by Amie Gibbons
Puttin’ on an act for us tonight? But why?
We drank our champagne and I grinned.
“This is good!” I said. “I normally don’t like champagne, it always tastes funny but this is some good stuff.”
“It should be. It’s over a thousand dollars a bottle,” Carvi said.
“Ugh!” I choked on the champagne and coughed up a few dozen inhaled bubbles. “Wow! Why?”
“I thought you came from money.”
“I come from Southern money. The kind of money you use to buy farm land and horses. I come from southern belle money. Where you work, and put your kids in good schools so they can work too. Thousand-dollar champagne must be a Northern money kinda thing. Like sittin’ on your butt when you got money instead of making more.”
Carvi laughed. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“The competition runs deeps. My ancestors fought in the War. My family’s been fighting it on many different levels ever since.”
“The War? Which one?”
“Depends who you ask.” I smiled. “The War of Northern Aggression where I’m from. Florida might be further south, but it’s not Southern.”
“And your family is still fighting this? You know the South lost?”
“Exactly why we’re still fighting. Family’s in politics, lots of lawyers, authors, lobbyists, trying to keep big government at bay.”
Carvi burst out laughing. “You work for them, you silly girl!”
I glared, holding my glass up like a weapon. “I serve my country. Not my government. And you know what? I think you’re tryin’ to distract us. Where are we going?”
Carvi’s face went flat so fast it was like a part of a movie being cut out so we jumped from one shot to another with no transition.
I shivered.
“And if I were?” Carvi asked, voice holding an edge.
“It wouldn’t be working.”
“Oh?”
“Grant,” I said.
Grant just sipped his champagne, face blank as Carvi’s. He’d been keeping an eye out for where we were actually going.
Nothing was gettin’ by him this weekend.
“Ahhhh. I underestimated you,” Carvi said.
“I didn’t underestimate you,” Grant said. “Stop playing games.”
Carvi sighed, life flowing back into his face like a blowup doll. “Fine.”
“What are we looking at when we get there?” I asked.
“It’s my party so I’m going to be introduced as I enter and you will be introduced as my lady of the evening. You will be free to wander, but I caution against going anywhere alone. Grant, enter after us, act like you’re with the nest, but as a random human who was invited. What are your cover stories again?”
“I’m a college girl who sings for her supper,” I said. “It’s Ariana Finn and it’s what I used last month when I was undercover in our nest.”
Carvi smirked as Grant made a noise.
“What?” I asked.
“You said our nest, lea,” Carvi said. “I think Grant objects to you considering it such.”
“You know what I meant,” I said. “The nest in Nashville.”
“Uh huh,” Carvi said. “What about the queen of Nashville? Doesn’t she know who you are?”
“Yes, but she’s not going to be there,” I said. “Is she!”
“She was invited and she RSVP’d. I’m assuming she’ll be there. As most of the US rulers will be.”
“That is something we had not anticipated,” Grant said.
“Quil didn’t say anything about her going… which means he didn’t know. She’s onto him?”
“This weekend may be an opportune time to finally be rid of her,” Carvi said. “I do not know how things are done in the human world half the time, but when a ruler becomes the despot she has, it is perfectly acceptable to kill her… or dismember if you’re feeling generous.”
“Are you really talking about murder in front of federal agents?” Grant asked.
“Yes, well, technically I’m talking about assassination. It’s murder with a higher purpose.”
I shrugged. “We still have to decide what to do with her. She’ll recognize me at least.”
“And she knows you’re an FBI agent?” Carvi asked.
“Yes.”
Grant made another disapproving noise and I nodded.
“Yes, sir, that is my fault and I accept full responsibility.”
“Good,” Grant said.
“Doesn’t help us tonight,” Carvi said.
“Tell her Ariana is working for you and has the cover to keep the other leaders from being suspicions,” Grant said. “Say you will owe her for her silence.”
Carvi shook his head as I said, “No.”
Carvi looked at me. “By all means, you explain.”
I cleared my throat. “I’m gettin’ a better idea how these guys work. They’re kinda like the mob. You don’t ask for favors. You do favors. If Carvi asked her for anything, she’d know something was up.”
“Then tell her not to say anything,” Grant said. “She can’t be allowed to undermine this operation.”
“It’s sill asking for something from her,” I said.
“Can’t be helped,” Carvi said.
“We’ll just have to hope she’s not planning anything,” I said.
“Like what?” Carvi asked.
“She wants to turn me. Your threat kept her off me the last week, but, here…? If something happens to me here, it’d look like it was related to me workin’ for you, and it’s not like you’d hold her responsible for something happening under your watch.”
Carvi stared at me hard. “You didn’t tell me this.”
My mouth worked as the air sucked the moisture right outta it. “I… I thought you knew.”
“Lea, this one is going to cost you. Lay back.”
My heartrate shot up and I looked from him to Grant.
“You try it, I will kill you before you can get it up,” Grant said.
Carvi’s forehead creased. “I want blood. Get your head out of the gutter. I’m no rapist.”
I cleared my throat.
“No.” Carvi held up a finger. “I have seduced my way past no. I have never taken someone when they were still saying no. There’s a difference.”
I glared at him.
“I don’t need to rape, lea. People fork themselves over willingly long before I put anything into them.”
I ground my teeth. “Well I’m sayin’ no right now. Not in front of Grant. I can give you blood once we’re to your party and can go someplace private. I don’t think you need it though.”
“This isn’t need.” He met my eyes. “This is want. Wanting to put you in your place.”
I crossed my arms. “Now how is that not rapey?”
He licked his lips. “Because you’ll want it.”
Heat flushed through me, hittin’ my groin as I licked my lips involuntarily and slid down in my seat, angling my pelvis up.
“Bite her in front of me, I will take you out,” Grant said. “You can’t focus on both.”
“She’s about three seconds from saying yes, Grant.”
“Because of magic. It’s the mystical version of GHB. You take her while working your magic, I don’t care if she’s begging for it, I will consider it rape and act accordingly.”
Carvi turned those eyes to Grant and I sucked in a full breath as the lust released me.
Dammmmmmmn.
“I could turn it on you, Westley,” Carvi said.
“You. Could. Try,” Grant said. “I will shoot you in the middle of an orgasm just as easily as any other time.”
They locked eyes and I wiggled my way back up, grabbin’ my champagne glass.
“Guys,” I said. “Jade? We still don’t know what to do about her.”
“Right,” Carvi said, breaking eye contact.
Grant shivered so slightly I barely caught it and I looked down.
His pants were ten
ted.
I blushed, looking away.
Grant was as hetero as they came. Havin’ a man make him feel that way was as damn near sexual assault as Grant would allow before shooting someone on principle.
“Carvi, you’re not actin’ like someone who can be trusted right now,” I said. “I’m sorry you didn’t know about the queen. I honestly thought you knew. Don’t take it out on Grant.”
“Oh, but it’s so much fun.” Carvi pouted.
“What’s more important, fun or getting through this weekend?” I asked.
He snorted. “You make a good point.”
“Yes, I do. Don’t worry, doesn’t happen often.”
He cracked a smile. “I’m thinking. She’s not going to let it stand once she knows I want her to keep it quiet.”
“Then we get her out before we arrive,” Grant said.
I gasped. “That’s brilliant, General! We’ll get her out with like a fake emergency or something.”
“Or a real emergency,” Carvi said, pulling out his phone. “I don’t want her gone. I want to question her about my brother, but we can get her out for tonight.”
Carvi hit some name on his phone and I could tell the person on the other side was female but not much more.
“I have a problem I would like addressed. Her name is Jade and she is staying at the Hamilton Suites, the penthouse.”
He nodded along before saying, “No, more subtle.”
A smile spread across his face. “You are brilliant. Perfect. Do it now. I need her out of the way within five minutes.”
He hung up and Grant and I shared a look.
“Do we want to know?” I asked.
“No one will die,” Carvi said. “There’s just going to be a little mishap in her room she will need to tend to before humans discover it.”
“Ummmmm,” I said.
“Already dead corpse being sent to her room. No one will be hurt, but she will have to leave the party to attend to it.”
“How would they get a corpse?” I asked.
“The less you know, the happier you’ll be.”
“But no one will be hurt,” Grant said, tone making it clear it wasn’t a question.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t want to offend your delicate sensibilities,” Carvi said.
“They aren’t delicate,” Grant said.
Oh dear.
“Okay, thanks Carvi,” I said. “Sir, did Dan get a cover goin’ for you?”
“Yes,” he said, jaw so tight I was afraid it’d snap. “I am me, but I left the FBI to join a private security company. I will be security for the event.”
Carvi actually looked surprised for a split second.
“You know who we hired for security?” he asked.
“Yes,” Grant said.
Well alright then.
“I didn’t know that, sir,” I said.
“You didn’t need to.”
“Ooooookay,” I said, trying not to be hurt. It wasn’t on him to tell me everything. “So you’ll go in and… oh! How will you explain being late?”
“Traffic. If anyone asks. Security are expected to do their job without oversight. Unlike some people I know.”
“Hey!”
He smiled. “I’m teasing you, Ryder.”
“Oh, okay. It’s kinda hard to tell sometimes.”
He shrugged, sipping his drink.
Carvi took a long sip of his and I raised my glass.
“Here’s to tonight and a smooth operation,” I said.
“Hear, hear.” Carvi clinked his glass against mine.
Grant didn’t.
Carvi’s phone rang, making me jump.
He answered without a greeting, nodded a few times as the person on the other side talked, then said, “Perfect. Payment will be delivered to the usual account,” and hung up.
He hit a few buttons on his phone and I didn’t have to peek to get he was wiring money.
“That was fast,” I said.
“Um hum. She’s the best,” he said. “And shows loyal customers great service.”
“How did she get a body there so fast?”
He shook his head. “What did I say? The less you know, the happier you’ll be.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “You’re full of it.”
“I’m full of a lot of stuff. You can suck it out if you want.”
I didn’t look at him and just took another gulp. “No thank you.”
The limo pulled into a parking lot and came to a stop.
“Grant, can you get out here and walk over so you’re not with us?” Carvi asked.
Grant glared.
“I’m not trying to pull anything,” Carvi said. “I want to make sure it doesn’t look suspicious.”
“Directions,” Grant said.
Carvi gave them, Grant got out with a last glare at him I knew was a warning against trying anything with me, and we drove the last block in silence.
“Didn’t you want blood?” I asked as the limo pulled up to the front of the hotel the party was being held in.
“I don’t need it.” He stared straight ahead.
“Carvi, did I miss something?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Did you know Grant projects?”
My eyebrows shot up so fast I half expected them to escape my face. “I ugh… no. Really?”
“Yeah, he was thinking what he’d do to me if I touched you. Now what he was thinking is just a good Saturday night for me, but hey, not the point.”
I grinned. “I don’t doubt it either. Can you not hear people normally?”
“Not like that. He’s got to have some magic in him.”
“He does.”
Carvi met my eyes, actually lookin’ surprised.
“He, um, he knows things. He’ll say it’s deductive reasoning or his gut, educated guesses and such, but it’s not. He knows things when he can’t. I figured a while ago he was something more. Any idea what?”
“He doesn’t smell bad so he’s not a Fae.”
“God descendant?” I asked.
“Now why would you say that?” he asked, too sharp for the question.
I jerked. “It’s a guess based on guesses vamps have made in the past. Why? What…?”
“Never mind. I do want blood.”
He was next to me so fast I didn’t see him move and I squeaked.
“But you just said…”
“I changed my mind. Why, lea, are you afraid?”
“Of you? Yeah! Only an idiot wouldn’t be.”
“Thank you. Lean back.”
“No!”
“Weren’t you just offering?”
“No, I was wondering why you let it drop, not sayin’ take me.”
The door opened and the driver held his hand in. “Miss?”
Oh, thank God.
“Of course.” I took his hand and he helped me out, my amazing skirt swishing around me like a princess’s.
“Sir?” He reached in and helped Carvi out as well.
“I expect you to be on your best behavior,” he said as he tucked my arm in his.
“Shouldn’t I be sayin’ that to you?” I said.
“I’m actually being serious. You don’t know our protocols and ways. Follow my lead and keep a smile on your face. The stupider they think you are, the easier it will be to spy on them.”
“Jade out of there?” I asked.
Carvi nodded. “My contractor texted just before we got here that she saw her leave.”
“I didn’t see you look at your phone.”
He smiled. “Well, if you’re going to go Truthy McGee on me, she projects too. It’s what makes her so useful for psychics, she can call out when a job is done, if there are additional questions, and there is no paper trail.”
“Nice,” I said, head jerking around.
Any one of those things on the massive list he gave me could jump out and attack at any second.
“You having spasms or something?”
“No.”
“Orgasms?”
“What! No! I’m looking for danger. You know, the reason I’m here this weekend?”
“Calm down. You look panicked, and crazy.”
"I don't deal with fear well. I'm not so bad on the job, like if I have to fight, I'm ok during and kinda fall apart after. Cuz I have something to do. Something active. But this hanging around waiting for an attack thing, it's making me batty. My stomach's all twisty and I feel like I need my inhaler, and, and I don't know what to do about it besides just keep babbling."
"Take a breath and calm down."
"If it were that easy, I would've done it. Aren't you scared? At least nervous? Doesn't the thought of someone jumpin' outta nowhere, at any time, with no warning, make you flap a little?"
"Nah. It's happened before. It'll happen again. I'll kill whoever tries, fuck a pretty girl, lather, rinse, repeat."
"Pig doesn't even cover you, Carvi."
"The pretty girl I'm talking about for this little adventure is you. That make you feel better?"
"Why... How... Grrrrrr. How have you not been shot by a woman you've used and ditched yet?"
"It's called casual sex. And it's fun for all parties. Don't worry, you'll see."
"I'm insulted you think so little of me to think I'd be that easy."
"Getting a little pissed off, lea?"
"I'm not pissed. I'm just annoyed. You're annoying."
"See, now you're annoyed instead of scared. You're welcome."
I stuck my tongue out at him.
We walked into the hotel through the wide swishing door and Carvi turned on his million-watt smile.
“You are young, beautiful and charming, Ariana,” Carvi said. “You are not an agent or a spoken for woman. You are an attention whore, emphasis on the whore, who would be happy to go in the back with someone if they’ll pay for it with good dinners and jewelry. You’re with me, but only superficially, and you’re looking for a sugar daddy.”
“You better not be expecting me to take this anywhere further than that, Carvagio, I wish I knew your last name so I could scold you better.”
“Carvagio was my latest last name. My real name was lost to time a while ago.”
I paused and tugged on his arm. “Are you sayin’ you don’t remember it?”
“Oh no, I do, but no one else knows it. I went to great lengths to make it that way.”
“Why?”
He stared at me like he couldn’t figure out if I was serious.
“Names have power, lea. It is why we have nicknames, or only use one name when we were born and blessed with three or four. If someone has your full true name, they can spell you from afar.”