darius clasped her head in his palms, then mashed his mouth to hers.
Rio looked like she was trying to eat him back.
She’s occupied,
I tried to shout.
I want to go now.
Rio reared back, her chest rising with harsh gasps, a rosy bloom in her cheeks. She ran her tongue around her fangs, then laughed, the sound of her pleasure echoing around the room. Darius slumped, a thick trickle of blood running between his lips.
‘More,’ she purred, pressing her mouth back against his. Her hands reached blindly for his shirt, ripped it open. She scored long blue nails over his pecs, down his abdominals, and thick lines of blood welled up. Moving her palms in ever-widening circles, she spread the blood like jam over his weeping skin.
Okay.
I tried to close my eyes, found I couldn’t.
This is not good.
Rio snatched her mouth away and Darius swayed, eyes tightly closed. Her tongue snaked out to lick a smear of blood from his jaw. He moaned, the sound unhappy. She looked down and her gaze turned eager as she tried to lower her head. He stopped her, fingers clamping like limpets to her scalp. A fine trembling started in his body. ‘Please ...’ The word was an anguished whisper.
She grinned, fangs glinting sharp in the overhead light. ‘I know you can beg better than that, my lovely, frightened pet.’ Flattening her hand in the wet slickness on his chest, she shoved him onto his back.
Darius lay awkwardly, his legs bent under him, fingers clutching the small blue curls he’d ripped from her hair.
A ripple shivered through the cold that encased me.
Be calm.
Malik’s mouth breathed ice along my neck.
And the ripple smoothed away.
Rio wiped her bloody hand over the burn mark on her chest, then took a slim mobile phone from her back pocket. Sliding the top up, she thumbed a button and held it to her ear.
‘It’s me,’ she said into the phone. ‘There’s a problem. It’s not going to work.’
She flicked Darius, grinned as he flinched.
‘Yes,’ Rio said, ‘she’s been and gone.’
She dug her nails into the tight skin of Darius’s stomach, drawing more bright red blood.
He jerked and cried out, but she silenced him with a look.
‘Yes, I did, just as you wanted,’ she said, her tone placating. ‘Only it didn’t go as we’d expected. Still, we should’ve known it wouldn’t after that little stunt in the police station.’
Malik’s arm tensed around my waist. My ears had already perked up. Now if I could just listen, and not watch ...
Phone still pressed to her ear, Rio dipped a finger in Darius’s blood, painting streaks over his quivering flesh. ‘Interesting.’ She tilted her head to admire her efforts.
Darius’s wide-eyed stare gave new meaning to rabbits and headlights.
‘You really think that’s going to make such a difference?’ Licking her fingers clean, she listened, then squealed with excitement. ‘Oh, that will be so delicious!’
Behind me, another part of Malik stiffened.
Shit. Rio wasn’t the only sucker getting worked up. Agitation swept through the calm peace inside my bubble.
‘So she could still be useful then.’ Rio smiled at the trembling Darius. ‘Yes, later. I’ve got something I want to finish first.’
Be ready, Genevieve.
Rio grinned and said, ‘Me too.’ She tapped the phone shut, sliding it onto the desk. ‘And now, my pet, you can scream all you want.’ She bowed as though praying, and sank her fangs deep into his chest and sucked. The noise was loud and painful in the quiet room.
A tear rolled down Darius’s face and dripped into the dark brown carpet beneath him.
The office disappeared.
I stood in the round stone room of my memory, the candles guttering low. The room stank of lust and terror and my legs were cold and wet from my own piss.
Sally’s blue-white hair was matted, blackened with her own blood. Her blue skin was pale and lifeless. Her eyes were staring up at me, begging.
And I watched as my prince—
Then the office returned as Darius screamed, the sound shattering the ice that held me frozen. Angry heat rolled inside me. My heart beat once. Pain spasmed through me, splintering every nerve I had.
You must not fight me, it will hurt too much.
Malik’s voice was urgent in my mind.
A river of molten lava burnt its way through my body: my arms, my legs and my fingers cracked with the heat. My eyes fused shut. Then the itching started, unbearable, tormenting, and I needed to scratch my skin off, but my hands were held frozen in the ice.
‘Genevieve, can you hear me?’ Blessed cool wrapped itself round my body for an instant. I tried to hold it to me, but the pinpricks needling my body wouldn’t let me.
‘Genevieve, listen, it will stop soon; it is just your circulation returning. Nothing more.’
Somewhere I laughed.
Nothing more?
Who did the voice think it was kidding?
‘Drink this, it will help.’ Liquid splashed over my lips.
I opened my mouth; let it pour down my throat.
‘That is enough, else you will be sick.’
The itching was back, insects crawling all over my body, nipping me with their tiny sharp teeth.
‘What’s the matter with her, man?’ Another voice, this one heavy, rough. It didn’t feel good, not like the cool one. ‘She done a bad trip on sumfink?’ the rough voice asked.
‘Hold her wrists,’ the cool voice said. ‘Don’t let her injure herself.’
‘Sure thing, man,’ Thick, meaty fingers settled round my arms. ‘You gonna pour some more water over her?’
Firm hands cupped my cheeks. ‘Genevieve. Listen to my voice.’ The voice wrapped itself round me. It felt like slipping into a still, dark lake.
‘Open your eyes.’
The insects gave me a few last bites.
And I looked into the red glow of Malik’s eyes. ‘What the fuck did you do to me?’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
T
iny flares lit in Malik’s pupils, then winked out, leaving his expression enigmatic. ‘Good,’ he said, ‘you are well.’
‘Well?’ I shouted in disbelief. ‘It’s your fault I felt crap in the first place!’ I tried to lift my arms, but found I couldn’t. A thickset man with a lined, saggy face was gripping my wrists like his life depended on it.
I glared at him. ‘Let the fuck go of me.’
The creases in his face rearranged themselves into a lopsided grin. ‘Sure thing.’ He dropped my arms. ‘My Rocky was always mad when she came down.’ His grin disappeared. ‘She’s bin dead near three years now, ’course.’
Malik inclined his head to the man. ‘Thank you for your assistance. You may leave us.’
The man turned and ambled off.
I stifled an urge to slug Malik and looked around instead. I took a deep breath, then wished I hadn’t. Ammonia and the throat-gagging stench of pine disinfectant assaulted my nose. Even if I couldn’t see the row of stainless steel urinals, thankfully unoccupied, I’d have still known we were in a public toilet. I grimaced in disgust. The night just kept getting better and better.
Malik followed my gaze. ‘We would have been too conspicuous in the Ladies’ facilities,’ he said.
I snorted. ‘And we’re
not
in the Gents?’
He gave an elegant shrug.
Oh, just great
- and then I remembered the office, and Darius. A queasy feeling settled in my stomach.
‘Listen, pal: next time you want to show me something, send me a DVD.’ I shoved him out the way. ‘Better yet, don’t bother.’ I headed for the exit. ‘If I wanted to watch sucker porn, I’m sure I can find something better than that nasty little effort.’
Malik fell into step next to me. ‘Where are you going, Genevieve?’
‘None of your business,’ I snapped.
‘But we will work together.’ He grasped my wrist and pulled me round to face him. ‘We agreed this, you and I,’ and then he smiled. And never mind he was male, he was beautiful, and my heart flip-flopped in my chest and lust pooled hot inside me and my magic almost leapt into life. One smile, and I was ready to jump his bones. Shit. I didn’t have enough fingers and toes to count the ways that being attracted to him was such a bad idea. And I couldn’t even blame my reaction on
mesma
. He wasn’t using any.
I shook him off. ‘No.
You
made
that
decision.
I
had nothing to say about it.’ I checked my watch. ‘Well, I really can’t say it was nice meeting you, and we certainly didn’t have fun. So please feel free to never call me.’
One side of his mouth lifted. ‘As you have not yet given me your number, that is a rather empty request.’
I flipped him the finger and stalked towards the exit, my heels slapping against the tiled floor.
‘Genevieve,’ he called after me, amusement in his voice, ‘you might wish to adjust your clothing before you go any further.’
I looked down. My ripped top was hanging round my waist like an apron and my jacket was flapping open, flashing my tits at anyone interested. Gritting my teeth, I buttoned the jacket - it still left a deep V of cleavage - but at least I wouldn’t get arrested for indecent exposure. I untied what was left of the top and shoved it into a nearby waste bin, throwing a toxic glare at a couple of leering teenagers. Threading through the crowds in Leicester Square, I made for the queue of taxis.
I yanked open the taxi door and said, ‘Hungerford Bridge, Victoria Embankment Side, please,’ and slumped onto the back seat.
The cabby grinned. ‘Right ho, luv.’
The door locks clicked shut, the lights glowing like tiny red eyes in the dim interior.
I shivered and reached for my phone to check for any messages. It wasn’t there. Damn I chewed my lip in annoyance. It must’ve dropped out, probably in all that rolling around with Rio. I sighed, letting my head fall back, and contemplated the roof of the taxi. Well, no way was I going back to look for it now. And what was Rio up to? It sounded like she was plotting some sort of palace coup, but what did that have to do with Melissa’s death? My gut made me think it was connected, but there were so many bloody dots appearing on the page that I was having trouble joining them up.
Then I realised the taxi hadn’t moved.
I tapped on the glass behind him. ‘I’m in sort of a hurry here.’
His head bobbed again. ‘Just waiting for your friend, luv.’
‘What the—?’ Damn vampires! I flung myself back in the seat and a moment later, Malik opened the cab door and gave me another heart-flopping smile.
‘Genevieve.’ Settling himself on the seat, he stretched out his long legs. His meaning was so obvious even an animated mud-troll would have got it. If I wanted to get out, I’d have to get past him.
The cab rumbled off, diesel engine drowning out my huff of frustration. No way did I want Malik tagging along to my meeting with Alan Hinkley, not with Alan’s text about his finding a nervous fae informer who would only talk to me. So I needed to get rid of the pretty vampire - only short of stabbing him again, I didn’t see how I was going to make that happen.