Page 28 of Marked By Moonlight

Oh yes. I’d definitely gotten a crash course in that in recent weeks.

“Well, the best way to recognize the difference is observing them in person,” I retorted. Then I softened. “Believe me, I don’t plan to do anything dangerous. But I need to see Gordon.”

He scowled, then checked his watch. “Wait an hour. I could only risk coming close to his place because he was out. Celeste was the only one there, and she should be leaving soon.”

“Ah, yes. Celeste,” I said dryly. “I’d like to know about that too.”

“Know what?”

“Know why you’re talking to her and not me.”

“It’s not like that, Mina. I swear.” He looked around, then shook his head. “I’ll explain later.”

“Gonna be a long meeting,” I muttered.

He ignored that in favor of a final warning. “Whatever you do, don’t tell Gordon anything.”

I rolled my eyes. Like I need a reminder.

“I mean it,” Marius emphasized. “Including the fact that you saw me.”

Grabbing my hand, he stalked toward the corner of the main road, towing me along before raising a fist to signalstopthe way commandos did in movies.

Boy, had I fallen in love with the wrong person.

The right person,a voice in the back of my mind insisted.

“All right.” He gestured. “Cross the street. I’ll follow at a distance. Take the next metro three stops, then backtrack. Watch for anyone who looks suspicious.”

At this rate, that meant everyone in Paris. I was that on edge.

“Keep a low profile all evening, and don’t come to the meeting point directly,” he said.

Then he squeezed my hand, popped a kiss on my cheek, and gave me a little nudge toward the street. A good thing, too. Otherwise, I might never have pried myself away from him.

“Be careful,” he finished ominously.

“And you be there,” I insisted. “At our meeting point, I mean.”

He nodded, then gestured me onward.

Every step I took felt like I was wading deeper and deeper into mud, but I forced myself to go. When I reached the metro stop a few blocks later, I glanced back, but there was no sign of him. No sign that he’d ever been with me either, except for the tingling spot on my cheek.

Chapter Seven

MINA

I did as Marius said, riding the Métro a few stops before backtracking to Gare du Lyon, where I seriously considered catching the next train home.

But, no. I had a mission to fulfill, and a date with a dragon shifter afterward.

I walked to Gordon’s along the Canal Saint-Martin, stopping for a fortifying éclair and tea along the way. That also helped while away the ninety minutes Marius had recommended before visiting Gordon.

His neighborhood was a strangely mixed one, with seedy bars sitting cheek by jowl with discreetly spruced-up mansions. Gordon owned several of the latter, but he lived on the top two floors of a nondescript, 1970s building that was somewhere in between. It was nice enough to have a doorman and had for as long as I remembered. But today was the first day I wondered what role Fabian filled. Was he just a doorman, or also a spy, bodyguard, or part-time hit man?

“Bonjour, Fabian,” I said upon entering.

“Bonjour, mademoiselle.” The fiftysomething bear shifter’s easy smile made me feel guilty for being suspicious…but I kept my guard up just in case. “Monsieur Clervaud didn’t tell me he was expecting you.”