Page 32 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)
I looked at it, and a faint pink haze bloomed in the depths of the shimmering liquid.
For a moment, I thought it was pink champagne, but then I realized the color was my synesthesia warning me about some hidden danger in the sparkling bubbles.
Niles had definitely added a little something extra to the champagne.
Maybe a truth serum to get me to spill my guts about Desmond’s supposed fortune—or a poison to knock me out of the Redburn auction.
Anger flared in my chest, but I knew better than to reveal anything about my magic, so I tamped down the emotion, took the glass, and set it on the wall that cordoned off the terrace from the drop below.
“Thank you, but my thirst has been quenched for the moment.”
Niles’s lips flattened out into a thin line, but he didn’t suggest I take a drink. He must have known that would have made me even more suspicious.
“Of course,” he murmured, taking a hearty swig from his own glass. “The champagne was just an excuse to talk to you. Things were quite tense in Henrika’s library, and I thought it would be nice to get to know each other better.”
His pale blue gaze trailed down my body, moving from my throat to my chest to my legs just as Steig Helseth’s had done earlier.
But instead of gripping a knife like the assassin had, Niles wet his lips, leaned closer, and drew in a breath, as though he was trying to get a whiff of any perfume I might be wearing.
More revulsion crashed over me. Niles wouldn’t hunt me down like an animal the way Steig would, but he was still a dangerous predator.
“Why would you want to get to know me better?”
Niles shrugged. “I got the impression you weren’t happy to be here.”
“I go where Desmond and his business take me. That’s my job.”
“Yes, Mr. Macfarlane has quite the reputation. Why, if some of the gossip is to be believed, he has a special friend like you in every city around the world.”
I laughed. “Is that some piss-poor attempt to make me jealous? Please. Desmond and I have an arrangement that suits us both just fine.”
“A woman like you deserves an arrangement that is more than just fine .” Niles wet his lips again, and his gaze roamed up and down my body, as if he was seeing straight through my clothes to my curves underneath. His open, lecherous perusal made my skin crawl.
Suddenly, I remembered something else I’d read about Niles Perran: the biomagical chemist had a habit of dating women who later ended up dead, usually from some severe, mysterious, and previously unknown allergic reaction.
I repressed a shudder. I’d been so worried about Henrika murdering us that I hadn’t given much thought to how the other paramortals might want to play with Desmond and me for their own twisted amusement.
Niles stepped even closer. His breath washed over my face in a warm, fetid wave, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from gagging. Someone had had way too many garlic crackers earlier.
“You know, Charlotte, we could always go somewhere more private and . . . talk.” Niles dropped his high, nasally voice to what he probably thought was a low, husky growl, but it sounded more like a dying hyena.
“Talk about what?”
“How unhappy you are with Desmond.” He cooed another wave of garlic breath into my face. “And how much happier I could make you. I’m very good at keeping women satisfied.”
I blinked a few times. Despite all my Section training, I honestly did not know how to respond to his boast without laughing, cursing, or inflicting a large amount of violence on him.
Niles took my blank look for encouragement and leaned in a little more.
If he got any closer, he’d be wearing my sweater like it was his own.
“Since we’re being so friendly, maybe you can tell me why Desmond wants the Redburn formula so badly.
From what I’ve heard, guns and missiles are more his style, not biomagical explosives. ”
Niles latched onto my elbow like a cobra striking a mouse. He was quicker than he looked, and his grip was surprisingly strong. He definitely had some enduro magic to go along with his high IQ.
I tensed, contemplating the quickest—and most painful—way to remove his hand from my body. I hadn’t always enjoyed my father’s relentless training, but it was useful when dealing with unwanted attention.
A shadow fell over Niles like a storm cloud sweeping across a field, and a faint crackle of static electricity rubbed up against my skin. I shivered, welcoming the sensation.
Desmond stepped up beside me and glared at Niles with barely restrained fury. In that moment, he looked eerily similar to General Percy. “Take your hand off Charlotte,” he growled. “Or I’ll break your fingers one by one.”
Niles scoffed at Desmond, completely unconcerned by the cold menace rippling off the cleaner in palpable waves. Arrogant idiot.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a couple of people looking in our direction, sensing the brewing drama. Some of Henrika’s guards were also watching us. Well, if they wanted a show, I was more than happy to give them one.
“It’s okay, darling,” I replied in a breezy tone. “I’m more than happy to break Mr. Perran’s fingers myself. In fact, I would prefer it.”
Niles’s gaze swung back to me. Instead of being cowed, a lewd smile spread across his face, and he tightened his grip. “So you like it rough, huh? So do I.”
I smiled at the disgusting creep, picked up the glass he had given me earlier, and tossed the champagne into his face.
Niles sucked in a strangled breath and staggered back, finally releasing my arm. I watched him carefully, but his skin didn’t start blistering and burning with whatever drug he’d slipped into the champagne. What a shame.
“You looked like you needed to cool off,” I said. “If that doesn’t work, go jump in the lake until your dick shrivels up like a raisin and your balls fall off from frostbite.”
Champagne dripped off Niles’s glasses and spattered onto his clothes. An angry flush swept up his neck and stained his cheeks a bright crimson. “You bitch!” he hissed. “You’re going to pay for that!”
“No, I’m not,” I replied in a calm voice. “Weasels like you only target people they think are weaker than they are. And I am not weak, Niles. You would do well to remember that.”
I turned to Desmond. “Let’s head back to our room, darling. I want to take a nap.”
Desmond grinned, and his eyes glowed with pride as he held out his arm. I took it, and together we left the still-sputtering Niles behind.