Chapter 1
Ruadan
I perched myself on the high bar stool, the move pulling the fabric of my dress up and exposing my pale thighs, as intended.
For good measure, I smoothed the bright red fabric with one delicate hand, drawing the attention of the man seated beside me.
Mid-fifties, aging gracefully with his short hair graying at the temples, expensive navy suit, a gold watch that cost more than the average yearly salary.
I could feel the drag of his leering gaze as he scanned me head to toe, lingering on all the bare skin, tanned to a perfect golden hue and buffed to a high shine.
It was laughably easy to get a nibble from him. But I needed more than a nibble—I needed him to swallow me whole.
“Excuse me?” I called to the bartender, leaning against the bar to hoist my full breasts a little higher, not quite spilling out the top of my dress, but close enough that I heard the hitch in the guy’s breath beside me.
I flipped my long, blond hair over my shoulder to offer him an unobstructed view of my substantial cleavage.
The bartender didn’t hear me over the din, busy serving customers down at the other end of the bar, and I pouted my full, glossy lips into an overdone pout. Draycotts was always busy at this time of night, all the better for someone like me to blend in.
The setup was impossible for the man to resist. I pretended not to notice him slipping off his wedding band and tucking it into his pocket.
“Please, allow me,” he said, voice raspy like a long-time smoker.
Sitting up, he set his fingers to his lips and gave a sharp whistle, grabbing the bartender’s attention.
And when the bartender made his way down the bar, the man said, “Whatever the lady wants, put it on my tab.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” I said half-heartedly.
“I insist,” he said.
I offered him a sultry smile. “Well, since you insist…” I ordered myself a double of their most expensive scotch, and the man laughed, unfazed by the price tag.
“A woman with good taste.” He leaned forward as if to speak into my ear, though his focus was fixed solely on the valley between my breasts.
Ugh. Men are pigs, I thought, even as I acknowledged the irony.
“You’re not here alone, are you? It would be a crime for a woman as beautiful as you to be drinking alone. ”
Shrugging as though embarrassed, I coaxed a little blush to my cheeks. “I was actually supposed to meet a blind date here tonight, but it seems I’ve been stood up. I guess I’m not his type.”
“I find that hard to believe,” he said, though he couldn’t dampen the gleam of interest in his eye. I could practically hear him celebrating his own good fortune. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asked.
“Rue,” I purred demurely, batting my long eyelashes.
“What a lovely name. My name’s Theo.” He offered his hand to shake, but when he took my hand, he tilted it so he could place a kiss on the back of it. I fought the shudder of revulsion that went through me, forcing my smile wider instead.
I let the man buy me three more drinks, let him believe I was slowly getting drunk. I angled my body into his, set my hand on his thigh. And then I acted surprised when he suggested, “Why don’t we get out of here? There’s a hotel right next door.”
Gasping a little, I bit my lip coyly. “I don’t even know you,” I whispered.
“What do you need to know except that I’ll make you feel good?” He trailed his fingers up my bare arm, then across my clavicle, dipping lower.
“Well…” I murmured, leaning close enough that no one else could hear my next words. “It would be nice to know that you’re married, don’t you think?”
Theo went rigid, then forced a laugh. “What are you… I’m not…”
“Victoria sends her regards,” I said, my voice suddenly sharp and cold as ice, as I plucked an envelope from my purse and slapped it onto his chest. “Divorce papers. And since you’re in breach of your prenuptial agreement, don’t even think about amending the terms. She’s being more than fair for a cheating piece of shit like you. ”
Sneering, I shoved off the stool and stalked across the bar floor toward the exit, not a single drunken wobble on my four-inch heels.
Cheaters were the worst kind of scum. If you weren’t satisfied with your relationship, then grow some balls and leave so your partner could have a chance at being happy with someone else.
In the packed club, with the crowd closing in on all sides, the lighting dim, nobody noticed when my heels morphed into boots, my dress rippling into blue jeans and a gray t-shirt.
My frame filled out, perky breasts flattening into a broad, muscular chest, my long hair shortening until it was curling around my ear, no longer blond but a vibrant copper, my formerly unblemished skin now scattered with freckles and a week-old beard.
By the time I stepped outside into the cool spring night, I was a whole new man—literally.
I blew out a long breath, shaking off the illusion.
Women did not get enough credit for all the shit they put up with.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to my client, Victoria Van Rook, heiress to the Van Rook tech fortune, telling her the job was done.
She’d hired me to prove her husband’s infidelity.
I suspected she would’ve divorced him either way, but she wasn’t interested in giving the man a penny more of her wealth than she had to.
She sent back a champagne-glass emoji, then deposited a generous tip into my account. “Cheers,” I said with a grin, lifting an imaginary glass to the woman.
Before I could tuck my phone back in my pocket, it buzzed with an incoming call. When I saw the name on the call display, I was tempted to ignore it, but the god tended to be a persistent asshole. He would just keep calling.
“Ruadan,” he said sharply when I answered the call. “It’s been a while.”
“What do you want, Lagamal?” I said with a sigh. “I’m busy.”
“You’re not busy, you just finished a case. You’ve got time.” I didn’t ask how he knew that. The man was a god of the underworld, in charge of judging their souls—AKA the city’s district attorney. “I’ve got a job for you. Meet me for breakfast.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I hung up the phone without saying goodbye. When the DA had a job for the god of spies, it spelled bad news… for all of us.
I got to Sizzle & Sip Brunch Lounge first and grabbed a table in a back corner, away from prying eyes and close to the back exit, just in case.
Some habits were hard to break, but then again, I was the gods’ spy for a reason.
I liked the restaurant because I knew the owner, and I trusted his judgment not to hire unreliable staff.
Whatever it was Lagamal wanted from me, it couldn’t be good, and the information in the wrong hands might be worth a pretty penny.
While technically we both worked on the same side of the law, our paths rarely crossed.
As a DA, Mal Asher was ruthless, but in his less-known persona as a judge of the underworld, Lagamal was even worse.
He was notorious for having no mercy. He saw the world in black and white, right and wrong, while my own ethics were in shades of gray, with plenty of wiggle room.
If someone stole a loaf of bread because they were starving, that was forgivable in my eyes.
Lagamal, however, was just as likely to condemn a soul for any infraction.
I’d just ordered us two cups of coffee when the man entered the restaurant.
Even at 7am, he was dressed impeccably in a charcoal suit, custom-tailored to his frame, wide-shouldered with a trim waist. Catching sight of me, he stalked across the restaurant as if it were the courtroom, focused and unbending, his patent black shoes clicking on the tiles.
Several heads turned to watch him go by, their expressions ranging from attraction to outright fear.
He was a polarizing kind of guy. Mal’s stride faltered only once, when a man slipped into the restaurant behind him with a camera, doing a shit job of being discreet.
“Friend of yours?” I asked, rising from my chair to shake his hand.
His nostrils flared briefly as he huffed a frustrated breath. “Ever since Life and Style published that article about me—”
“Valleywood’s hottest bachelor, you mean?” I teased, taking great pleasure in how much he seemed to despise the prestigious role.
He let out a low growl. “Yes, well, it has gotten me a fair amount of unwanted attention from persistent paparazzi, looking for a scoop. I hope you’re prepared for the rumors of us dating.”
I laughed loudly. “As if anyone would believe you would tie yourself to someone like me,” I said, gesturing to my general unkemptness.
Lagamal paused briefly and looked at me, his features cut sharply, onyx eyes softening slightly as he said, “Thank you for coming. I wasn’t sure you would.” He pulled out his chair and sat stiffly, posture ramrod straight in comparison to my easy slouch as I sat across from him.
“Why wouldn’t I? You know I’m a sucker for a good mystery. What have you got for me?” I leaned back in my chair, combing my fingers through my unruly red hair. I always felt like a bit of a slob around Lagamal, without a hair out of place. Meanwhile, I hadn’t even bothered to shave in over a week.
“It’s about a case I—” He cut off suddenly as the waiter returned with our coffees, and even after the waiter left, he hesitated.
Instead of getting straight to the point as he usually would, Lagamal waited until he was certain we were entirely alone before he explained why I was here.
With another look over his shoulder, he leaned forward with his forearms on the table, and I found myself mirroring his pose, our heads close. To anyone else, it might look intimate.
The look on his face left me unsettled. We’d both seen our share of shit through the millennia, and for something to rattle the dark god, it was unprecedented. “Spit it out already, you’re creeping me out,” I said, goosebumps scattering up my arms in dread.
His voice barely above a whisper, he began. “I can’t discuss the specifics about the cases I’m working on, but I need your help figuring something out. I’ve recently noticed an unsettling trend. We’ve been… overrun with cases over the last month.”
I frowned. “So? I’m sure the crime rate goes up and down. Maybe Mars is in retrograde?”
He shook his head sharply, barely restraining an eyeroll.
“Even if I believed in astrology, which I don’t, it’s more than that.
There are no patterns to the suspects. They’re young and old, all genders and designations, rich and poor, all cultures.
No commonalities to the crimes either. Armed robbery, vandalism, assault…
murder. And each one of them claims they’re innocent. ”
I snorted. “Sounds like every criminal ever to me.”
“Normally I would agree with you, but the thing is, they all swear they have no memory of doing it, but the evidence is rock solid. We have them on camera, their fingerprints all over the scene. In one case, the guy was still covered in the victim’s blood, and he had stolen goods in his pocket.
Under normal circumstances, these cases would be open and shut, but…
they’re all good people. I’ve judged countless souls throughout my life, and the scales aren’t tipped against them.
They simply aren’t the type to commit these violent crimes.
It just doesn’t sit right with me. And now I’ve got the mayor’s office breathing down my neck to get this shit figured out.
It’s a stain on Valleywood’s reputation that our darling mayor Loki doesn’t need,” he said, not holding back the eyeroll this time.
“I liked him better before he lost his power. He’s gotten so grouchy. ”
Leaning back in my seat, I rasped a hand over my beard. “So what are you thinking, drugs?”
He huffed out a long sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe? Some sort of toxic gas leak? Mass mind control?”
I sputtered a laugh, shaking my head. “Careful, Mr. District Attorney. You’re starting to sound like a defense lawyer.”
“Whatever, Rue,” he said, but his lips twitched with a ghost of a smile, and I applauded myself for the win. He sobered, eyes carefully guarded. “Has Danu had anything to say about it?”
I shrugged as casually as I could manage.
“You know Danu, stoic as always.” In truth, I hadn’t heard from my patron in too long, not on this topic nor any other.
I’d been increasingly concerned about her ongoing silence.
The well of magic inside myself, her gift to me, was completely placid, not a single ripple from her to offer an opinion one way or another.
We ordered some breakfast and caught up on each other’s lives a little, but the shadow never left his gaze. Whatever was going on, it had clearly fallen outside his neat-and-tidy world of black and white. I knew I was probably going to regret it, but I already knew I was going to help him.
After breakfast, we stood outside on the sidewalk, watching the city come alive around us. I sighed. “All right. Let me do some digging around, see what I can come up with.”
He offered me a hand and shook it firmly. “Thank you, Rue. Truly.”
“Now, now, don’t get all sappy on me. Next thing you know, you’ll be giving out hugs.” Hell would sooner freeze over. “I’ll be in touch.”
Lagamal was still standing there, haunted, when I rounded the corner.