The Sweet Scent of Blood

whatever magic killed Melissa—except that he hadn’t wanted me to get involved in the first place—

He cut into my thoughts. ‘See who is coming now?’

Albie—Mr June—appeared out of the ballroom. He had a good scratch of his thighs through his uniform and strolled to the Théâtre. Before he got there, Rio stalked out, snarling with anger, the burn on her chest like a blistered red brand. An even-more-desperate-looking Darius hovered behind.

My pulse sped faster.

‘Slow your heart, Genevieve,’ Malik said soft and urgent. ‘Slow its beat, as you did before; you will draw their attention otherwise.’

I took a deep breath, concentrated, but nothing happened. I closed my eyes. One elephant, two elephants.

‘Now,’ he hissed, ‘or I will do it for you.’

Damn G-Zav. I gritted my teeth. Five elephants, six elephants.

‘It will not go well if they find us.’

My eyes snapped open, I glared at him and whispered. ‘Like that’s going to help!’

His hand plucked at my throat. ‘Why are you wearing so many clothes?’

‘Huh?’

He let go of my wrist, slipped my jacket open and pulled at the Lycra. ‘What is this?’

‘My top!’ I tried to push his hand away.

The glow flared in his eyes. ‘Be still.’

I couldn’t answer him, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, frozen at his command. The flutter of fear returned on great beating wings.

He glanced along the corridor.

‘There is no time.’ He grabbed the neck band of my top, tore it down. Chill air kissed my naked skin. Incandescent eyes fixed on mine, Malik pressed his palm between my breasts, put his lips on mine. Cold seared through my body like a fast, freezing glacier. I screamed into his mouth. He shuddered, swallowing my screams into silence. Then my heart stuttered, stopped beating. My head dropped to his shoulder, eyes falling shut, body limp. I wondered if I was dying, but the thought was trapped in a sea of ice and didn’t matter any more ...

Open your eyes, Genevieve. His voice drifted unspoken through my mind.

My eyes opened.

Rio, Albie and Darius strode past us and through a door further down the hall.

We followed them in ... or we didn’t, I wasn’t sure, but now we stood against a wall in a spacious office. The room had a hollow feel to it. A desk, a plastic chair, a metal filing cabinet—and a stale rank smell that made my nose wrinkle. Old blood.

Malik spooned behind me, his arm tight around my waist, his hand a cold fist over my heart. I knew that my heart did not beat, that my body would do only as he commanded, not as I wanted, but my panic was locked away, a prisoner inside a bubble of ice, and all that was left was calm and coldness.

‘Where is the sidhe, Darius?’ Beads of pink sweat pearled in Rio’s hair. ‘How could you lose her?’

Darius stood, arms slack at his sides, submissive. ‘I’m sorry, Master.’

She grabbed his throat, lifted him until his feet dangled inches above the ground. ‘I gave you a task,’ she growled. ‘All you had to do was watch her and tell me what she did and who she spoke to.’ She shook him.

I almost expected him to rattle.

‘You knew I hadn’t finished with her yet,’ she yelled.

Eyes bulging, Darius let her choke him.

Albie brushed down his uniform, had a sneaky scratch, then said calmly, ‘Put him down, Rio. You can play with him later.’

She dropped Darius and backhanded him all in one fast movement, launching him into the air. He hit the filing cabinet face-first, banging it into the wall, and thudded down, blood trickling from his scalp, leaving behind a head- sized dent in the metal.

Ouch! That had to hurt.

‘Why are you fussing about the sidhe?’ Albie inspected his manicure. ‘She must have left.’

‘They say not at the front door.’ Rio kicked the plastic chair, knocking it over.

‘They are such challenging things, the fae,’ Albie said snidely. ‘Maybe she vanished into thin air.’

Rio snarled, lips pulling back from her fangs, ‘I told you, she can’t do that. She may reek of power, but she lacks any ability to control it.’

Harsh but true. Still I wasn’t too happy about the reeks bit.

‘And you think you are the one to win that prize?’ Albie gave a disbelieving sniff. ‘You smell weak enough that I wonder you ever gained your autonomy.’

‘Don’t push me.’ She crowded him, topping him by a good six inches. ‘You didn’t enjoy it the last time I showed you who’s boss.’

A sly look crossed his face. ‘I won’t help if He senses you’re this depleted. Remember I’m not the loyal sort. All I’m interested in is my blood-cut and if you can’t deliver, then I’ll find someone who can.’

‘You always were a snivelling parasite,’ she sneered at him.

‘I prefer to call it judicious pragmatism.’ He reached for the door handle.

Be ready, Genevieve, Malik’s voice sounded in my head. I do not wish to stay for the finale.

He wasn’t the only one. Somehow I didn’t think I’d enjoy the encore.

‘Now if I was you,’ Albie pointed a finger at her, ‘I’d stop fretting about the sidhe and sort yourself out.’

Rio lunged for him.

But he was gone.

She slammed the door shut, leant back against it and glowered at Darius. He was still huddled on the floor, watching her with wide-open eyes.

Our chance is lost. We must wait until she is otherwise occupied.

A long, low hissing escaped Rio’s mouth and she collapsed to her knees. ‘Get over here, you pathetic creature,’ she ordered.

Darius slowly sat up, then dragged his shirt sleeve across his face, wiping away the blood.

Rio’s face contorted in pain. ‘For fuck’s sake, hurry up!’

He lurched forward as if she’d pulled him, then crawled until he knelt before her, his pupils dilating until they almost eclipsed the brown of his iris.

She stroked his cheek. ‘Kiss me.’ Her tone lost its stridency, mesma giving it promise.

Darius clasped her head in his palms, then mashed his mouth to hers.

Rio looked like she was trying to eat him back.

She’s occupied, I tried to shout. I want to go now.

Rio reared back, her chest rising with harsh gasps, a rosy bloom in her cheeks. She ran her tongue around her fangs, then laughed, the sound of her pleasure echoing around the room. Darius slumped, a thick trickle of blood running between his lips.

‘More,’ she purred, pressing her mouth back against his. Her hands reached blindly for his shirt, ripped it open. She scored long blue nails over his pecs, down his abdominals, and thick lines of blood welled up. Moving her palms in ever-widening circles, she spread the blood like jam over his weeping skin.

Okay. I tried to close my eyes, found I couldn’t. This is not good.

Rio snatched her mouth away and Darius swayed, eyes tightly closed. Her tongue snaked out to lick a smear of blood from his jaw. He moaned, the sound unhappy. She looked down and her gaze turned eager as she tried to lower her head. He stopped her, fingers clamping like limpets to her scalp. A fine trembling started in his body. ‘Please ...’ The word was an anguished whisper.

She grinned, fangs glinting sharp in the overhead light. ‘I know you can beg better than that, my lovely,