Read Online Furyous Ink by Saranna DeWylde - Free Book Online

sound from the other side of the door for a long time.
    “Would you like to see my credentials?” he offered, as if she were any other interview and not the woman he believed he’d murdered.
    The door creaked open. “No, Marcus. I know who you are.”
    The sight of her was like a knife in his gut.
    She was still so incredibly beautiful. Esmerelda Payne hadn’t changed since the last time he’d seen her, two centuries ago. So many emotions ricocheted through him. They were like bullets that hit bone and rattled around in his marrow.
    All of his years of leashing the beast helped him leash all those feelings, too. “You’re as beautiful as the last time I saw you, Esme,” he managed.
    She pursed her lips hard. “I don’t know what to say to you. Meg told me you— I—”
    “How about we start with what you know about Galatea and my partner, Ian Spinner?”
    Esme swallowed and blinked several times, almost as if acclimating herself to the sight of him. “Yes, of course. Come in?” She stepped back and held the door open. He followed her into the kitchen, where she offered him a chair. “Tea?”
    “No, thank you.” A refusal to take food or beverage when offered from another supe was a high insult. But she was a witch. He didn’t trust her or anything that came from her hand.
    She looked stricken at his response but nodded silently, understanding. “Meg was here this morning. She told me what happened to Galatea. Meg blames herself.”
    “I know she does.”
    “Meg doesn’t talk about her feelings with anyone. I’ve known her for years and I still have to guess what she’s thinking. You two are close?” Esme fixed her dark eyes on his face, obviously looking for a certain reaction.
    “We are,” he admitted. They were marked mates. They belonged to each other. Whether they liked it or not.
    Esme gave him a brittle smile. “That’s good.”
    “So you were saying about Detective Spinner?”
    “Galatea came to me about four months ago and asked me to make her a contraceptive potion. She said she met a man, a cop. She was in mad love. Said he was Greek, like she was.”
    “Greek” was the codeword some supes used to identify others of their kind who fit into the Greek realm of mythos. But Ian was human…
    “Ian’s not Greek.” He said it more to affirm it out loud than to inform Esme.
    “All I can tell you is what she told me. She said he was Greek. And that she needed a potion.”
    “How old was Galatea?”
    “Early twenties. She looked like she was about seventeen though. She had so much passion for everything. She was going to change the world.”
    “Weren’t we all?” Kage muttered. “Did she say anything else about Detective Spinner to you?”
    “Sure. She talked about him almost every time I saw her. Especially when she came back for a refill on her potion. In fact, the last time we spoke, she said she wouldn’t need any more refills because she was going to meet his family and they’d decided to have a hundred babies.” Esme smiled again. “She said ‘a hundred babies’ like it was actually possible. Amazons can never carry more than two. Even with my help.”
    “Did she ever introduce you to Ian? Show you a picture?”
    “I never saw a picture, but he picked her up in Furyous Ink long before she got her Amazon tattoo.”
    “Meg knew?”
    “No, her sister was running the shop then. Pandora. But she’s been out of circulation. On an island somewhere, recharging.”
    “Anything else you can tell me?”
    “No.” She shook her head slowly.
    Marcus stood up woodenly and concluded the interview, just as he would with any other subject. “Thanks for your time. If you think of anything, give me a call.” He dropped his card on the table and headed for the door.
    “Marcus!”
    He turned to face her.
    “I’m sorry!” Her pain erupted, volcanic and bitter in that single cry.
    “Me too, Esme.”
    “You—you don’t have to forgive me. I know I don’t deserve it. But you