Chapter Two Finn #2
Though I’ve allowed my mind to wander as I focus on the meal that tastes like ash and magick, something Seraphina says catches my attention.
“Worse yet, Daddy insists I go to lunch on Thursday with Pete Sarar, followed up with the hand-off that Daddy says I have to be there for. Ugh. It’s so small time. ”
“Pete?”
“You remember, I’ve told you about him? Thinks he’s a power player, but he’s not, obviously. And he smells just awful, Finneron. Seriously. These Humans stink like swine.”
“So I’ve heard. I’ve never encountered it, myself.” Zoe always smells like vanilla and a dream. Smelled. Past tense. I was too nervous to inhale her earlier so I don’t know.
Seraphina shudders delicately before tipping her head to the side and offering me a soft smile.
“Please understand. I’m going to have to reschedule our cake tasting to take care of this business with him.
I mean, it’s a little thing, barely a blip where the business is concerned, but some clients require a close touch. ”
By the moons, she’s beautiful, even though she knows it.
Every move she makes is studied perfection, but it all lands like ice up my spine.
The way her nose scrunches in that delicious way might fool the unwary into thinking her a cute fluffy sex-bunny instead of a slice-and-dice, double-edged dagger.
But I know better. I’ve seen beneath the pose.
I’ve felt her magick cast a stranglehold around me, and I’ve pretended to fall.
If I were a weaker Fae, or a Human, the pretense would have been reality.
Yet, this time my pulse kicks up. Instinct whispers through me.
Careful to appear casual, I lean back and take another sip of my wine.
I’ve been studying Peter Sarar. He’s obvious.
He leaves trails that those like me can follow.
The Agency got word that he would be involved in an illicit arms trade.
If this is it, this deal on Thursday, it should be just enough to arrest my fiancé and her father.
Inter-agency cooperation will land good old Pete in the American prison system, too.
Poor old smelly Pete. My devoted fiancé has been sleeping with him, I’m told, a circumstance that doesn’t interest me at all, except that the more time she’s spending with him, the less I’m forced to perform for her. So, yeah. Hearing his name is the equivalent of a very good thing.
“Pete? Huh. Still doesn’t ring any bells.
Can’t you see to him some other day? I rescheduled an important client meeting so we could do the tasting.
You know how central the cake is to Human celebrations of marriage.
It will set the tone of the entire event.
” I play dumb. Not too hard, given that I’m an idiot.
Zoe certainly thinks so.
My thoughts flit back to her and her date, which is exactly where they shouldn’t land.
Not now. Not with this stroke of unimaginable good luck smacking me in the face.
I grit my teeth and focus upon the viper across from me, but it’s hard.
All I want to do is race across the pretentious restaurant, grab Zoe up from her chair, spin her around, and before I kiss her, whisper that it’s all been a nightmare that’s ended.
That will probably be the moment before she hauls back and slaps me across the face.
“Silly.” Seraphina strokes my cheek, interrupting my thoughts again, and leaving ice shards behind her touch.
“Pete’s not Rockwood’s biggest client, but for a bit player, he’s got a lot of stellar connections in this realm.
Since we’re forced to live here, well, it wouldn’t do for me to disappoint him. ”
“Right.” I grind out the word and pretend to be miffed. “More important than our wedding, I guess.” Playing it up, I reach for her hand and kiss the back of it before I add, “We can always go to live in Lumin. As my wife, you can get a visa. You know my parents are free-thinking...”
She tugs her hand away, just as I knew she would. “Ugh. Live in boring Light Fae territory? Please. I’ll just die amidst all that agriculture and kindness. Besides, we have the debt bond to pay off.”
“Your daddy does.”
“And so do I, by extension. Dark Fae don’t quibble about imputing debts to the children of the debtor, more’s the pity.
Not that it matters. We’re doing splendidly here in this realm, and sending back more than the quota required to Dreadmore every year.
You’re not missing Lumin, are you? I thought you loved it here? ”
There’s that pretty pout again. It feels like acid in my soul. “I’m missing your company.” Much like a bull misses an anvil falling from the sky onto his head, but I suppose it’s a form of missing... in some realm. Somewhere. Bizarro world, maybe.
“I miss you, too.” And even though Seraphina cheats on me quite regularly, and I’m the one pretending to be in love, I honestly believe she cares for me as much as it’s possible for someone so damaged to care for anyone other than herself.
With a sly smile she adds, “Besides, if I wasn’t so in love with you, you’d have competition.
Pete comes with a lot of very nice toys, and a palatial estate in the Balkans. ”
“Should I be jealous?” Yes, should I be? Please?
She laughs, a trilling, musical sound. It’s as fake as her full lips. Zoe has a deep belly laugh. It comes from the secret heart of her and makes me laugh along with her amusement every single time I hear it.
Heard it. Past tense. Damn it.
“No, silly, of course not. Nothing could pry me from your bed.” Seraphina winks.
I’m not a saint. I’ve taken what she’s offered, and she’s quite inventive behind closed doors—and sometimes in more open venues.
But each time I’ve let myself succumb to her charms, I loathe myself just a little bit more.
Not even the excuse that I’m doing it for the realms and for Zoe can rid me of the stench of my own betrayal.
“It must be an important deal to keep you from the tasting. You’ve been so on top of the wedding plans.
” I bite into the complimentary biscuit that arrives with our coffee, keeping my comments casual, not really expecting an answer.
Usually, she pivots away from any details.
Her Daddy didn’t raise a fool. She knows how to keep her mouth shut.
This time, she surprises me. “The shipment he’s been waiting for has been delayed for months. There’s been some... inquiry.”
“Inquiry? Like, the IRS?”
“Three-letter agencies. Four-letter agencies. Best to avoid them all.” She doesn’t lie outright, a fact I might respect if she wasn’t in league with evil.
Another pretty pout crosses her lips. “The package is being loaded onto the ship at noon. Anyway, once this deal is behind us, I can focus on the wedding again. Say you’re not mad. ”
“I’m not mad. What if I bring some champagne to celebrate your closing of the deal? What dock will you be at?”
“Really?” For a moment, she looks delighted by my attention, until her smile fades. It reforms in a second. “Wish I could take you up on it, big boy, but my attentions have to remain undivided.”
I take her hand and kiss the tips of her fingers this time, one after the other.
I hope my expression is loving as I stare into her soulless eyes.
“I understand. Maybe I can send a bottle anyway, so you can celebrate afterward with smelly old Pete while you picture me doing illicit things to you later that night. I’d like to be a part of what matters to you. ”
She gives me one of her sexy smiles, this one, I think, real.
“Aw! That’s why I’m marrying you, baby. You’re so thoughtful.
Everyone says Light Fae are dull, but you put that adage to shame.
Dock five.” She gives me directions before moving on to more wedding talk.
I think she’s trying to distract me from anything having to do with Pete, just in case I stumble onto their affair.
My heart is beating triple time when she leans towards me.
I kiss her. I hate myself. I feel like the worst sort of cheat, and I am, but a part of me is also dancing.
Because this is it. I feel it in my bones.
This is the information the LFBI can use, and after nearly a year, it’s finally going to be over.
All I need to do is play my part for less than forty-eight hours more hours and avoid suspicion.
I’m going to be an absolutely devoted swain. By the time the deal goes down, Seraphina is going to need the freedom from me that jail will provide.
Except, when I look past her shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Zoe exiting the restaurant. Her long red hair is trapped under the new guy’s hand that he spreads possessively over her back. He smiles down into her face as she blinks up at him.
Worst. Day. Ever. Because I’ve taken too long.