Читать книгу Hunted By the Others - Jess Haines - Страница 7

The next morning, my partner stared at me in shock over the scarred and pitted kitchen table in the tiny break room of our office, coffee mug paused inches from her lips. Sara Halloway blinked as if trying to clear her vision—to make sure she was really seeing what was in front of her.

“Run that by me one more time. Slowly.”

I rubbed a hand down my face, groaning as I tried to figure out how to explain my reasoning to her without sounding like I’d finally gone off the deep end.

“I know. I can’t believe I took the job either.”

I reached into the back pocket of my jeans and carefully smoothed out the crumpled check on the table, staring down at the five grand under my fingertips so I wouldn’t have to face Sara’s disbelief. I had enough of my own.

“What is it you’re supposed to be looking for exactly? You know it’s got to be dangerous if they’re paying so much.”

“Paying so much? This is a drop in the bucket to The Circle.”

Shaking my head, I brushed a few loose tendrils out of my eyes before reaching for my own coffee on the table. “Anytime a vampire or spark is involved, it’s dangerous. You mean more dangerous than that? Sure, I’m positive whatever it is will get me killed if I don’t watch my back. It may be worth the risk. I can always back out if things get too hairy.”

She made a rude noise, but at least she wasn’t giving me grief for my little racial epithet, calling the mage a spark.

“It’s part of the arrangement. I can keep the nonrefundable deposit on my services.” I flicked a few fingers, while carefully cradling the coffee mug, to point to the check. “I can end the contract at any time at my discretion if it looks like my life is on the line. Veronica e-mailed me the paperwork right after dinner. I looked it over last night; it’s clear and concise, and damned if it isn’t actually a fair deal.”

Sara’s clear blue eyes narrowed, thoughtful rather than annoyed. “What equipment are they going to give you? Did she say?”

I shrugged. I had plenty of my own equipment, so it was doubtful I’d be using any of The Circle’s stuff anyway.

“No, not really. Just ‘my pick of the security vaults’—whatever that means.”

Her soft harrumph was reassuring. That meant she was mulling it over and wouldn’t bug me about it too much more until she had a chance to work it out in her own head. Maybe she was starting to see the same twisted sense in the plan that I had.

Pressing on, I added, “Honestly, it doesn’t seem that dangerous a job. All she asked me to do was find out what I could about some artifact.”

The speculative look returned. “Did she tell you anything about it?”

I nodded. “A little. She showed me a picture. It’s a black stone about the size of a man’s fist, carved into a lizard-bat thing. Little rubies for eyes. Older than dirt, powerful, priceless, blah blah blah.”

Sara narrowed her eyes again, only this time in that dangerous don’t-even-try-me look. “Elaborate on that blah, blah, blah thing.”

“She didn’t tell me what it’s for or what it can do. She did say I’ll have to get my way into Royce’s good graces to find out more about it. Including where it might be hidden.”

A look of horror crossed her face. It would’ve been comical if my own face hadn’t mirrored her expression last night when I’d come to the same conclusion she just did. “You mean you’ll have to talk to the leech directly? Face to face? You’re crazy!”

“Not that crazy.” I tried to keep from showing outward signs of the sudden fear-induced surge of adrenaline her words gave me. “Reporters interview him all the time with no problems. He frequently makes appearances at his nightclubs and restaurants. There’s never been any kind of incident except last year when that White Hat tried to stake him at the opening of his new restaurant, La Petite Boisson. Remember that?”

Wow, go me. My voice didn’t crack or quiver even once getting all that out.

She chuckled, her crystalline blue eyes glinting with mirth. “Oh yes, I think I do. The one who knocked the mayor’s wife into the punchbowl, right?”

I smiled back, losing some tension. “That’s the one. Everything went backward for the White Hats after that. Poor, misjudged, minority vampires…”

“Yeah, I think she even kissed him on the cheek after for helping her up and making light of the whole thing. The tabloids loved it.” Sara’s expression hardened, and I braced myself for what I knew was coming next. “You know he’s still dangerous. I mean, Christ. Come on. A vampire?” An ominous, suspicious pause. “How exactly were you planning on meeting him anyway?”

I couldn’t help but redden a bit under her scrutiny. It doesn’t help that I blush easily with my pale skin, but the topic was making me more uncomfortable by the moment. “I was going to go in as a restaurant and nightclub guide reviewer or journalist. There’s a whole calendar of events on his website on when he makes appearances at his clubs. I figured it would be the best way to go in and get a chance to talk with him.”

She shook her head, frowning. I was about to protest, but she cut me off. “That will never work. He’s got press agents and marketing people to deal with the journalists. Not to mention his security. They’d spot you coming a mile away since you work that beat, and you’re more high profile after that thing at the Embassy. You may not have noticed since they usually leave us alone when we’re in his clubs, but that’s only because we generally don’t hassle the clientele.”

It was my turn to frown, more in consternation than anything. I’d thought the journalism thing was a stroke of genius on my part. “What do you suggest?”

She grinned at me in a way that suggested I really wasn’t going to like her idea. “Go exactly as you are. No pretenses.”

An incredulous laugh burst from my lips. “Are you kidding me? First, he’d laugh in my face before banning me. Second, what in the nine hells makes you think he’ll actually talk to me if I go now versus the other few hundred times I’ve visited his clubs?”

“Shia, don’t doubt me.” That know-it-all look somehow managed to get even more smug. “I know exactly how to do it.”