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I looked at her in a completely different light, everything I thought I knew tilting off its axis.

That was…

Hot. It’s hot, Lucian.

I told myself to shut the hell up. It wascunning.

So the sweetheart of the vale wasn’t just too powerful for her own good, she also had a bit of a devious mind.

Well, if she was this cheeky with me, I could return the favor. “Do you truly want me to come to you every time I need help, love? Your magic will fade. I might have many other duplication emergencies. You’re risking a lifetime of having to perform services for me.”

“That’s the plan.” She smiled, leaning in. “I want a long line of people who simply cannot live without me. AddingtheLucian Regis to it will be the crowning jewel of this week’s achievements. A pen, if you please.”

I selected my favorite one, ignoring that it was likely unwise. I didn’t need to duplicate documents after today.

Kleos took the black fountain pen, engraved with my name and a rune to ensure it never needed ink, looking at it reverently. “Bloody hell, iseverythingyou own worth a fortune?”

I thought about it for a moment. “I own a stack of candies?”

“And is it hidden in a box worth five hundred golds, by chance?”

“Touché, Valesco.”

The spell was cast just as quickly as last week, completely silent, leaving nothing but a faint golden mist.

I kept watching her, because quite frankly, as tired as she seemed, she shouldn’t have been able to perform magic, let alone that fast and efficiently. I ought to have told her to leave it after one glance at those undereye circles.

“A moment,” I said, when she moved to give it back to me.

I ignored the pen. Lightly, focusing all my mind on my intent, I placed two fingers against her wrist, right at her pulse point. The same jolt instantly coursed through my body. I had to wonder if her skin was covered in lightning spells. Ignoring it, I proceeded.

It wasn’t natural for me togive. My power was meant to take the life force of others. But I’d spent most of my life draining it when I expected to interact with my peers, and transferring energy to someone else wasn’t all that different from putting it into an object.

Kleos’s startled gasp was highly distracting. I could imagine exactly the same sound, and look, in other circumstances.

I only offered her a little, until her eyes brightened, and those damn bags faded.

“There. A favor for a favor. Now I owe you nothing, and you cannot add me to your list of minions, witch.”

“That was—” She stopped there, lost for words.

“Whatwasthat?” Gideon asked.

Hades’s bloody helm, I forgot all about his presence.

“You were glowing. Like, not, hey, you changed your facial regimen. Lamp-post glowing, Kleos.”

She didn’t answer, her eyes as full of questions as his.

I shrugged, making light of the situation. It wasn’t hard. Or rather, any other day, it wouldn’t have been hard. After taking in that vamp poison, I wasn’t at my best. But Kleos lookedworse.

“I merely gave her a little vitality.”

“It’s like—five thousand Red Bulls, but softer. Nicer,” Kleos tried to explain. “All of the energy, none of the jitters. I don’t know what to say, Lucian. Thanks.”

I took the pen from her hand, my fingers again brushing hers, and yet again feeling energy arc between our skins. “You enchanted this for me. No thanks necessary.”

“Wait, you cando that? Why haven’t you done that to me?” Gideon’s pout rivalled my dramatic best friend’s. “We had a three-day stakeout last month and I didn’t sleep the whole time!”