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She approached slowly, picking up the hem of her dress by habit as she maneuvered the tall grass.

Stopping before the fountain, she glanced down at her transparent hand.

There were old scars on her palm that told her she had done this before—cut herself to speak to bargaining beasts.

Except she could no longer bleed.

She looked at the bucket that sat upon the fountain’s edge, its bottom speckled with holes.

Slowly, she crept up onto the edge, one bare foot at a time, and crouched upon it. It was too dark inside to see anything—just a seemingly bottomless black pit, waiting to devour her.

Behind her, where he stood on the grass, Singer whined. He tucked his ears back against his head, tail drooping between his legs.

“We have to, buddy,” she whispered. She reached down to grab him, pulling him up onto the stone ledge with her. “You have to trust me.” With Singer now at her side, she stared into the fountain’s depths.

And then, with a deep breath, she held on tightly to Singer and jumped inside the belly of the beast.

30

Motel 58

STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Shay woke up shortly after midnight to see Roman smoking a cigarette in his bed. He was lying flat on his back, fully clothed, the bed still made. The glow of the clock on the lone nightstand outlined his stupidly attractive profile with soft red light.

As she watched him bring the cigarette to his mouth for another drag, she questioned how sane she was for establishing that boundary earlier that evening—the wall of throw pillows she’d placed between her bed and his.

There was no denying that he was handsome—stupidly hot, if she wanted to admit it. But getting involved with someone like him, even if for only a one-night stand, would be bad, for multiple reasons. The most obvious was the fact that they came from different circles, but which circles they came from added to how utterly bad it would be if they got under the covers together. Athene and Donovan had been rivals for years; the Shadowmasters and the Selkies positively loathed each other.

Which reminded Shay of the little oopsie she’d made in coming out to Motel 58 with a Shadowmaster. Not just a Shadowmaster, but Roman freaking Devlin. If her mom found out, she’d be toast.

Better not add banging Roman to the list of mistakes she’d made, no matter how tempting that particular mistake may be. Especially when she was this tired—and never mind the fact that it had been…months since she’d last had sex?

Yup—months. And the last time wasn’t even good. No big O involved.

Nope, didn’t matter. It wasn’t happening. Roman was off-limits, no questions asked.

No matter how hot he looked while smoking in that bed.

“I took down your little barrier,” Roman said, as if reading her quarreling thoughts. His husky voice filled the dark room until it felt like the walls might pop like balloons. That voice made Shay shiver, the skin on her arms pebbling. “After I tripped on one of the pillows,” he finished. Shay swallowed a laugh; so that was the sound she’d heard shortly after falling asleep.

“What’s the matter,” she crooned, her voice thick and crackly with sleep, “the Prince of Shadows can’t see in the dark?”

Slowly, Roman turned his head to face her, and blew a mouthful of smoke her way. It hit a wall of magic, clawing its way up toward the ceiling, where it hung like the tiny clouds of a brewing storm.

“This is a non-smoking room,” Shay said.

Those unnerving eyes continued to watch her in the dark as he brought the cigarette to his lips once more, the end glowing bright red.

Point taken.

Seconds passed, and Roman wouldn’t stop staring at her. The room was so dark, it made his eyes look like black pits, though she could see just enough to tell that he wasn’t using the Sight.

She squirmed, the sheets tangling about her feet that were suddenly sweating, despite the air conditioning. “You really don’t like talking, do you?”

More silence, and then, “What’s there to say?”

“Conversation is key to getting to know someone.” She had a feeling there was a lot to know about Roman Devlin, and she hated to admit that she was just slightly curious about him.