Bitten in Two

few moments she wasn’t ubergorgeous or evil. She was just a pretty girl with her arms around a boy she couldn’t resist. Except the hand that was wrapped around his shoulder held a sword that could easily slit his throat.

Who was I to judge? I held a lethal weapon too, and I couldn’t wait to swing my partner. I reached out to Vayl, but the demon had already shoved Ahmed into his hands, so it was Sterling who two-stepped me down the block. We flew past the other dancers, skating over the cobblestones like they were coated in bowling-lane wood, the air whistling past our ears as if cheering us on.

“The door.” Vayl sounded surprised. “It has unlatched itself.”

We stopped.

“Excel ent,” said Sterling.

I shuffled toward the entrance after him, my elation deflating like a post-birthday bal oon as I realized he’d sucked us into his spel . Cole and Kyphas held hands al the way to the door, then Cole looked at her, shook his head remorseful y, and jerked away.

As I shouldered past Sterling I said, “What you did was out of line. Making us dance like puppets just so you could pul off some minor magic.”

“You wanted inside. I assumed that meant—” I tossed my head, slapping him with my braid. “You haven’t changed. It’s stil al about how people can help you manipulate—”

Sterling interrupted me. “But I’m helping you!”

“Tel me that wasn’t a Bardish spel .” Silence. I nodded grimly. “You’re already into the change, aren’t you?” Even less response this time. “And how do you figure you’re going to help us when pirates hear a Bard is operating in Marrakech?”

“Well, I’m sure as hel not gonna tel them!” He looked around the circle of people who’d become fascinated by our exchange. “And neither are you.” The threat, sung softly, stil raised the hair on the back of my neck. Vayl barely reacted. Cole went so pale for a second his hair was actual y darker than his skin. Kyphas raised her hands as if to say it was beyond her realm of interest. And Ahmed looked like he wanted to throw up.

I turned my back to him. We both knew his threat probably wasn’t necessary. Until he took the oath, and al that went along with it, it was unlikely that anybody would be interested in dicing him up so they could squeeze the magic into an elixir so treasured only the mega-rich could afford it. Stil , I was pissed. And that gave me an excuse. To ignore my disappointment that the joy hadn’t been real. And that coming down had reminded me so forceful y of how little was good in my life right now. I switched Grief into firing mode and prepared to enter Ahmed’s souk. But I couldn’t bury the thought that, considering Vayl had just bitten me, the reaction might’ve lasted longer if Sterling hadn’t stuck his nose in. Normal y it wouldn’t bother me. But I had so little of him left to hold on to. That our warlock had cut the moment short stuck in my throat like a chicken bone.

Feeling frustrated and raw, I kicked the door open, half hoping that I’d find the remaining Weres standing on the other side ready for some hand-to-hand ass kicking. The door slammed into the wal , then sprang shut again. I heard Cole snort behind me.

Vayl said, “I must say, Madame Berggia, I have never seen a lady deliver quite so brutal a blow to an entryway before. Perhaps next time you might simply walk through?” As I looked up into his bright brown eyes, five different responses occurred to me, most of them containing some form of obscenity that would, no doubt, get the poor housekeeper fired again. Then my sense of humor returned from vacation wearing an exoskeleton T-shirt and carrying a bag ful of exploding cigars. I smiled.

And I said, “Where I come from, this is just how we enter a strange building, Lord Brancoveanu. You should see what we do with suspicious packages.” He sighed. “You make very little sense to me. I suppose I must assume this has something to do with Sister Hafeza’s prediction. However, where I come from, ladies do not risk unpredictable situations before gentlemen. Or, in fact, at al .” He stood, waiting for me to let him pass.

When his eyebrows rose a whole centimeter I fluttered my lashes like a real girl and waved him in.

Because I refused to budge, he had to slide past me to get through the narrow door, his whole body rubbing slowly against mine as he made sure he wasn’t stepping into an ambush. I closed my eyes and relished the moment. The smel of Vayl, so unique that it made me feel as cozy as hot chocolate. The feel of his chest pressing against mine, his tight, flat stomach brushing just close enough to make my bel y ring jingle against my skin. Our thighs met, and I licked my lips, remembering al the times nothing had separated our bodies and we’d tried desperately to hold off, to take one more minute for exploration, but the passion had stolen our senses and al we could do was try to breathe while it rode us.

“Madame Berggia?” The low rumble of his voice, sweet and dark as brown sugar, glided straight down my throat.

Which I had to clear before I said, “Yeah?”

“Are you quite al right?”

“Um.”

“Good. Fol ow me.”

Gladly. Because your ass is a work of art, my dear. I could watch it all day and—probably get my head blown off if I don’t pay attention now.

We’d entered a shop that was like the evil twin of Sister Hafeza’s place. Smal and dark, it was impossible to view in one sweep because at the squat service counter just a few steps in, it swerved and ducked, its countless cubicles each containing enough instruments to supply a smal , North African orchestra. Drums of al shapes and sizes lined up like mischievous kids against every vertical space, from which hung gongs, hand harps, and instruments with trumpetlike bel s at the end but way too many curves in the middle to go by that name. Anything you could get a halfway decent tune from had been crammed into the souk.

Sterling couldn’t stop grinning. He cocked his head at Ahmed, who he’d taken charge of again. “What a shame you’re such a creep. Otherwise we could’ve been buds, man.”

We spread out, Vayl taking the upper floor while Cole, Kyphas, and I each chose a different turn and Sterling led Ahmed straight toward the back. Within thirty seconds we’d each cal ed, “Clear.”