Sapphire Flames

He did not just imply what I thought he implied.

Yes, yes, he did.

“If I wanted a hot pic by my bed for relaxation, it wouldn’t be yours.” There.

“You’re right. Why settle for a picture when you can have the real thing?” He spread his arms. “I’m right here.”

Oh my God.

“In your bed. Waiting.”

Yes . . . No. No!

He was looking at me as if I was naked.

It was my most secret fantasy. He was in my room. On my bed. Looking at me. Smiling at me like he wanted me. Everything I’d ever dreamed of was right there.

My heart pounded in my chest at a million beats per minute. My cheeks grew warm. I gathered all my will into a steel fist. Do not blush. Do NOT blush. Why was this happening to me? He wasn’t even doing anything. He was just looking at me and talking.

Alessandro studied me, and when he spoke, his tone sent tiny shivers down my neck. It was intimate and seductive, and it promised me all the things I wanted and couldn’t have. “Is it because your family is downstairs? Don’t worry, we can be very quiet.”

The temptation to cross the room and touch him was almost too much. I could . . . No, I couldn’t. He was mocking me. He saw the picture, put two and two together, and now he was taunting me with it.

The entire floor of my bedroom was a single arcane circle. I had drawn it with soap on the floorboards to trap a possible intruder. If I activated it, all his jokes would dry up real fast.

If I activated the circle, I would lose all my work, and it would turn our conversation into combat. Using my wings would get us there even faster. There would be no coming back from that, and I needed Alessandro. I needed the information locked in his head.

Oh, how I would love to wipe that smug grin off his face.

I forced myself to relax. It was like trying to stretch a really wide rubber band. My body resisted. Every cell I had wanted to keep focusing on him. On his hands. On his face. On his amber eyes . . .

“What do you want? Make it quick, Alessandro, I’m busy.”

He sat up. “That’s not typically a request I get.”

So funny, so clever. Jackass.

I folded my arms across my chest. “Today.”

He reached over and patted Shadow on her fuzzy head. “After our fun trip to the mall, I asked myself if you would ever see reason and walk away from this mess. Would you like to know my conclusion?”

“No.”

“I believe you won’t, and I’ll tell you why. You are the kind of woman who stops in the middle of fighting hired killers to rescue a small, foul-smelling, doglike creature.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

He swung himself into a sitting position. “Please hold all questions until the end of the speech. Runa Etterson did your family a favor during your sister’s wedding by removing poison from the wedding cake. She’s your friend, probably your only friend.”

“I have tons of friends.”

“And I have access to a computer and your social media profiles. Your younger sister has tons of friends. Your Instagram has five followers, all of whom are related to you, and your most popular post is a book review of The Geometry of Arcane Circles, where you called the author an ‘epic idiot.’”

I gave him my Tremaine sneer. If I had been an ice mage, the air between us would’ve frozen. “Prime Sagredo, my House is none of your business. My sisters, my cousins, my grandmother, and their social media are none of your business. You have now repeatedly violated the sovereign domain of my family. Get to the point and get out.”

“That’s new,” Alessandro observed. “I like.”

What wouldn’t I give to brain him with something heavy . . . “I’m so pleased.”

“May I finish, Dread Mistress?”

“I wish you would.”

“The point is, you can’t abandon Runa. You’re going to turn yourself inside out to help her. It is literally who you are.”

Alessandro set the pink frame back on the nightstand. All humor drained from his face. Only cold menace remained, sharpened by intelligence and resolve.

“Unfortunately, you are in over your head. That leaves me with two choices. I can watch you die in a nasty way or I can throw you a rope.”

Was he trying to con me? Did he need information from me? Trusting him was a mistake, I was sure of it. I’d cyberstalked him, I had researched his family, and I could name his favorite car, wine, and band, but I knew exactly zip about who he actually was. If he told me the sun was shining, I’d run outside to double-check.

But Halle was still missing. If he knew anything about it, I had to get it out of him. He kept thinking of me as a dilettante. He wouldn’t tell me anything until he saw me as an equal.

“Keep your rope. I want to know what you did with the two million dollars Sigourney paid you.”

He came off the bed in a single spring-loaded movement, covering the distance between us in a fraction of a second. Suddenly he was too close.

My heart sped up, and I didn’t know if it was from fear or excitement.

Alessandro’s eyes measured me. He moved to the side, light on his feet, a deadly human predator, like a gladiator looking for an opportunity to close in for a kill. I was being hunted.

“Be careful,” I warned him, turning to keep him in my view.

He tilted his head, his tawny eyes sharp. “Planning to fight me?”

“If you force me to.” Big talker, that’s me.

The air between us vibrated with tension. Magic nipped at my fingertips, ready to punch the arcane circle under my feet.

“You want to find Halle,” he said. “I need to identify Sigourney’s killer. Two roads going to the same place.”

He was right. Whoever killed Sigourney likely had her daughter. “Why do you need to find Sigourney’s murderer?”

“Because she paid me to kill them.”

“How did she know to hire you? She didn’t pick your name out of a hat. Why did she think that you could kill an assassin?”

“Some people know I’m good at killing.”

The planet stopped. My mind struggled to process it. He was a professional killer. No different than the people who’d come after me in the mall. No different than the person who killed Runa’s mother.

The little hopeless dream I carried inside me died.

Why? He had everything going for him. Why?

“Work with me and we’ll get this done together,” he said.

Working with him would be a nightmare.

This wasn’t an emotional problem. My feelings didn’t matter. I had to look at this rationally. All I had was the money and that trail ended with him. If I refused to work with him, he would continue his search on his own and we would keep tripping over each other. I would rather have him on our side than competing with me. Two was better than one.

“If I work with you, will you share what you know about Sigourney’s death?”

“Yes.”

“Prove it. Tell me what you know about Diatheke and Benedict De Lacy.”

He leaned forward half an inch. It was a small movement, but it felt like he had pounced on me.

I held still and stared back at him. No, you’re not getting an inch. I’m going to stay right where I am.

Alessandro studied me. “When I first met you, I thought you were a shy, innocent, honest girl who was overwhelmed by her sudden rise. But you’re not, are you?”

Not anymore.

“You’re smart, ruthless, and calculating. Conniving even.”

Conniving was going too far.

He flashed a grin, a quick baring of teeth. “I love it.”

“I changed my mind. I don’t need your help.”

“How fortunate for me that it’s not up to you.” He looked over my shoulder. “Why don’t we ask your friend if she wants me to help you find her sister?”

I wasn’t about to turn my back to him. “Runa, are you behind me?”

“Yes.”

Crap.

“My condolences on your loss, Prime Etterson,” Alessandro said.

“Did you kill my mother?”

I’d heard that brittle edge in her voice just before Conway started sprouting black fuzz. Alarm pulsed through me. I spun to face her, putting myself between her and Alessandro. Runa’s face had gone so white, it looked bloodless.

“No,” Alessandro and I said at the same time.

“He was in Australia at the time of her murder,” I added. “I’ve verified this.”

“I have useful information,” he said. “I’m willing to help Catalina find Halle, but this is a one-time offer. Once I leave here, that’s it. Make a decision.”

I knew exactly what she would say before she even opened her mouth.

“I accept,” Runa said.

Whatever little negotiating power I’d had just evaporated. I had to salvage what I could. “Give us some information as a show of good faith and we have a deal.”

Alessandro flicked his fingers and tossed a black flash drive to Runa. “Your mother was a professional assassin. This is a record of her sins.”

Runa looked at the flash drive in her hand like it was a snake. “Find my sister. That’s all that matters now.”

She turned and walked down the stairs.