The Mage in Black

Page 21

Looked like my little demon was all grown up.
15
While Giguhl cleaned up after the fight, I sipped on a Bloody Magdalene in the bar. Earl had gone light on the vodka, which was fine with me because I needed the blood more.
I wasn’t sure where Slade got his blood, but it wasn’t the blood-bank crap Maisie insisted I drink. Knowing Slade, he probably had some black-market source that supplied him with fresher blood than Maisie’s supply. But even Slade’s stuff had the chemical tang of anticoagulant. I still craved blood straight from the vein, but after the fight with Romulus, I figured Maisie’s rules about not feeding from humans might end up saving me some trouble.
In one corner of the bar, a nymph sat on a male vampire’s lap. Her makeup had been applied with a trowel, and her hair had been teased into a big blond rat’s nest. Her legs were encased in ripped fishnet stockings, and I could see the garter peeking out from under her fuchsia pleather skirt. She giggled at something the vamp said, but the emotion didn’t reach her eyes.
As I watched like a voyeur, the male ran a pale hand up her thigh and squeezed. He wore a large gold ring on his middle finger with a red stone in the center. The faery grimaced at his groping hands, but the smile was back in place by the time he looked at her again.
Memories of another nymph weighed heavily. We’d buried Vinca less than two weeks ago. But before I’d come into her life and gotten her killed at the vineyard, she’d served time in the faery porn industry. Watching the nymph on the vampire’s lap now, I wondered if Vinca had ever worn that hopeless expression. The idea made my fists clench. I wanted to go over and rip the nymph from the male’s lap. I wanted to shake her and tell her there had to be a better way to make a living. I wanted to warn her to get the fuck out of the city before it ate her alive.
Yet even as I willed myself to rise, I saw the male lift the top of the ring. From it, he withdrew a small green pill. The faery’s glossy pink lips spread in a genuine smile—the first spark of genuine happiness I’d seen on her face. The male lifted the pill to her lips, and her tongue darted out to take it. She swallowed it greedily.
As the two proceeded to tongue-joust, I turned away. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t anyone’s savior. I certainly didn’t have any room to preach to others about how to live their lives.
I finished the drink and motioned Earl to bring me another. I saw Giguhl come out of the back room and head toward me. As he passed, several patrons stopped him to shake his hand. Two nymphs, dressed in the same hooker couture as the one I’d been watching, hung from his biceps like gaudy ornaments. A high, feminine laugh caught my attention. It was the other nymph. She didn’t notice my stare. She was too busy leading the vampire to a back room by his dick.
“What up, player?” Giguhl said, coming to a stop in front of me. The nymphettes didn’t give us so much as a sideways glance. Giguhl preened under their adoration.
“Hey, G. You ready to head out?” I said.
His scraggly black eyebrows lowered in a frown. “But Tansy and Cinnamon invited me to a little party.”
I shooed the nymphs away, ignoring their whines, and pulled Giguhl away for a little sidebar. “G, you know those nymphs are prostitutes, right?”
He paused for a second, and I worried I’d just crushed his special dream of a ménage à fae. My worry was short-lived, though, because the next thing I knew he threw back his horned head and howled with laughter. “Of course I know that! Why do you think I’m so excited?”
“You don’t mind paying for sex?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Sabina, I’m a demon. And the last time I checked, there wasn’t any hot demoness ass available on this side. So, I’m making do with what’s available. Plus, my room at Maisie’s has access to the Temptation channel.”
I frowned. “The Temptation channel?”
He nodded eagerly. “I can’t believe I ever wasted time with home shopping when I could have been watching porn twenty-four/seven.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and prayed for patience.
“Anyhoo, Tansy and Cinnamon are all in to try some new maneuvers I learned from Lawrence of the Labia.”
I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times like a confused carp. I had absolutely no idea how to respond. So I just nodded and said, “Make it quick.”
“Yes!” Giguhl pumped a claw into the air. He turned to go, but I grabbed his arm.
“Wait, how are you going to pay for it?”
Giguhl dug a wad of bills from his pocket. “Slade gave me my cut after the fight.”
I gritted my teeth at Slade’s presumption. Something told me he usually paid a demon’s keeper directly instead of the demon. The fact he’d gone straight to Giguhl told me he was trying to buy Giguhl’s affections, as it were. “Fine. Just don’t spend it all in one place.”
As my demon skipped off with two fae hookers, I plopped back down on the stool and ordered another round. Looked like I was in for a long night.
It didn’t take long for Slade to appear, ready to give me shit. He wore another expensive suit and a calculating expression. He sat on the stool next to mine without asking if I minded. I did, of course, but it was better to feign disinterest with a guy like Slade. The minute they knew they got under your skin, they had the upper hand.
“That demon of yours is going to make both of us a lot of money.”
But at what cost?
Something triumphant shone behind Slade’s blue eyes. But was he celebrating Giguhl’s contributions to his bank account, or the fact he’d maneuvered me back into his life?
“Don’t get any ideas,” I said, facing him. “My debt is paid. He’s not fighting anymore.”
“Hmm,” he said. “Giguhl seemed to think otherwise when I spoke to him a few minutes ago.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter,” I bluffed. “He does what I say.”
He pursed his lips and signaled Earl for a drink. “Listen, Sabina, I know I screwed you over in L.A. And I’m truly sorry. But you have to understand, I had no choice. I’d already decided that would be my last job before the Dominae told me you were going to work with me. I was burned out. Totally fried. I had to leave.”
“Regardless, you screwed me over. You could have just taken your half of the payday and skipped town. No harm, no foul. But you didn’t do that. You took it all.”
“I needed it all. I’d already set up buying this bar, and I needed the entire amount to start over. I’m sorry you got screwed, but I didn’t have a choice.”
I turned a glare on him. “We all have choices, Slade. And all choices have consequences. In this case, the consequence was me hating you. Deal with it.”
He sighed and nodded. “Fair enough. But if you want my opinion, this has nothing to do with the money. Not really.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “This should be good.”
He leaned in close, like he was going to whisper a secret. “I saw the hope in your eyes when I left you that evening.”
“Right, the hope I’d be ten grand richer.”
He shook his head. “Don’t fool yourself. I know the look of a female who has expectations beyond one night, and, sweetheart, you had it.”
I choked out a laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself, asshole. The sex was fine, but I wasn’t looking for a relationship.”
“Bullshit.”
I shrugged. “I’ll admit I liked the idea of us maybe teaming up on more assignments.”
He shot me a dubious look.
“Okay, fine, maybe a partnership with benefits. But I wasn’t looking for love, Slade. Give me some credit.”
He still looked unconvinced but let it go. “Regardless, I think you need to get over it. That was thirty years ago. We’ve both changed. You’re not your grandmother’s naive little soldier anymore. Admit it, you understand now why I had to get out.”
I sighed. “Look, I might understand, but I still don’t trust you.”
The side of his mouth curled into a smile. “I don’t suspect you trust anyone.”
I inclined my head. “Touché.”
“I also suspect you could use a friend outside the mage race right about now.”
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I can’t imagine growing up in the Alpha Dominae’s household fostered a love of all things mage. Especially given your mixed blood. One might imagine your grandmother drilled those lessons in extra good to make sure they stuck.”
I neither confirmed nor denied these suspicions, but he was dead-on. “Go on.”
“I’m just saying. Maybe it would help to have someone not in the mage fold to talk to. Someone familiar. Someone who’s been in a similar situation.”
I held up a hand. “Wait a second. You’re not seriously suggesting we become friends.”
He looked me dead in the eyes. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”
“Ha! Please recall a few minutes ago when I told you I don’t trust you. Isn’t trust the foundation of all friendship?”
He tilted his head. “You don’t believe that any more than I do. You can’t ever truly know or trust anyone, can you? Look where that got you with the Dominae. You trusted them your whole life, and look what happened. At least with me, you know what you’re getting into. I’m a son-of-a-bitch, no doubt about it. But I also know this town, and I understand the politics among the races. I could be a very good friend to have.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. There was a catch, of course. “What’s in it for you?”
He took a sip from the scotch Earl set in front of him. “You said yourself you thought we could be partners. Maybe we should explore that option.”
“What kind of partners?”
He shrugged and set down his tumbler. “I need someone I can trust with some sensitive jobs. Light stuff, nothing you couldn’t handle.”