Page 19

Chapter 19

Rather Unprofesh of You

I checked my phone. Both Phillip and Sloan’s texts glared back at me. But instead of reading them, I slipped my phone into my pocket and sighed. Yanking my ponytail loose, I let my red hair rain down around my face in a waterfall of silky waves. I adjusted my top and took a quick look around, not entirely sure what I’d be okay with doing first.

As if he’d read it all on my face, Cash smirked and leaned down. “That’s it, dove. You’re not a robot. There’s nothing that says you can’t have a bit of fun while we’re out.” His fingers laced with mine even when the glare I leveled on him promised violence. “I know a thing or two about having a good time. Haven’t you ever wondered what it’s like when you’re not…you know, expected to be anyone but yourself?”

I hated that his question stopped me from lashing out. “What makes you think I haven’t been myself, Fae?”

His smirk said it all. He was a perceptive bastard, and he’d seen through my act. “Oh, darling…you don’t honestly believe Phillip would bother to blackmail me into working for him if I wasn’t good at picking apart someone I was around. Least of all someone I’m very, very interested in. No matter. It’s much easier to show you what I mean. Come, we have a party to attend.”

I didn’t have time to bemoan my lack of facial control because Cash grabbed me around the waist, snapped his fingers, and suddenly we were in an underground rave, swallowed by a thunderous beat and overexcited crowd.

Something about the way I moved was different. Peering down, I quickly realized in the time it took to go from the street to this chaotic room, my clothes had changed. Was I wearing a…waist cape? Leather pants with a cape skirt thing and a vest top made of the same material? What even was this?

I stole a glance over my shoulder, confused. The outfit was nothing I’d ever choose for myself. I looked like I was about to present the next act at the circus. It was the closest I’d ever get to being a ringleader.

“Cassius…” I growled, the outfit tighter than I would’ve liked. It pushed the girls up way too much. High enough that if Kate were here, she’d squeal with pride. “What the fuck am I wearing?”

“Fashion, my dove. And you look absolutely marvelous.” Cash tugged me close and swayed our bodies in time with the beat.

It took me a second, but I finally noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt anymore. His pale body shimmered like he was covered in jewels. Probably slathered himself with the same stuff the evil butterfly used, but fuck if the gorgeous bastard didn’t look damn good in it. Even I couldn’t pretend otherwise. It was like he’d been sculpted out of crystal and white stone. I had a difficult time keeping my eyes to myself.

Before I could make a saucy comment about it, Cash snatched something from a woman carrying a tray of drinks. “Thank me later, love. Also, drink this and dance with me. Let the music sway you.”

Let the music sway you? Is this guy for real?

No lie, I was distracted by how the waitress even managed to slither her way through the crowd without dropping her drink tray. The people around us were lost to the beat and vibe, so it didn’t make sense that she hadn’t been showered in drinks at some point. But after a little onceover of the space, I pieced it together. The supernatural were here. I could smell it in the air and feel its tingling presence all around me.

Lifting the vibrant blue drink with his black nail-polished hand, Cash beamed a devilish smile at me. Then he offered me the shot glass with a cute wink. Who did he think he was fooling? “This is a magical brew, darling. Alcohol for the supernaturally-inclined because of how potent it is. Quick to wear off but worth it. If you’re anything like that barbarian, then this will make it so even you know what it feels like to be buzzin’.”

It’d be incredibly stupid to take anything the Dark Fae gave me. Stupider to consume it. My Hunter instincts told me to skip the drink and go back home. But the young and curious part of me had an excuse already lined up for it.

I’d already taken the plunge.

I’d promised to let go for tonight.

Maybe it was arrogance, but I didn’t think Cash would be shameless enough to do anything to me. Not now. He might be a cowardly asshole, but I didn’t think he was out to hurt me. Or maybe I was too trusting. Maybe I’d regret it later.

But what would Kate do?

Discarding my instincts, I took the drink and downed the contents before I could talk myself out of it.

It was instantaneous; a wave of dizzying sensation washed over me like the one I’d experienced with Phillip the first time I drank alcohol. It was the same feeling of being tipsy, but I had better control over my limbs. I wasn’t falling all over myself this time. My inhibitions seemed to be turned off by how quickly I fell in rhythm with Cash’s movements, but my head still processed things the same way it would if I were sober. There wasn’t a delay in my thoughts.

Not yet, at least.

“It won’t inhibit the necessary faculties, V. Just make everything feel better. A bit more…sensitive, perhaps.” I glared at him. “In a good way, I assure you. You’ll enjoy the atmosphere more, love. You have my word as a gentleman.”

Ha! Gentleman. Where?

I’d meant to say it out loud, but the words got caught in my throat. My mouth didn’t move to say them, either. Rude. But he wasn’t wrong. The way his body felt against mine as we pressed closer, pushed together by the swarming crowd, reminded me of that one time when Phillip and I danced together at the Hocus Pocus club.

Now that I thought about it, that was the first time I met Cash. Wow. Weird. Never thought I’d be reprising my role as a sensual dance partner to the Dark Fae, but I guess crazier things had happened.

My skin was hypersensitive to his caress. I quivered every time his fingers brushed across my skin. Even made a few sounds I wasn’t proud of. And soon, Cash took it a step further. He rubbed his hands all the way down my arms, his beautiful purple gaze staying with mine. He laced our fingers together and guided them around his shoulders. Then his hands were on my waist, bringing me closer to his heat. To his luscious scent.

Fuck, he smells so good.

Wait, how long had we been dancing?

My head lolled to the right and left, but time was a construct in this tipsy world the drink brought on.

“You should still be able to think on your feet and fight like a demon. Think of it like muscle memory. Your reflexes will kick in.”

I wasn’t sure who this gorgeous bastard was talking to because my smile had gotten lazy and I wasn’t fighting him. I was moving with him. I’d fallen under the drink’s spell.

But Cash went on as if he was worried I’d accuse him of something, “I’m not a madman. I’d never put you in a vulnerable position, dove. You have to trust that much,” he whispered, his beautiful face shimmering in the strobe light. His breath hit my face faster, and goddammit, it felt amazing.

My head tilted to one side before I slid my hands down his smooth chest then returned them to loop around his naked shoulders. I dragged his head down, bringing our mouths close enough to kiss. His glowing cat eyes dropped before he licked his lips and wrapped one arm tightly around my waist so our hips locked together. His other hand sunk into my hair.

The way he stared at me was different. Charged. Maybe even feral. He wanted something. He was desperate for it. It made all the purple in his eyes turn to liquid and his cat-eye slits blow out wide enough to overtake most of the color.

Dragging his fingers through my loose curls, I watched Cash’s heated gaze dance around my face until it reached my lips. His mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything. Or maybe I hadn’t heard him because I was lost to how good it all felt. He didn’t do anything else, just twisted my hair through his fingers and swung us side to side in time with the beat.

For a second, I really considered kissing him.

I could blame the alcohol and use it as an excuse to taste those ridiculously soft lips again—to live in the moment. It was a stupid urge to have, but something about the way he touched me and tugged his fingers through my hair, the way he rolled his hips against mine but kept us locked together, put heat into my stomach. Twisted the damn thing into knots. Through the lens of my tipsy haze, it was like seeing the Dark Fae in a whole new light, and he was so goddamn beautiful.

“You know what’s crazy? I do trust you. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s like…it’s like I know you’ll never hurt me,” I whispered as if I couldn’t help myself.

Is this drink a truth serum of some kind?

Cash’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth, struggling to say something. Visibly swallowing, he bent his head down, and his hold on me tightened. “V—”

But I’d looked away already. I was distracted by something that moved out of the corner of my eye. The familiar glow of amber. I almost didn’t believe it at first. I thought my inebriated brain was playing tricks on me. Because it didn’t make sense that a shadow in the crowd would suddenly shift and solidify into a person. Or that that shadow would then become someone I’d spent weeks being confused about—and still honestly was.

Nothing in Sloan’s book of supernatural oddities was capable of becoming a shadow. I mean, at least I didn’t think so. I really needed to read all the tomes he lent me. It was on my to-do list.

So, what was she? Was this magic or something else?

“This was quite clever of you, I’ll admit, to accost V without her keeper’s permission. But whatever thing you’re planning here, it’s over. One of Lux’s henchmen is here. Knowing what she can do, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s one of the Seven. And she didn’t come to play. She brought an army of Fae with her, and they’re about to storm this place with their bag of tricks. If we don’t leave now, they’ll trap us, and then we’ll be forced to fight.”

My eyes took a lazy path down Jo’s body, a little slower on the uptake. “But there’s like a hundred people in here…” I slurred. “We can’t…I won’t leave them to die.”

The femme fatale’s eyes narrowed, and the next look she sent at Cash was full of amber rage. “What did you give her, you bastard?!”

The Dark Fae had a dagger at his throat, but he didn’t retreat or babble like he normally would. He just stared back at the homicidal woman ready to cut his throat out and said, “Blue Magic. It’ll wear off soon without another shot. I might not care what happens to a she-devil like you, but don’t stand here and tell me you haven’t already seen how much I care about what happens to V. It’s rather unprofesh of you.”

Again, Cash talked more like a high school girl than I did. He’d delivered his speech with the razor-sharp glare of a killer, but that last bit ruined it. I barely kept it together. Now wasn’t the time to giggle or argue. I was about to say as much, but the floor quaked and cracked loudly. In an instant, the entire building seemed to shift and move.

“Well, we’re about to put that proclamation to the test, asshole,” Jo growled, her eyes shifting over to the backmost part of the room. “She’s already closed off the exits, and even your teleportation magic won’t get through it.”