Page 32 of Magick and Lead (Dragons and Aces #2)

CHARLIE

D id I want to knock Blaize’s teeth down his throat?

Was I pissed off at Essa? Was I deathly afraid Blaize was going to realize who Essa was and get us into a shit ton of trouble?

Did part of me want to whisper in Essa’s ear that Blaize was the one who really killed her mother? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

But my fighting Blaize would only draw more attention to us. And Essa slashing his throat in the middle of the dance floor would be worse still.

So, I stood there like an asshole and watched my rival whisk Essa out onto the dance floor, flashing me a dark grin as he did.

I saw, as if with fresh eyes, how stunning Essa looked—her shapely legs bared in her short dress, her newly-short hair bouncing adorably, her bright eyes flashing in the colored lights.

I drank her in until I couldn’t look anymore.

Then, I turned on my heel and stalked away toward the bar.

“Double whiskey, neat,” I barked to the bartender.

“Hiya, Charlie.” There it was. That familiar purr…

I turned to find Kitty standing next to me at the bar. Of course.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” she said. “I thought you hated coming to the dance halls.”

“Yeah, well…” I muttered, too annoyed to come up with a good lie.

“Unless you’re here to see me ,” she said, batting her eyelashes.

For a second, I thought of flirting back at her and seeing if I could make Essa jealous. But that was a dangerous game…

“I’m not here to see you, Kitty,” I said.

Kitty gave me her usual pout, but there was something ominous in it this time. Something… unsettling.

My drink arrived on the bar in front of me.

I took a gulp, enjoying the pain as it scorched its way down my throat.

Then I turned around, leaning my back against the bar.

Essa was on the far side of the room now, at the hall’s other bar.

Blaize had gotten a bottle of sparkling wine and was pouring her a glass.

I had a joyful vision of smashing the bottle over his head.

“Is your friend here tonight?” I asked. “Suzie?” That was the person we were here to see, and I hadn’t spotted her yet among the milling crowd.

“Suzie? Who knows?” Kitty dismissed my question with a shrug, then followed my gaze across the room and spotted Essa. “Who’s that girl you came in with?” she asked.

I glanced at Kitty. There it was again, the strange glassiness I’d noticed in her eyes since I’d gotten back from Maethalia.

It was like she was pretending to be jealous, but she actually felt nothing.

Less than nothing. Like her heart wasn’t even beating.

It gave me the creeps. Maybe she was taking some sort of drugs. Or…

“She’s no one,” I said, taking another gulp of my drink. Then I realized what a stupid response that was. I was a terrible liar. Which was probably why my short-lived career as a spy had ended so badly.

“She’s just a friend. I mean, a friend of my cousin Bo’s,” I said. Then, I got an idea. “Actually, she’s interested in working at the state department. I thought I might introduce her to your friend Suzie.”

I looked around.

“Do you think she’ll be here tonight?”

Kitty’s brow crinkled. “You came here tonight with that beautiful girl looking for Suzie ?”

I shrugged, not trusting my lying skills. The less I said, the better. Instead, I took another sip of my drink.

“What happened to her arm?” Kitty asked.

“Suzie’s?”

“The girl you came with,” Kitty said, exasperated.

“Oh. I don’t know,” I said.

Across the room, Blaize had a hand on Essa’s waist. He whispered in her ear. She laughed. I was squeezing my glass almost hard enough to crack it.

“How did Bo meet her?”

“Who?”

“The girl!”

“God, Kitty, I don’t know!” I grumbled. “Is Suzie here or not?”

Kitty gave me a suspicious glare, then pointed across the room. “She’s there. But you’d better hurry if you want to talk to her. It looks like the dance contest is?—”

Just then, the music faded and the band leader got the microphone.

“Helloooo, all you crazy dames and daddies! It’s time for the legendary Cat’s Meow dance contest! All my competitors, gather here in front of the bandstand. If you’re not competing, please clear the dance floor.”

I spotted Suzie then, making her way to the front of the bandstand.

She was a vivacious young woman, all bright eyes, swaying hips, and red lips.

Her dark skin was powdered with glitter, glinting against an emerald green sheath dress and matching headband.

She was tugging a fellow in a suit along by the hand, and I recognized him from past nights out as her younger brother.

Apparently, they were entering the dance contest. Across the way, Essa downed what I estimated to be her third glass of wine as Carter took her hand and led her toward the dance floor.

“Goddammit,” I muttered.

“What?” Kitty asked.

“Come on,” I said. “We’re entering the dance contest.”

I took a step toward the floor, then turned back to find her glaring at me, her arms crossed.

“ Please ,” I said.

Her impassive expression shifted into a smile.

“Well… I was planning to keep an eye on you anyway,” she said, and she offered her hand, letting me lead her out onto the dance floor.

The couples entering the dance contest stood in two lines at one end of the dance floor while a kid in suspenders and spectacles went around pinning paper numbers on them, and the announcer explained the rules.

“Couples must remain within ten feet of each other at all times. If you stop dancing or leave the dance floor, you will be disqualified…”

I didn’t give a damn about the rules—or about the contest at all. I cared about Essa. And on the other side of the floor, she and Blaize were getting their numbers pinned on—entering the contest just to piss me off, probably. And it was working.

But I was an ace, not some jealous schoolboy. I knew how to focus on a mission. And the mission here was to make contact with Suzie and somehow get her to give up the information about Kortoi’s location.

“Come on,” I said to Kitty.

As we crossed the dance floor, I snagged a glass of sparkling wine off the tray of a passing waitress without her noticing. Together, we sidled up to Suzie and her brother.

“Hey!” Suzie said excitedly as we approached, giving Kitty a hug. When they’d pulled apart, she looked between us. “Are you two…?”

“Just dancing. As friends,” I said quickly, choking a little on the last word.

“Friends, eh?” Suzie’s brother said, looking me over from head to toe and smiling like he appreciated what he saw.

“This is my brother, Augie,” Suzie said.

I gave him a nod, then handed Suzie the glass of sparkling wine I’d snagged. She raised it in toast, then tossed it back.

“Listen, Suzie,” I said. “I’ve got a friend I’d like to introduce you to…”

But I didn’t get to finish, because the announcer shouted, “Begin!” and the band fired up their first tune.

Suzie gave a squeal, and she and her brother were off and jittering like a pair of moving picture stars. I felt a tug on my back and saw that someone was pinning a number on me, too.

“Actually, let’s not—” I began, but Kitty was already grabbing my hand, pulling me into a move called the Tritty-Trot that she’d forced me to learn when we were dating.

I cooperated halfheartedly, scanning the room again for Essa.

I spotted her some thirty yards away at my three o’clock, dancing with Blaize—and doing a surprisingly good job for someone who’d never danced to jazz before.

Our eyes met, and we both abruptly looked away. Hell if I’d let her make me jealous…

“Eyes on your partner, flyboy,” Kitty said, squeezing my hand with surprising strength that made my fingers throb.

I tried to keep my attention on her, but a pulse of intuition tugged at me, and my gaze shifted to the far side of the room. There stood a man in black, wearing a wide-brimmed hat. The same fellow who’d been following us on the street. A spook. Dammit.

Kitty elbowed me in the ribs. “Are you trying to get us eliminated? You’re not even dancing.”

With a grunt of annoyance, I resumed the Tritty-Trot.

When I looked back to where the man in black had been, he was gone.

My head whipped in the other direction, to where Essa was—but I’d lost sight of her, too.

Something tapped me on the shoulder, and I wheeled, my heart thumping, ready to throw a punch.

But it was just the bespectacled judge, tapping us out.

“Nice job. You got us eliminated,” Kitty huffed, taking my arm and leading me off the dance floor while I continued to cast around, looking for Essa.

Essa. Hey! I tried to reach out to her using the simnal, but I couldn’t reach her—either because Parthar was too far away, or because she’d closed her mind to me.

If Blaize is making a move on her… I thought, grinding my teeth.

Suzie was ahead of us at the bar, waving us over. She already had another drink in her hand.

“This oaf got us eliminated already! Can you believe it?” Kitty said, thumbing toward me.

“Us too!” Suzie cried. “My stupid brother saw his old boyfriend and ran off to make up with him.” She gestured vaguely toward the balcony, then turned her attention to me. “So, where’s this friend of yours you wanted me to meet? Is he as tall and handsome as you?”

“It’s a she , actually,” I said.

Suzie shrugged, laughing. “That works, too. I’m a modern girl, you know.”

“She’s here somewhere…”

My words trailed off as a commotion across the room caught my attention.

Blaize had his arms around Essa, going in for a kiss, and she was struggling to get away. She smacked him across the face, a blow loud enough to be heard over the music of the band. He grabbed at her as she tried to duck away from him—and her fake arm came off in his hand.

His face crinkled with confusion. The people around them pulled back, pointing and chattering. With the parting of the crowd, I caught sight of the man in the hat again. He stared at me eerily for a beat, then turned, disappearing among the dancers.

“Excuse me,” Kitty said suddenly, setting her drink on the bar and hurrying off into the crowd, moving in the same direction as the man in black—towards Essa.

It hit me then like a wave of nausea. Of course. Kitty was a spy. And so was the man in the wide-brimmed hat. They were working together. And now, they were going for Essa…

I grabbed a stack of napkins from the bar top and linked arms with Suzie. She was our mission objective, and I wasn’t about to let her go. “Listen, Suzie. Something’s about to go down. Stay close to me, alright?”

She grinned, her eyelids heavy with booze. “Ooh. Big strong ace is gonna protect me?”

“That’s right,” I said, tugging her after me into the crowd. “Whatever happens, just make sure we leave together, alright?”

She laughed, giving me a salute. “Ooh, yes, sir.”