Chapter 11 #3
Waiting until I could no longer hear his footsteps, I whipped around to face Cirrian. “I’m not a toy that you get to play with at your leisure. Don’t manipulate situations for your own enjoyment.”
The edges of his lips lifted. He looked thoughtful as he ran a finger along his bottom lip, drawing my eye to the imaginary lines he made across it.
He dropped his hand to his side and canted his head.
“If I were to play with you, it wouldn’t be as a toy.
” His look was wicked. “Although toys could be involved if that is to your liking.” Swallowing the distance between us, he leaned in and whispered, “Would it be to your liking, Kara?”
His velvety tone wrapped around my name in a way so sinful it invoked thoughts of what it would be like to have him say it in different circumstances.
I shoved the images away and placed some physical distance between us.
His flirting was nothing more than entertainment for him, and possibly a distraction.
“Nothing you’ve done has proven to be to my liking. I have no desire to see how disappointing you are in that capacity, either.”
“If I were less confident, that would indeed wound me, darling.” His responses were grating on the last fiber of my nerves. Everything about him was. His smug apathy fueled the tinderbox.
“Arranging a meeting with Diehle was not to your liking?” The playful note in his voice faded away and earnestness settled in.
My shoulders sagged into my sigh. “No, I needed to meet with him.”
“Then I haven’t disappointed you?”
Great, he managed not to be arrogant for a whole two seconds.
“No, I’m not disappointed with you arranging the meeting.
But your intentions weren’t altruistic. This is a game for you, but not for me.
Maybe I’m na?ve for believing you could show some semblance of humanity.
” I shrugged. “I guess living a gazillion years has made you so numb to life’s brevity that you can’t grasp the gravity of this situation.
I don’t know if it’s because you’re a masochistic asshole or if this is typical behavior for a shadow—”
Moving with the fluidity and speed of rushing water, he was in front of me, pressing a finger firmly against my lips.
I swatted his hand away. He didn’t realize how close I was to chomping at the offending finger. “Oh, I forgot, you’re cosplaying as a demon now.”
“What you call cosplaying is me existing. I’m an observer in this world.
” His eyes changed back to the odd color of the demon and the talons returned.
Gently placing them under my chin, he tilted it until our eyes met.
“I blend into this world to prevent being discovered.” His teeth elongated like the vampires and his focus dropped to my neck.
“That’s just a glamour,” I asserted, needing it to be a convincing illusion and not the product of his massive well of magic abilities.
“Do you want confirmation of that?”
Curiosity getting the best of me, I bared my neck to him.
Shock flitted over his features. Moving in closer, his breath was warm against my skin.
My heart pounded, but I refused to waver.
His fangs grazed my skin but didn’t puncture it.
A shiver ran through me when his tongue brushed lightly across the pulse of my neck.
He stepped back, his pupils narrowed to pins. Breathing heavily, his eyes dragged from my neck, down the front of my jacket, then to my hand that had slipped into my pocket securing the stun gun. “You wily minx. When was the last time I felt the sting of a stun gun?”
How did he know it was a stun gun?
“It’s more than just a sting,” I said.
“To you perhaps. It is not a feeling I enjoy.”
He was proving to be a weird psycho. Stab me in the gut, “I’m good with that,” but electric currents through the body is where the pleasure ends. Bro, pick a struggle.
“What about lycanthropes? Can you shift into a wolf?”
He shook his head, flashing me predatory glowing eyes. The primal look on his face sparked the same self-protective instinct you’d feel when confronted with an apex predator.
His insurmountable display of magic from the glowing eyes of the lycanthropes, fangs that were more than a simple accoutrement and could do as much damage as a vampire’s, claws and eyes of demons, Cirrian’s existence was ever more unsettling.
No matter what supernatural guise he donned, I couldn’t imagine him blending in enough to go undiscovered. His aura was too distinctive. If I sensed it, surely others did, too. Perhaps I had an edge because I knew the truth.
How did he manage to walk among humans undetected?
Ethereal beauty like his wasn’t rare; some humans were so striking they appeared otherworldly.
There was something distinctly inhuman about Cirrian.
The way he moved, the piercing weight of his gaze, his statue-like stillness. Magic radiated from him like no other.
Though, apparently he was blending in quite successfully. The interloping grim reaper just walked among us for funsies. From now on, I would question everything and everyone.
This new discovery made me unreasonably angry.
Nothing in this world could be trusted. Not even my family.
Why didn’t they tell me I was an ashinwa?
What happened that prevented me going through the Spellrend?
If I’d been successful, I’d have magic and wouldn’t have to rely on this fake-ass, cosplaying grim reaper.
“Contrary to what you believe, I’m not here for your enjoyment.” The blade-sharp words were pushed out through my clenched teeth.
A slow, infuriating smirk played at his lips. “And yet”—his tone teetered on the edge of humor and menace, too subtle to pin down—“you provide it so effortlessly.”
Our tension thickened. It felt as if the air itself was holding its breath. The flicker of a smile in his eyes told me he wasn’t done. The problem was, neither was I.
My fists were clenched so tight, my nails dug into my palms. “I guess when you exist in such a neutered state you’ll be entertained by anything and anyone.”
Fuck, that was mean. I’d became a prime example of the saying “hurt people hurt people.” My hopelessness and uncertainty left no grace for his taunting.
My comment didn’t land the way I wanted. Amusement skimmed across his face.
“Neutered,” he said slowly, savoring every letter.
“You can’t kill. Your very existence is you being a delivery boy for magic and souls. And it seems like the rest of the time is spent being a pitiful observer of others living their lives. So, I can see why you seek entertainment wherever you can.”
The energy in the room shifted, shrinking the space in a way that felt claustrophobic.
“Ah.” His fingers trailed lazily along my jaw. The smile didn’t touch his lips, but it was there in his eyes, showing how unaffected he was by my outburst.
“Kara, I will admit, I was quite drawn to the wily version of you. But this? The delightfully volatile menacing version is even more alluring.”
I refused to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. So, I forced down my anger.
Intense eyes regarded me as if prey had approached a predator.
“You are right. The rules for the shadow gods prohibit me from killing. But, I have many ways of showing my displeasure when I need to. Tell me, Kara, have you ever experienced something so painful you wished for death? There are many times I’ve placed people in that very predicament.
” His voice was low and smooth as satin.
It could easily have been mistaken for compassion if it wasn’t for the way he looked at me.
He was death in human form. I should never forget that.
My eyes locked with his. “No. But I’ve experienced something so painful I had to live through it.” It’s what I was experiencing now.
Curiosity and what may have served as his version of sympathy shone. His arrogance kept him from questioning me, and my stubbornness ensured I wouldn’t supply information he didn’t request.
Relying on the unreliable and cruel for the safety of the most important person in my life was a pain I couldn’t explain. Knowing I was the reason for Amelia’s predicament was getting harder to bear.
Emotion drained from his expression before he looked past me.
“As much as I’m enjoying our time together, you are still on the clock,” he reminded me.
Say less. I turned, and he headed for the door. “I am, so stay out of this and out of my way,” I insisted.
“As you wish,” he said breezily, a hint of cruel delight in his words.
“Fuck you.”
“In due time. But I feel obligated to remind you of the time constraints that prohibit such activities between us. Our incessant flirting must stop.”
Flirting? He was masochistic enough to consider me lashing out at him as flirting? Time was of the essence, but I’d find the time to knee him in his berries.
With some effort, I stalked out of the room without giving in to my impulse.