Page 46

KLEOS

W hen I stood before the judges of the underworld, and they asked why I should be allowed in the Isle of the Blessed, I'd point out that I survived an hour with Armand Worthing without shoving my pen into his eye socket.

The ultra-white-toothed journalist leaned in too close, and the whiff of the vile aftershave he used liberally practically knocked me out. "Come on, now, dahling. You can tell me."

I wondered if he thought his so-called charms worked on anyone? Forcing a smile, I repeated myself. "It's as I said. I had a headache, so I left early."

He looked down at his notes. "By all accounts, you were first seen with Mr. Valmont, and then—shocking, shocking—with none other than the youngest Regis heir, right before the scandalous events of last night.

Are you saying neither gentleman… erm. " The way he faked his cough was almost as annoying as his tendency to pat my knees, no matter how far back I kept them from his grubby paws. "Took you home."

One. Two. Three. I made myself breathe out.

Despite his immeasurable wealth, I'd never truly envied Lucian.

Frankly, I wouldn't know what to do with enough money to buy satellites .

But right this second, I wish I had the immunity of a Regis.

I could just stab the pen I was twirling around my fingers for something to do right into his throat.

Four times, I tried to speak about the salt. Four times, he redirected the conversation to my sex life.

I opted to stand. I'd wasted enough of my time today. "I think we're done. I have another appointment now. I do hope my warning about salt will be printed, if your editor wishes me to offer him an exclusive ever again."

I was never, ever going to accept another interview with the Gazette , no matter what, but throwing a bone didn't hurt.

"Of course, of course. Wise words. But, Ms. Valesco, what do you say about the rumor that the diamonds you wore used to belong to none other than the princessGeraldine Saltzin?"

Saidnecklace felt heavy against my bare skin, underneath my dress and shawl. Princess ?

"I wouldn't know about that. It was just a spell, charmed to warn me of nefarious intent. It's not even my style." I didn't even need to lie. "Now, ever so sorry. I wouldn't want to run late."

He shot more questions at me as I raced out the door, feeling revolting because of prolonged exposure to the sleazy bastard. How could the Gazette choose him to interview me?

"It went that well, huh?" Silver said as I threw the door open with so much force the glass would have shattered if it hadn't been shielded.

" Worse ." Outside, I forced a breath in and out. "The dick was only interested in what I wore, who I'm fucking, and who I plan to marry. It's a complete fucking waste of time."

At least, Gideon would be glad I tried.

Silver snorted. "Can't say I'm surprised."

She hated the newspapers around town almost as much as I did.

When they mentioned her, they constantly used words like dainty, and tiny, and adorable, like she was a poodle rather than a woman.

True, Silver was dainty and tiny and adorable, but I could say that.

They ought to focus on the fact that she was a badass, at the head of the Guard trainees, and well on her way to being chosen as a protector, which was practically unheard of for someone in their first year.

"So, where to next?" she asked.

Silver volunteered as my bodyguard for the day. She and Gideon refused to leave me alone, which I was grateful for. All things considered, I absolutely wasn't above admitting that I needed someone around me.

"Home, I guess?" I said lamely, dejected by the very thought.

Home felt dark and cold and lonely, and too small after a week in the unders manor.

I should have tried to get Zazel to come with me.

But once I was safely behind locked doors, Silver would be free of her guard duty.

Every entrance and exit of my attic had been reinforced, and lined with salt for good measure.

Despite all this, I doubted I would feel safe there.

"How about my place?" she offered, as usual, reading me easily. "It's been a while since I kicked your ass at that shooting game. And hey, I downloaded new shows last time I was out of town."

Guiltily, I thought about my speedy connection. I could stream any show I liked without leaving town now, but Lucian made it clear he didn't want his credentials shared around.

Lucian .

I could feel myself flush, as I replayed the events of this morning. His eyes. His hands. His hard, lengthy cock.

"Yours sounds good. Let's get takeout on the way."

By all accounts, the evening should have been perfectly ordinary. Two friends, catching up over Chinese food, wine and some video games. But then, I made a strategic error.

I'd already shared all the details we knew so far with Silver, but a full week of events couldn't be summarized over the course of a couple of hours.

We were done with our food, and she'd kicked my butt seven times—I never got to practice as I didn't have a gaming console at home—when I let it slip that unders used to Pan's club were immune to yesterday's lust spell.

"So, it was an unders," she concluded.

I should have guessed she'd think so.

Silver hated slow, lengthy, unclear investigations. She was a loaded weapon, to be pointed at a target and fired.

"Not necessarily. Anyone could have done it, and just taken an antidote beforehand."

"Yeah, but, like, if they're not affected, it was one of them, right?" she insisted. "It makes sense."

I sighed. "We really don't have any proof one way or another. Most unders don't come to these parties, except the founders and a few nobles."

"It could still be one of them."

To her, blaming them was always going to win over blaming us . I didn't know how to explain that the person who wanted to hurt me could be anyone.

"We should go to that club." She stood, enthused. "Check it out. If it's the most popular in unders, it's a good place to start."

"Silver, no . There's nothing we can find out at a club."

"We can see if it was the same lust spell used, right?

" she insisted. "We can take an antidote, like you say, and have a look around.

It wouldn't hurt to see who's used to hanging out in places serving lust spells so casually. Maybe they even thought yesterday was a prank. Wait until I get my hands around their throat. Aphrodite’s tits, I fucked Gideon . "

This made me giggle as much as the first time I heard it. I couldn't imagine two people less compatible than those two. The sex, lust spell or not, must have been awful.

For my sanity, I didn't ask.

Twisting my hair into tight braids out of habit, I thought things through.

On one hand, Silver was probably wrong, but if the same lust spell had been used, perhaps the managers of Pan's knew a supplier capable of making it in big enough quantities to affect a whole ballroom.

I could observe people, see if they exhibited the exact same symptoms I had—the giddiness, the slight high, and then, the all-consuming need to fuck.

I couldn't exactly interrogate anyone, but I could relay the information to Gideon so he'd take over.

"Fine," I relented, mostly because I knew better than to try to stop Silver from doing whatever she wanted to do.

The best I could do was tag along to make sure she didn't start beating people up, demanding to know who cursed her.

Besides, I was curious about Pan's. A club owned by a god? Lucian said it so casually, as though it was no big deal. To him, maybe it wasn’t, but the very concept was so intriguing.

"You'll have to let me borrow some clothes. I can't exactly show up to an unders club in beige slacks."