Read Online Blood Politics (Blood Destiny 4) by Helen Harper - Free Book Online Page A

seemed to sense my stare because at one point she glanced straight over in my direction.  I sank down into my seat and hoped that she’d not seen me.  It seemed to have worked as she turned back again without breaking her stride.  I waited until the pair of them had disappeared inside the gleaming glass-fronted building, then yanked out a hand and dug into my backpack, pulling out the Temper-Soothe.  I twisted the cap off then chugged down several gulps.  He could do what he wanted, I told myself.  I had no right to be angry at him because I had no claim on him.  But that didn’t mean that I couldn’t feel the bloodfire ripping through my system anyway.
    The taxi driver eyed me sympathetically in his rear view mirror.
    “Boyfriend?” he asked.
    “Not exactly,” I said sighing, before handing over what I owed him, along with more of a tip than I’d originally intended.  “Thanks.”
    “That’s okay.  I’m sure he’s not worth it anyway, sweetheart.”
    I really wished that he hadn’t tacked on that endearment, as it caused the fire to flare up inside me even more.   I took another swig of the herbal medicine and forced a smile on my face, gritting my teeth as he drove off, then stomped off down the street towards the troll’s store.
    *
    My mood didn’t seem to have improved much by the time I arrived in front of Balud’s shabby door.  I’d all but drained the Temper-Soothe.  Shitty stuff.  It tasted nasty and hadn’t done a damn thing.  Next time I’d know to avoid the homeopathic crap and go straight for hard drugs instead.  I lifted up the door knocker and slammed it down hard several times, feeling it vibrate against the wood as it did so.  
    After what seemed like an eternity, the door eventually creaked open, and Balud’s dark beady eyes were blinking up at me.  I pasted on a smile.
    “Hi!  Remember me?”
    He stared silently at me.  Okay, then.  I tried to remember what Solus has said when we’d visited before.  Maybe there was some kind of protocol involved that I was missing.
    “I’m here to buy some weapons,” I folded my arms and tried to look as serious and forbidding as possible.  “If I can afford them.”
    The troll’s nose wrinkled ever so slightly.  Oops.  Probably shouldn’t have said that part.  
    “Not that I don’t have money,” I added in hastily.  “I have lots of money.  I could buy many things if I wanted to.  Although when I say afford, I mean it in an, er, existential fashion.  Being able to afford it,” I sketched imaginary quotation marks around those words, “depends on whether the quality matches the price.”
    Balud’s nose wrinkled further.  Fuck.  Now I’d just managed to insult the potential value of his merchandise.  I sighed.  “That didn’t come out right.  Look, I was here before with a friend of mine,” I wasn’t going to stoop so low as to name drop Solus just yet, “and he helped me buy a couple of daggers.  They were great.  Or they would have been great if the people I was trying to use them against hadn’t taken them off me as soon as they saw them anyway.  I’m looking for something similar now.  Please?”
    He stared me for another long moment then finally spoke.  “You talk too much.”  He turned and headed inside, leaving the door open so I could follow.  Thank goodness.  Although he’d been a bit bloody politer when I’d been with Solus, it was oddly refreshing to have someone who wasn’t trying desperately to suck up to me.
    The interior hadn’t changed one iota from when I’d last been there.  I followed Balud down the dingy passageway and into the same room that I recognised from before, with the dirty plastic chairs that remained equally unchanged.  The troll waggled his large ears at me and then trotted off.  I looked down at the seating arrangements for a moment and decided to stand, figuring that my life would be a whole lot more pleasant if I didn’t pick up any nasty