This was a terrible idea.

The barista behind the slate-and-reclaimed-wood counter was already giving her the hairy eyeball. Ivy’s grungy layers of thrift-store denim clearly didn’t fit in with the trendy cafe’s carefully-cultivated shabby-chic decor. Ivy sipped the overpriced latte that she couldn’t afford, making it last as long as possible, and tried not to dwell on how badly wrong this deal could go.

But she had no choice. She’d do anything to buy Hope even the slightest chance of recovery.

The deal she’d struck with Hugh, now that had been a good bargain. She’d gotten the one thing she wanted more than anything else—a chance for Hope—and in return all she’d had to give away was something she couldn’t keep anyway.

Yes we can, hissed her wyvern. Our mate! Go back, claim him, now!

Ivy grimaced, mentally muzzling her beast. Her unruly wyvern was even more agitated than usual, baffled and furious by the agreement she’d made with Hugh. The stupid animal couldn’t understand just what a good deal it was.

And now she could only pray that she could strike another one.

“I have to say, Ivy Viverna.” Gaze slid into the booth opposite her, eyebrows raised over the rims of his mirrored sunglasses. “That was not a Facebook message I was expecting to receive this morning.”

The basilisk shifter did fit in with the hipster decor. Dressed in slim jeans, an ironic vest, and a white dress shirt with sleeves carefully pushed up to display his muscled forearms to best advantage, he looked more like a lifestyle blogger than a crime boss. He made a slight gesture at the barista, who simpered and started fixing what was obviously his regular order.

Gaze turned his attention back to Ivy, studying her for a long moment without speaking. Even though his eyes were hidden, his scrutiny still made the hairs rise on the back of her neck. She hadn’t forgotten the agonizing burn of being pinned by his unshielded stare.

“I’m curious to hear why you wanted to meet.” Gaze accepted an espresso from the barista, and waved her off again. “I thought you’d have had the sense to skip town by now.”

“Yeah, well.” Ivy leaned back, trying to copy Gaze’s relaxed, assured pose. “I have some business that I need to take care of.”

Gaze’s head tilted slightly. “Business involving Hugh Argent?”

Ivy’s coffee cup rattled on its saucer as she twitched. “Are you following me?”

“Oh, come now, Ivy. You’re smarter than that.” Gaze picked up his own coffee, taking a casual sip. “Of course I’m having you followed. You didn’t think that you could just walk away after last night, did you?”

“No.” Ivy’s tongue was dry in her mouth. “That’s why I want to make a deal.”

“I distinctly recall that you rejected my very generous offer. In no uncertain terms.”

“I’ve…things are different. My sister’s starting some new medical treatment which means we have to stick around Brighton for a bit longer.” Ivy folded her hands on the table to hide how they were shaking. “And that means I don’t want to be on your bad side. I know I can’t protect my sister from you, not on your home ground. So. What will it take to get you off my back?”

She already knew the answer. He was going to want her venom. Deadly poisons, powerful acids, addictive hallucinogens…a wyvern shifter could make all kinds of useful things for a man like Gaze.

Once again, she was putting herself under the thumb of a dangerous, amoral criminal. Only this time, she was going into it with her eyes wide open. She knew exactly what she was doing.

To save Hope, she’d sacrifice her very soul.

Gaze contemplated her for a long, agonizing minute. It was impossible to tell what was going on behind those mirrored sunglasses.

When he spoke, however, his words were the last thing Ivy had expected. “Tell me more about this medical treatment.”

Ivy was so wrong-footed, she could only blink stupidly at him. “Huh?”

“Hope told me she has motor neuron disease.” Gaze leaned his elbows on the table, his posture oddly intent. “That’s incurable, as far as I’m aware.”

“Yeah, uh…we just found out about this new thing. It’s kinda experimental. Never been tried.”

Gaze tipped his head forward, his sunglasses sliding down his nose just far enough to expose his glowing, blood-red eyes. Before Ivy could look away, she’d once again been caught by that burning stare.

“You have been only two places since the incident last night,” Gaze said softly, as buzzing pain vibrated through her paralyzed body. “Your home, and that of Hugh Argent. Your sister is still there with him now. Tell me the truth, Ivy. Your sister has not been miraculously offered some new experimental treatment. Hugh is healing her. And I want you to tell me everything—everything—you know about him.”

He pushed his sunglasses back up to cover his eyes again, freeing her. Ivy had to breathe deeply for a moment, every nerve in her body still quivering as if she’d stuck her fingers in an electric socket.

“Go to hell,” she croaked.

Hugh was an asshole, but he was still her asshole. Ivy hadn’t a clue why Gaze was so interested in him, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to throw her mate to the basilisk.

Gaze raised his hands, and she couldn’t help flinching—but he just steepled his fingers, regarding her calmly through his shades. “You seem interestingly loyal to the paramedic, considering that you’d never, as far as I’m aware, met before yesterday. And I have never known Hugh Argent to let anyone into his house—and believe me, I have had my best professionals fail to secure an invite, no matter how they attempted to seduce him. So why you and your sister?”

“Guess he’s got a soft spot for hard-luck cases,” Ivy said, while her wyvern snarled at the idea of other women throwing themselves at Hugh. “It’s called compassion, asshole. Look it up in the dictionary some time.”

Gaze chuckled under his breath. “Oh dear, Ivy. It seems I know Hugh considerably better than you do. From what I have heard, he would never do anything merely out of pity. For a medical professional, he is remarkably acidic.”

“Maybe that’s why he likes me,” Ivy said, trying to ignore the part of her that wished that was true. “We’ve got something in common. Why do you care, anyway?”

“There are rumors about the paramedic. Rumors that interest me. And if he truly can heal your sister—and oh yes, Ivy, I know full well that she does not really have motor neuron disease—then I am very interested indeed. So interested that I am prepared to offer you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Ivy asked warily.

Gaze leaned back in his seat. “Find out what sort of shifter Hugh Argent is. In return, I will leave you alone. You and your sister.”

“That’s it?” Ivy squinted at him, suspecting some sort of trick. “You just want to know his animal? Why don’t you just have your goons follow him and wait until he shifts?”

“Because he never does. Believe me, I have spent considerable time and effort trying to unravel the mystery that is Hugh Argent. If you can do that, then you would have my gratitude. Which is something that you sorely need.”

Ivy chewed on her lip, every instinct screaming that this was too good to be true. She’d been fully prepared to give Gaze whatever he wanted…and what he wanted turned out to be such a tiny, trivial thing. There had to be some sort of catch.

“Are you trying to find out if he’s something defenseless?” she asked, eyes narrowing. “Because if you’re thinking of kidnapping him and forcing him to work for you, let me remind you that he’s already got a boss. I can tell you that Fire Commander Ash does not appreciate anyone messing with his people.”

Gaze’s mouth tightened. “Oh, I am fully aware that the paramedic is under the protection of the Phoenix. That inconvenient fact is all that is stopping me from making rather more direct inquiries, shall we say. I have been forced to take more subtle approaches. But you, it seems, may be the key to unlock his secrets at last.”

“You’re wrong,” Ivy said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t find out squat for you. He hates me. He told me to my face that he never wants to see me again.”

Gaze’s eyebrows rose. “I find that difficult to believe. Seeing as not only is he helping you with your sister, apparently he is on his way to this very location even as we speak.”

Ivy stared at him. “What?” she said blankly.

“With, and I quote,” Gaze’s head tilted to one side, as if he was communicating telepathically with someone, “‘a face like a pissing thunderstorm,’ according to the somewhat crude man I have on his tail. For someone who you claim has no interest in you, Ivy, the paramedic seems remarkably protective.”

Ivy was still chewing that one over when Gaze pushed aside his espresso, rising. Chairs scraped as four other people—ranging from a hulking skinhead to a teen girl in black motorbike leathers—stood as well. Ivy tensed, readying herself to pull off her gloves, but they merely fell into position behind their boss, like bodyguards around a celebrity.

“The time is not yet right for Hugh Argent and myself to cross paths,” the basilisk shifter said, adjusting his sunglasses. “So I must take my leave. I look forward to your report with great anticipation. Oh, and Ivy?”

This time, Ivy was prepared. She jerked her eyes away, fixing them on Gaze’s shiny shoes to avoid his stare…but she couldn’t block out his voice.

“If you do not give me Hugh Argent’s secrets, then I will come after your sister.” All of Gaze’s fake friendliness fell away, his tone dropping to a cold, poisonous whisper. “No matter how far you run, how well you hide, I will find you. And then, I will turn you both into living statues. Unmoving, unbreathing, undying…but suffering. Trapped in agony. Forever.”

Gaze straightened. “A pleasure doing business with you,” he said, in a totally normal voice. “I expect results soon, Ivy. Very soon.”

Ivy sat frozen, as motionless as if he’d already carried out his threat, as Gaze waved his people to follow him out. Her wyvern screamed to be released, wanting nothing more than to obliterate Gaze, all his henchmen, and the entire building. She gripped the edge of the table hard, venom sweating into her gloves as she fought to control her furious animal.

The tall girl in the black leathers hesitated as she passed Ivy’s seat. Through the mist of her wyvern’s rage, Ivy dimly recognized her as one of the teens Hope had been chatting with at Gaze’s party.

The girl’s eyes flicked from Ivy to the other gang members’ retreating forms, and back again. “Is Hope okay?” she mumbled.

Ivy very nearly spat acid straight into her face. Swallowing hard, she got a grip on herself. “Piss off.”

The girl flinched, but didn’t back down. “She’s not answering my messages. I just need…I just want to know if she’s all right. Please?”

“Jezebeth!” the tattooed skinhead snapped from the doorway. “Heel!”

The girl jumped. “So, uh, yeah!” she said loudly, baring her teeth in a snarl that was wildly incongruous with her pleading eyes. “Do what the boss says, or you’ll regret it!”

Ivy counted under her breath, both to focus herself and to make certain Gaze’s gang would have moved off. When she reached five hundred, she slid out from the café booth herself. Tugging her gloves up, she headed for the door—and nearly ran smack into the muscular chest of Hugh Argent.

“What are you doing here?” he snarled.

His ice-blue eyes were narrowed with anger, blazing in his handsome face. His short, spiky white hair bristled like the fur of an enraged wolf. He looked even more pissed off than he had after rescuing her from the elevator shaft.

“What are you doing here?” Ivy snapped back, bristling herself.

“Hope told me more about Gaze after you left.” Hugh’s jaw clenched. “I shouldn’t have let you go out alone.”

“Excuse me?” Ivy glared at him. “I’m not your damn property. And why do you care, anyway?”

Hugh made a low, frustrated growl under his breath. “Because—because—oh, sod this. Come on.”

He reached for her arm, and she reflexively jerked back out of reach before remembering that he was immune to her venom. They circled each other like a pair of fighting cats, glaring. There was a brief tussle as they both attempted to open the door for the other, which Hugh won. Ivy had to settle for walking past with icy dignity, spine straight, trying to ignore his delicious, masculine scent.

“How did you find me anyway?” she asked as they set off down the street. Then she groaned. “No, wait, stupid question. Ponyboy.”

She knew full well that he was friends with Chase. The pegasus shifter had the irritating ability to home in on people, even from several miles away. Ivy had run afoul of Chase’s special skills before.

To her surprise, Hugh shook his head. “I’m not foolish enough to mention you to Chase. No, you can blame your sister. Turns out she knows all your Internet passwords. She found the messages you exchanged with Gaze.”

“I am going to email links to her fanfics to her entire school,” Ivy muttered. “The whole world will know of her secret passion for Twilight Sparkle.”

Hugh raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t ask,” Ivy advised.

“I have a suspicion that in this case, ignorance is bliss.” Hugh’s taut shoulders had eased down a little, though he was still stalking along as though the entire world personally offended him. “In any case, once your sister realized what idiocy you were planning, she enlisted my help in stopping it. Too late, I fear.”

“Good thing you didn’t get here faster, or you’d have ruined everything.” Ivy glared up at that annoyingly perfect profile. “And you were supposed to be watching over Hope! She’s got the common sense of a bar of soap, and you just left her alone?”

“No, actually, because unlike certain people I make plans that include contingencies. I took her to Griff’s place before I came to find you. I didn’t want her unguarded, not when you’ve apparently managed to offend the entire criminal population of Brighton.”

Ivy didn’t like being even more in debt to Griff, but at least she knew he could keep her sister safe. Even her wyvern had to admit that the griffin shifter was a powerful protector.

“Anyway.” Hugh glowered down at her. “You’ve still got all your limbs, which is more than I was expecting, but I’m betting you didn’t escape from that meeting without giving up something. What did he want?”

Ivy couldn’t meet his eyes. She looked down at her boots, shoving her hands deep in her pockets.

“I said I’d take care of Gaze, and I did,” she said. “That’s all you need to know.”

Despite her words, her gut twisted. There was more that Hugh needed to know. Was he even aware that Gaze was targeting him?

“Have, uh, you ever run across Gaze before?” she asked, trying to keep her tone casual.

“Never heard of him. But from what Hope’s told me, I don’t trust him as far as I can kick him. No matter what arrangement you think you’ve made, you’re still in danger. So you’re both staying with me until this is over.”

Surprise jerked her head up again. “What?”

He lengthened his stride, taking the lead. “I hope you like cats.”

Dumbfounded, Ivy stared at his broad back. “But—you hate me.”

“I’m a paramedic and a firefighter,” he said without turning round. “It’s my job to rescue people, even when they’re bloody idiots. Now keep up.”

It was clear the conversation was over. Ivy could only trail at his heels, struggling to keep up with his longer legs. Inside, she was a turmoil of emotion. Confusion, hope, anger, delight…and underneath it all, a terrible, bone-gnawing guilt.

She’d made a deal with Gaze to find out Hugh’s secrets.

If it came down to protecting her sister or her mate…who would she choose?