Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kierse ripped out of Lorcan’s hold and stormed toward the pair. She sensed Lorcan in her mind and at her back. There was a refrain about how she was going to get them kicked out. But what anger had started with Nova made her completely shut down at the sight of her old thieving master.
Jason rested both hands on his cane and looked at her with a shit-eating grin. “My Kierse, what a good day to see you again.”
“A good day to die?” she snarled.
She wished that she had a gun on her so that she could put him to ground like he deserved.
“Ah ah,” Jason said, holding up a finger. “Don’t want to get kicked out.”
“Like I fucking care.”
“Jason, this violence,” Maya said.
“I’m not doing anything. It’s all Kierse.” He grinned at Kierse. “You remember my second, Maya?”
“We’ve met,” Kierse snarled.
“Kierse,” Lorcan said, reaching for her arm.
Jason’s gaze shifted between her and Lorcan and back. A look of understanding snapped between them.
“Cillian,” Lorcan snarled.
Jason laughed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name, but you haven’t changed a bit, have you?”
“Cillian Ryan is dead,” Kierse said, calling him his Druid name. “The Curator is dead. This is who you really are, Jason, a scumbag piece of shit.”
“Ah, don’t be that way, pet,” Jason said with a laugh. “If you’re sucking off all of the Druids now, I can get in line.”
Lorcan jerked her backward and was in Jason’s face in a split second. “Do not speak to her.”
“I can fight my own battles.”
“Ah, but these alpha types can’t help themselves,” Jason said. “And here I thought you had a thing for the darker types, not the do-gooders.”
“Jason,” she snarled, clenching her hands into fists. “I should have killed you the last time we met.”
A voice cleared, and the room went silent as Gregory Amberdash appeared. “You all agreed not to fight. If you want to kill him, do it off the grounds. That’s not my problem.”
Lorcan put himself directly between Kierse and Amberdash as if he couldn’t decide on the greater threat.
Amberdash moved into the room, not quite walking or gliding, but with a horrifying hover.
His tall, thin frame was draped in a black suit that could hardly hide the sallow, pale skin or fading light.
Wraiths were nearly dead things, destined to feed off the souls of the living.
Amberdash had a trail of attendants behind him, all who voluntarily allowed him to feed from them the way vampires drank blood.
“Let me pass,” Amberdash said as he approached Lorcan.
Lorcan ground his teeth but stepped out of his path as Amberdash continued toward Kierse. Jason and Maya scurried away while the attention was diverted.
“Hello, dear,” he said, drawing his cold, white fingers down her cheek. “Such life.”
“Amberdash,” she said, barely suppressing a shudder.
Her eyes focused in on the long, silver, circular amulet lying against his breast. It gave off major energy. She’d never seen anything like it, and staring too long at it made her dizzy.
“That’s the Amulet of Hermeria,” Lorcan said into her mind. “Ancient Greek. Very powerful. Monsters can’t even make transformations with that turned on. Do not use your magic.”
“Thanks for the history lesson,” she snapped back.
She pulled away from Amberdash and the amulet, letting his hand hover between them. “You invited Jason,” she accused.
“I invited many people. I didn’t expect all my guests to get along, but I expect them all to avoid violence for one night.” The skin of his face stretched into something terrifyingly like a smile. “You may continue to kill each other as soon as you leave the building.”
“Fine,” she spat.
She couldn’t kill Jason here. Not without repercussions. There was a reason she was here. Not just to hear Amberdash’s asinine plan.
“Excellent,” Amberdash said. He tried the creepy smile again. “Enjoy the party.”
She watched him walk off with her hands balled into fists. “I’m going to take a break. I can’t deal with that.”
She stormed away. She was pissed.
Jason should have known her better. He’d taught her how to manipulate her emotions for her benefit. She hadn’t given into her anger for nothing. She was using it as a weapon, since she wasn’t allowed any others tonight. Her anger was the distraction.
And in that moment, she needed to get out of this party and into Amberdash’s office.
“Where are you going?” Lorcan said at her back.
There was only one problem.
“Getting some air.”
“The balcony is over there.”
“I need to be away from the party for now. Ping me if Amberdash starts monologuing.” She pointed to her head and continued to stomp away from him.
But the bastard didn’t let up. He was still at her back, and she could feel the suspicion coming off him.
“This is something else.”
She rolled her eyes at his words in her mind. “Watch the door, would you?”
“The door…”
Then she fished out a reinforced plastic lock pick that she’d hid in her bra.
“What is your plan? Are you going to steal from him?”
She nearly laughed. “It’s like you’re just learning I’m a thief. Ping me if Amberdash comes back.”
“You weren’t going to have anyone watch your back before this,” he argued. “What would happen to this plan if you got caught?”
Kierse shrugged. “Don’t get caught and you don’t have to find out,” she said, turning back to him as the lock clicked. She winked at him. “Be my lookout?”
“Kierse,” he warned.
But she was already sliding through the door and leaving him behind. She hoped Graves had made it inside. Their plan hinged on it.