Read Online Darkest Misery by Tracey Martin - Free Book Online Page B

that I’d do just that, then I bit my lip, suddenly uncertain. Nyles clearly knew something, but maybe I’d been mistaken about how much. I mean, I hadn’t expected him to give away secrets, but I’d hoped he might inadvertently spill something I could use. Or something the Gryphons could if I gave them reason to bring Nyles in for questioning. Now, I wasn’t so sure. If Nyles did know something, I was confident he’d be flaunting it. Instead, his cluelessness when I mentioned Mitch’s name seemed genuine.
    A couple furies on Harleys roared by as I debated my next move, and the noise temporarily killed my ability to think straight. Of course, I wasn’t sure how straight I’d been thinking moments ago anyway. Chasing Nyles through Shadowtown had been reckless. And for what? I wasn’t going to follow him into a deserted alley and threaten him for details. Although if I thought for a second that would work, I’d probably try.
    â€œYou’re stressed, that’s what you are,” Nyles said. “But I hope we can still be friends.”
    I shuddered back into the present. “Thanks, but your friends have a habit of ending up dead, if I recall.”
    â€œHarsh.” He pretended to wince. “After all I’ve done for you.”
    â€œYou mean have your addicts kidnap me?”
    Nyles placed a hand over his heart. “Those weren’t my addicts, girlie. Believe me, you’re in no danger from us.”
    Believe me. Yeah right. I was more likely to believe Lucen’s dragon, Sweetpea, wouldn’t bite me if I put my fingers in his mouth. “Why do you keep saying that? What do you want from me?”
    â€œPatience, girlie. You’ll find out soon enough, and when you do, it will be magnificent. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for an appointment.”
    Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do but grind my heels into the pavement as I watched him go and wish I hadn’t confronted him. His gleeful promise of a magnificent purpose was even more terrifying than potentially being kidnapped again.
    Bodyguards—yeah, maybe they weren’t such a bad idea.
    As luck would have it, they were waiting on my stoop when I returned to my apartment. The first satyr, Gi, had acted as one my guards during the whole Victor-framed-me fiasco. The other introduced herself as Melissa. They waited while I changed clothes, and they kept pace with me as we made our way to the restaurant where this shindig was going down.
    The restaurant’s interior was dimly lit, and candles flicked on all the tables. A goblin maître d’ arrived to show me the way. My stomach knotted as we navigated between tables of preds who all eyed me curiously. Though I was pretty used to being surrounded at this point, I tended to avoid places like this where my outsider status was obvious.
    I exhaled slowly, reminding myself I had nothing to fear from these people. No one was feeing aggressive, as evidenced by Theo’s glyphs not activating. Besides, any anxiety I felt would be known to everyone here, and the first rule of meeting someone powerful was “show no fear”.
    Or maybe that was my first rule of meeting anyone. It sounded like good advice.
    â€œJess.” Lucen stood as I approached the table, and I swore I saw apprehension in his smile. That didn’t bode well.
    Three of the table’s other occupants remained seated. Dezzi nodded, and Devon winked. Another woman was present too—Sonya was Dezzi’s recent addition to her inner triad, taking the opening left by Lucrezia’s betrayal.
    As for Dezzi, the Boston Dom seemed strained, as Lucen did. The fine laugh lines around her eyes were more visible than I’d ever seen before, and her eyes themselves were a touch bloodshot, like she hadn’t been sleeping. Despite that, though, Dezzi looked as unflappable as always.
    The fourth satyr at the table stood too. This had to be