could see his eyes beneath the brim of his hat. They appeared to glow red in the refracted light of the street lamp, making me shiver with a sense of foreboding.
Who the hell were these people that Ian was mixed up with? What did they have to do with Tana and the fairies? And what was Ian’s role in their plans? Why were there fairies waiting in a travel layer outside his house and why was he avoiding them? It was obvious that Tana had sent him on this mission, whatever it was. So why didn’t Ian trust her people?
Too damn many questions.
Somehow I needed to figure it all out. And while I was doing that I had to continue to sidestep Etta and appease the Council, while dealing with the growing attachment I was feeling toward Ian Lavelle.
A man I’d been ordered to kill.
I sighed, turning away from the window.
My life was filled with what felt like insurmountable challenges.
I figured I’d get the job done. Somehow.
I always did.
But first I really needed to take a shower.
Chapter Five
A Room Full of Malcontents
F ortunately for me my leather pants could be surface cleaned. But my pretty black sweater was ruined. So I was wearing one of Ian’s shirts, belted at my waist with a long piece of string. It was a weird and rakish look and it had me feeling cranky.
Ian looked spectacular in black wool slacks and a turtleneck of a garnet red. He smelled great too. I glared at him for looking good.
He grinned. “Very sexy. You look good in my shirt.”
My glare deepened. I tugged at the extra long tails, which fell almost to my knees even with the string belt. “Stick me in a sailboat and this thing would catch wind and take you halfway around the world in ten seconds.”
He chuckled. “Not unless we took you out of it.” His dark gaze slid down from the place where I’d left the top button undone in an effort to look less like a pile of bed sheets and more like a girl, to where my tight, leather jeans skimmed my body in the appropriate way.
Despite my crankiness, I felt my blood begin to heat. “Not happenin’ human. Tell me about this meeting tonight.”
Just like that, his playful demeanor slipped away. He shook his dark head. “All you need to know is you’ll be well within your purview. There will be some humans there, yes, but they’re interspersed with creatures from the magical realm. And you aren’t gonna like what you hear.”
“What am I gonna hear?”
He glanced at his wrist. “Nothing if we don’t get going.” We returned to the rooftop and retraced our earlier route until we were far enough away from the faery guards to descend to the street.
From there it was just a matter of walking down several dark and scary streets to an old warehouse building that looked empty and deserted.
Ian stopped a block away and turned to me. “You need to get to your travel layer and stay there. If they catch sight of you we’re both dead.”
I frowned. “You’re assuming you don’t feel pain with me several layers away.”
He stared hard at me. “You’d better hope I don’t. Or your little trick might cost us all more than we’d bargained for.”
I opened my mouth to defend myself but he turned and walked out of the layer and was striding down the street. I hurried to catch up, burrowing myself deep into a wrinkle as I walked. I hoped I was deep enough so that they wouldn’t see the air shimmering but not too deep for Ian.
I looked at him as I caught up and, although his jaw was set and he had a fine sheen of sweat on his face, he seemed to be bearing up. Some pain then, I mused, but not more than he could handle. Good enough.
He reached the dark and, to all appearances, deserted building and ducked through a large hole in the wall beside the door. I wasn’t even through the hole before two long, dark objects slid out of the darkness on either side of Ian and rested against his cheeks.
I sucked in a breath.
Ian lifted his hands in the air. “It’s me.”
The guns didn’t
Who the hell were these people that Ian was mixed up with? What did they have to do with Tana and the fairies? And what was Ian’s role in their plans? Why were there fairies waiting in a travel layer outside his house and why was he avoiding them? It was obvious that Tana had sent him on this mission, whatever it was. So why didn’t Ian trust her people?
Too damn many questions.
Somehow I needed to figure it all out. And while I was doing that I had to continue to sidestep Etta and appease the Council, while dealing with the growing attachment I was feeling toward Ian Lavelle.
A man I’d been ordered to kill.
I sighed, turning away from the window.
My life was filled with what felt like insurmountable challenges.
I figured I’d get the job done. Somehow.
I always did.
But first I really needed to take a shower.
Chapter Five
A Room Full of Malcontents
F ortunately for me my leather pants could be surface cleaned. But my pretty black sweater was ruined. So I was wearing one of Ian’s shirts, belted at my waist with a long piece of string. It was a weird and rakish look and it had me feeling cranky.
Ian looked spectacular in black wool slacks and a turtleneck of a garnet red. He smelled great too. I glared at him for looking good.
He grinned. “Very sexy. You look good in my shirt.”
My glare deepened. I tugged at the extra long tails, which fell almost to my knees even with the string belt. “Stick me in a sailboat and this thing would catch wind and take you halfway around the world in ten seconds.”
He chuckled. “Not unless we took you out of it.” His dark gaze slid down from the place where I’d left the top button undone in an effort to look less like a pile of bed sheets and more like a girl, to where my tight, leather jeans skimmed my body in the appropriate way.
Despite my crankiness, I felt my blood begin to heat. “Not happenin’ human. Tell me about this meeting tonight.”
Just like that, his playful demeanor slipped away. He shook his dark head. “All you need to know is you’ll be well within your purview. There will be some humans there, yes, but they’re interspersed with creatures from the magical realm. And you aren’t gonna like what you hear.”
“What am I gonna hear?”
He glanced at his wrist. “Nothing if we don’t get going.” We returned to the rooftop and retraced our earlier route until we were far enough away from the faery guards to descend to the street.
From there it was just a matter of walking down several dark and scary streets to an old warehouse building that looked empty and deserted.
Ian stopped a block away and turned to me. “You need to get to your travel layer and stay there. If they catch sight of you we’re both dead.”
I frowned. “You’re assuming you don’t feel pain with me several layers away.”
He stared hard at me. “You’d better hope I don’t. Or your little trick might cost us all more than we’d bargained for.”
I opened my mouth to defend myself but he turned and walked out of the layer and was striding down the street. I hurried to catch up, burrowing myself deep into a wrinkle as I walked. I hoped I was deep enough so that they wouldn’t see the air shimmering but not too deep for Ian.
I looked at him as I caught up and, although his jaw was set and he had a fine sheen of sweat on his face, he seemed to be bearing up. Some pain then, I mused, but not more than he could handle. Good enough.
He reached the dark and, to all appearances, deserted building and ducked through a large hole in the wall beside the door. I wasn’t even through the hole before two long, dark objects slid out of the darkness on either side of Ian and rested against his cheeks.
I sucked in a breath.
Ian lifted his hands in the air. “It’s me.”
The guns didn’t
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