by Trina M. Lee
Only the rebels and rule breakers were lucky enough to join our squad, and since a stupid supe was usually a dead supe, there just weren’t as many as needed to even the playing field. So if going into this party tonight could get us anything that might help us stay a step ahead, I was willing to take one for the team by pretending to be an escort for a Fed party.
Nova stepped out of the kitchen, laughing at something Retta had said. The resident witchy instructor hadn’t approved of us taking on this job either. She’d shaken a finger at Nova and given him a glare that had spoken loud and clear. Much to my shock, the demon had accepted her silent scolding with a don’t-kill-the-messenger shrug.
As soon as his crimson gaze landed on me, Nova stopped dead in his tracks. His wings flared behind him, resettling against his back once he pushed forward into motion, recovering from whatever had momentarily tripped him up. The sudden smolder of desire in his gaze gave me an idea of what that might be.
“This is a terrible, terrible idea,” he blurted, blatantly ogling me. Realizing how obvious he was, Nova dialed it back. Averting his gaze, he glanced at Dalyn. “Are you sure you’re both up to this?”
“Look, Nova,” I said, secretly pleased with his reaction, “we all know The Circle isn’t giving us the option to say no. If we hadn’t volunteered someone would be forced to go regardless. It’s easier this way.”
On the stairs Tavi had draped herself over the banister, muttering expletives about misogynistic bullshit. With her side shave fresh and the rest of her long black hair falling down to hide one eye, she appeared even more the predator than usual. I envied her ability to always look like someone you wouldn’t want to fuck with.
Nova snarled in her direction, baring two large fangs on both the top and bottom. I didn’t know if every demon had beastly traits, but it was something I found undeniably sexy about him. Maybe that was just the incubus addiction talking.
From the pocket of his pants he pulled a small gold locket shaped like a star. “Inside this locket is the glamour spell I whipped up. It’s made with a potent elixir from the other side. So whatever you do, don’t open it. Anyone in close proximity will be hit with a massive hallucinatory effect, you included.”
A simple glamour like the one Dalyn used to alter her appearance wasn’t enough for me. If for any reason they had some kind of thermal scanner present, they’d read me as a vampire no matter how I looked. Demon magic went beyond the human tech abilities. If Nova’s locket told it I was human, that’s how it would see me.
“That’s not alarming at all.” My sarcasm was delivered with a smile that went unappreciated by Nova.
Twirling a finger for me to turn around, Nova stepped up behind me and swept my hair aside. A subtle tremor racked me as he fastened the chain’s clasp. He was close enough for me to feel the heat emanating from his hard body. If Dalyn and Tavi hadn’t been present, I might have given in to the urge to press my ass against him.
The locket lay against my chest, pretty and inconspicuous. Immediately the locks that tumbled over my shoulders appeared blonde instead of red. Nova turned me around by the shoulders, giving me a scrutinous onceover. “I like you better as a redhead.”
I turned toward the mirror above the decorative table and its ever-changing flower display. My reflection still resembled me but different. I saw no fangs in my reflection even though I could feel them with my tongue. Creamy blonde hair and green eyes along with a beauty mark I didn’t usually have changed me enough that any Fed who may have seen my red hair in the dark shouldn’t easily recognize me. My heavier than usual makeup helped with the disguise as well.
When we stood on the front lawn waiting for the car that would take us to the ritzy hotel where the party would be held, Nova waited with us. I could tell there was something he wanted to say. I also knew that The Circle had given him a job tonight too. Something to do with the black magic wares he bought and sold. All he’d said when prodded was that he was being sent to retrieve something The Circle needed from a demon.
Another reminder of how far apart Nova and I were. We didn’t live in the same world. Even though our worlds intersected, he had never been human. He walked on this side and the other, the spirit realm where demons dwelled. I couldn’t even imagine what that was like.
When a black car rolled down the driveway, Nova pulled me aside while Dalyn got in. “The Circle might expect you to do whatever it takes to pry some information from those human scum, but I don’t. Go as far as you’re willing and not an inch further. Because honestly, the thought of any of those assholes laying a finger on you makes me want to go there and burn the entire hotel down before you arrive.”
Too quickly he dropped the hand that touched my arm, leaving me wanting for more. The heat that uncoiled within me at his possessive tone caught me off guard. I didn’t belong to Nova. Not even close. Still, it felt good that he wanted me to. The fact that it felt good scared me into stepping toward the car.
The demon got inside my head far too easily. We barely liked each other. Lust didn’t equal affection and certainly not a relationship.
Because I couldn’t leave on such a serious note, I fanned myself like a blushing schoolgirl, not that I’d ever been one. “I am ever so flattered by your concern, dear sir. But I think us women folk can handle ourselves among these lowly human men.”
Nova’s frown broke, and a smile tugged at his full lips. “I really ought to bend you over and smack that tight ass.”
Slipping him an impish grin, I clutched my handbag containing my phone and pursed my red lips. “I’m afraid I’m all booked up this evening. But if you’d like me to work that into my schedule, I’m sure that can be arranged.” I flounced to the car and slipped inside, winking at Nova before closing the door.
He watched the car pull away without so much as a muscle twitch. But there was no missing the unspoken promise that lurked in his eyes.
“How can you stand it?” Dalyn asked, glancing back at the demon. “Being around Nova, especially if you’re not doing him. Just looking at him too long makes my panties wet.”
Covering my mouth to muffle my laughter, I nodded. “Trust me, I know the feeling. He doesn’t make it easy, that’s for sure.”
“He’s totally hungry for you.” She nudged me with an elbow. “How do you resist? I can’t imagine he’d say no if you wanted it.”
I couldn’t be sure about that. Nova had done an exceptional job of keeping his hands out of my pants since the one and only time. Not that I felt comfortable sharing that with Dalyn. We’d forged a friendship, but we hadn’t quite reached that level of intimacy.
“Nova is an incubus,” I said as if that explained everything about the demon. “He’s probably hungry for anything with a vagina.”
If the driver, the same werewolf who’d driven me to my apartment for my things, paid attention to our conversation, he didn’t show it. He didn’t acknowledge us until we pulled up in front of the hotel, a five-star place overlooking the river. It tended to be the hotel of choice for celebrities and rich executives.
The werewolf, Sage if I recalled correctly, opened the door for us as we exited the car. With a nod and a stiff, forced smile, he was off.
Turning to Dalyn, I ran fingers through my now blonde hair. “Ready? Remember, try not to let anyone take you too far away from me. Stay within earshot if possible. If we get split up and you think your cover might be blown, get out. Using any means necessary.”
“I’m not leaving you behind,” she said beneath her breath as we passed through the lobby, nodding to the doorman on the way.
“Don’t worry about me. You’re the fragile human.” My tease landed flat, so I cracked a smile to ease the nerves that were settling over each of us. It didn’t help much.
Dalyn’s expression grew pinched as we strode toward the bank of elevators. A few people lingered in the lobby: a couple checking in, a security guard watching the front door. Nobody glanced twice at us. Hopefully the agents upstairs would be as easy
to fool.
“Seriously, Blaze,” she said when we were closed inside the small lift. “Survival first. That goes for you too. But we came together and we leave together. I’m not running without you, and I know you wouldn’t leave my fragile human ass behind.”
Now a hint of amusement lit up her face. Even as a brunette dressed like a mafia queen, she had that bubblegum pop princess vibe. It was adorable. The tight red minidress she wore hugged her hourglass curves. She’d have no trouble getting some shithead’s attention.
“Fine, whatever you say, Karen,” I quipped with a giggle. We’d been instructed to use fake names. I already technically did, but I had an arsenal of them.
“Fuck you,” she hissed with a bark of laughter. “If I’m Karen then you’re Cheryl.”
“But I’ve never had a she-shed.” My mock disappointment was met with more laughter. Nervous laughter. The numbers above the elevator door ticked higher, feeding our jitters. Only the fanciest of suites graced the top floor. The Feds spared no expense for this shindig.
As the top floor lit, we gathered our composure and braced ourselves. The doors opened to reveal rolling red carpet that stretched in both directions along the hallway. We stepped forward. Party noises from the right told us which direction to go. We followed the noise to the end of the hall and around a corner. There, we came face to face with two armed guards blocking a suite door. This was our party.
“Good evening, ladies. Are you on the list?” The guard who spoke held a tablet, glancing at it as he awaited our names.
“We were sent by the Dragonfly Agency,” I said, all business. Repeating the escort agency name Nova had given me to say, I waited with breath held.
Both men’s faces lit up at that. One of them stepped back and shoved the door open. “Welcome to the party. Thank you for joining us tonight.”
I was mildly disappointed they didn’t card us. We’d come equipped with fake identification. They didn’t care what our names were; small talk and introductions weren’t what they wanted from escorts.
As we approached the threshold, I noticed the blinking red light strapped to the door frame. That had to be their thermal detection. Seeing it made me swallow hard. I had to put my faith in Nova’s locket.
But he’d tricked me once before. Used me as bait. Could I trust him now?
Having no choice but to find out, I followed Dalyn inside, cringing inwardly. The light flashed green as she passed, which apparently was the sign for human. When I followed, the light hesitated, almost giving me a heart attack, er, so to speak. Vampires didn’t have heart attacks; we’d already died our human deaths.
When the light blinked green again, I stifled a sigh of relief and sashayed down the short entry hall like I’d never expected otherwise. Grateful, my hand went to the locket around my neck.
We were in.
CHAPTER SIX
The suite was amazing. Several times the size of my last apartment, I had to pause to take it all in. Warm yellow lit the room, dim enough for a party vibe but bright enough to keep it from feeling like a back-alley dive bar. Four couches were arranged in a square around a coffee table decorated with abstract modern art pieces. An exotic dancer stood in the center, shaking her leather-clad ass. A few people watched, although most of the people on the couches were engaged in conversation. Several real escorts were already keeping the agents busy, doing half the work for us. A pool table with purple felt sat to the left of the sofa set, keeping half a dozen loud men occupied. To the right of the couches, a dining table housed another group playing what appeared to be a drinking game. A staircase next to the table led up to a second floor, where the bedrooms had to be.
“Can you believe this place?” Dalyn breathed in wonder, gawking at the floor to ceiling window. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Well get used to it fast. As far as these guys know, you see ritzy hotels all the time.” A quick scan of the place and I didn’t see anyone that wasn’t human. Not yet anyway. I doubted any of these guys trusted the supes they worked with enough to invite them to such an event.
Finding out just how many of our kind worked for the enemy was a personal interest of mine. I’d never understood why any supernatural would align themselves with an agency intent on the destruction of everyone except baseline humans.
“Right. All the time. Shit, we’ve been spotted already.” Dalyn pasted a brilliant smile on her dark-pink lips. “What’s our timeline?”
“An hour tops. Sooner if possible. These guys should be pretty loaded already. Hopefully we find ourselves a talker or two.”
I wanted to tell her again to put her safety first if anything happened but didn’t get the chance. A middle-aged man with bloodshot eyes and a stumble in his gait approached us with two drinks, shoving one at each of us. Even if I could imbibe, I’d never trust anything one of these dicks handed me.
Both Dalyn and I accepted the drinks with smiles and more sugar than I could muster without wanting to throw up. Actually, vampires didn’t vomit either. Not usually. We often wished we could though. Or maybe that was just me.
“Hello, ladies,” the drunk Fed hiccupped. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m Jon. Come in and make yourselves comfortable. Preferably right here.” Jon slapped both hands on his thighs in invitation.
Yeah, there was that desire to vomit again.
He took turns gaping at each of us, but he seemed to like Dalyn better. Sliding an arm around her shoulders, he led her toward the large picture window, slurring something about showing her the view.
Mouthing, “Do not drink that,” as she let him drag her away, I ventured toward the group seated at the couch. One man sat alone, scrolling on his phone. No female companion. Yet. Every woman in the suite was either a stripper or call girl. How had nobody snapped him up yet?
Rounding the couch he sat on from behind, I set my drink on the edge of the coffee table and slid onto the cushion next to him.
He never even gave me a chance to open my mouth. “Gay as hell. Not interested in what you’re selling. Just waiting for my Uber to get here.” He didn’t even glance up as he spoke.
Crap. So that’s why he sat alone. I got up to move on.
A man on the adjacent sofa caught hold of my wrist and tugged me down next to him. He had a woman on his other side. “Where are you going?” Whiskey breath puffed into my face, as he leaned in far too close for comfort. “What do you say to a threesome, sexy?”
What I wanted to say included a kick in this guy’s crotch. The face of the escort on his other side remained neutral. Unreadable. She’d gotten good at keeping the revulsion off her features. Even her eyes hid it well. She likely had clients that weren’t entirely awful, but then there were these guys.
“Whatever you want, handsome.” Grinning and bearing it proved harder than I’d thought it would be, and we’d just arrived.
Across the room Dalyn stood near the window, nodding and pretending to sip her drink while the guy who’d greeted us waved an arm at the view of the river below. The balding man next to me tried to tug me closer.
Gaze darting about the room, I sought any opportunity to escape. I couldn’t get the right information from just anyone. It had to be the right target.
A tap on my shoulder from behind the couch had me whirling to see who’d snuck up. A good-looking, thirty-something guy with a dazzling smile and a champagne glass in one hand stood there with a brow raised like he’d asked a question.
“You don’t mind if I steal you for a while, do you?” he asked, tipping his head toward the handsy Fed next to me. “There’s no way in hell this one can handle two women at once. Let’s save him the embarrassment, shall we?”
Ignoring the protests of the man beside me, I pushed off the sofa and rounded it to stand face to face with the newcomer. Extending a hand, I purred, “And who might you be?”
He actually had the nerve to leave my hand hanging while he took a drink. When he finally took it, he used it to pull me closer, a m
ove he probably thought was suave but reeked of douchebag.
“I’m Seth, the groom,” he said, far too proud of a role he’d already failed at. “Well, I will be next weekend. Gotta sow the last of my wild oats while I can, am I right?”
Everything about this man soured me to him, but I wasn’t here to feel sorry for his future wife. “You are definitely right. Yolo, or some shit like that. You can call me Molly.”
I had no idea where that name had come from. My acting game was blowing hard. Maybe Tavi’s kickass-first-and-beat-answers-out-later approach was better. The subtle approach sucked.
“Can I give you a tour of the place?” Using his glass, he gestured to the second floor. “The view out the window from up there is pretty awesome. Let’s get you a drink first.” He didn’t give me a chance to protest when he fetched a glass stinking of tequila from the bar behind the dining table.
I’d purposely ditched the other drink I’d been given. Dammit. Accepting the glass of noxious fumes, I glanced around, wondering where I could abandon this one.
“Come on.” With a hand on my lower back, Seth ushered me along up the winding staircase to the overlooking second floor.
There were three bedroom doors lining a hallway that overlooked the main floor below. Seth guided me over to the glass partition and railing where we could see over. The view of the city was indeed beautiful. The city lights twinkled across the dark expanse of the river.
My gaze fixed on Dalyn and her drunk friend where they still stood chatting near the window. She did a great job of appearing interested, laughing along with him and going so far as to put a hand flirtatiously on his chest. Dalyn was a natural at the sly, seductive spy game. But me? I was growing more impatient and uncomfortable by the minute. Tavi’s aggressive approach sounded better every second.