Bittersweet Magic

face.

Roz ignored the demon and crossed to Ryan. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine—I think. What is this place? No one would tell me anything.”

“We have to decide what we’re going to do with you first,” Piers said, coming to stand beside her. He rested an arm across her shoulder. He hadn’t worked out what the relationship was between the two of them yet, but he wanted the policeman to know the score. Roz didn’t pull away, which pleased him.

“Shit, are you two a couple?” Ryan looked between them, his gaze lingering on the arm across her shoulders. Piers gave it a squeeze and stared the detective in the eye. He felt Roz stiffen.

“Cut the macho shit,” she growled, and he had to bite back his smile.

“Answer the question, Rosamund.” Asmodai’s voice came from behind them, low and dark, and energy rippled through the room. A palpable shiver ran across her skin, and Piers tightened his hold. “Are the two of you a couple?”

Piers released her shoulder and swung around. “What’s it to you?”

“She belongs to me,”

“Not for much longer.”

“And how do you work that out? I don’t see my Key anywhere—I’m presuming Andarta has it?”

“Yeah,” Roz replied.

“So the debt is not paid.”

“Why did you ask her to steal it anyway?” Christian asked.

“The Key was mine. Roz wasn’t stealing it, just collecting it for me.”

“I think it’s debatable that the Key is yours.” Piers said. “After all, you did swear an oath to destroy it. But that’s a discussion for another day. For now, tell us why you want it at this point, when it’s been hidden for so long?”

“I never needed it before. Unlike Andarta, I can open portals without the Key…But recently I came up with a use for it.”

“And that would be?”

He glanced at Tara and shrugged. “Does it matter now?”

“Humor me.”

Asmodai leaned back in his seat and stretched. “Is the room still bugged?” he asked Roz.

Bugged. They’d bugged his office? When? How? What the fuck had he said?

“I reckon so.” Roz’s gaze flicked to Piers. She bit her lip when she caught sight of his no doubt outraged expression.

“You bugged my office? When the fuck did you bug my office?”

She grinned. “The first time you did that mesmerizy thingy, you know, ‘you are in my power’—not.”

“I can’t believe you bugged my office.” He scrutinized her. “So, did you hear anything interesting?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

Thank God for that. Had he discussed her with Christian? What had he said?

“Well, perhaps you could remove it now,” Asmodai said. “I’d prefer there to be no record of this meeting.”

Piers shoved his hands in his pockets and watched as Roz crossed the room and bent down to reach under his desk. She came up with a small black disc. “You want it back?” she asked Asmodai.

“No, destroy it.”

She dropped it to the floor and ground it under her heel.

Piers shook his head. “I can’t believe you bugged my office.”

“Get over it,” she muttered, then grinned. “It was so easy.”

“My mind was on other things.” He leered at her breasts, and she giggled.

“Can we get on?” Christian said and turned to Asmodai. “So talk.”

“I planned to offer the Key to the Walker in exchange for something.”

“Something?” Roz asked.

“My daughter’s cat.”

Tara stepped forward. “Jamie?”

“Yes, Jamie.”

“Her cat?” Roz frowned. “You were swapping the Key for a cat?”

Piers took pity on her disbelief. “A while back, the fae wanted Tara dead. We managed to change their minds, but they required a hostage for her good behavior. And Jamie was no ordinary cat.”

“He’s a shape shifter,” Tara said. “And he was my friend.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway,” Asmodai continued, “It occurred to me that the Key in the wrong hands—and I would ensure that the Walker was aware that Andarta was interested—”

“Wait a minute,” Piers interrupted. “Are you saying that you knew Andarta was after the Key?”

“She approached me with a very generous offer. Which I declined. She’s a mad bitch—always was—I’ve no wish to see her gain in power. Anyway, as I was saying, it occurred to me that the Walker would consider Andarta with a key to his kingdom a bigger threat than my daughter, and he would release the hostage he’d taken.”

…

Roz was finding it hard to follow the conversation. Maybe her mind had been befuddled by too much sex. She pressed a finger to her forehead and she tried to make sense of what Asmodai was saying.

“Just wait up here one moment. Am I missing something? You were going to swap the Key for a cat?”

Asmodai glanced toward Tara, then back to her. “I thought it would please my daughter. She’s not too fond of me right now.”

“And this cat was a shape-shifter? Is that like a werewolf?”

“Not really,” Piers replied. “Werewolves are born human and become weres when they are attacked by a werewolf. Shape-shifters are born. They are one of the immortal races, though pretty low down in the pecking order. They are usually tied to some other supernatural being.”

“Jamie was mine,” Asmodai said. “I gave him as a gift to Tara’s mother.”

“And you were going to hand the Key to this Walker guy—”

“Actually no—I was going to offer to destroy the Key in exchange for the shifter.”

“Right. This is the same Walker who’s Tara’s uncle?”

“Yeah. He’s a fae assassin,” Piers said. “And a complete piece of shit. He was going to kill Tara—his own niece.”

He didn’t sound very nice. What sort of person would kill his own flesh and blood? “Why?”

“They’re very into purity of the blood,” Piers said. “Plus, because of her mixed blood, Tara has the ability to move anywhere—the Abyss and the Faelands—and they see that as a threat. The fae are only good for one thing—”

“And what would that be?” Asmodai sounded vaguely amused, and she looked at him. Yup, a smile was curling the corners of his mouth, and his dark eyes were filled with laughter. What was he up to? What else did he know?

“Eating—they taste real good—and that’s it,” Piers said. “And while all the fae are assholes, the Walker’s the biggest asshole of the lot of them.”

Roz thought about it. “Oh right. Well, I can see why he wouldn’t want the Key in the wrong hands. You think he would have gone for it.”

“Oh yes. Plus, I had something else to offer him.”

“You did? What?”

“His daughter.”

The words made no sense. “You have his daughter.”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“No.” Piers shook his head and turned to stare at her, a look of horror in his eyes. “No. No. No. Please tell me that what I’m thinking right now is not the truth.”

Asmodai laughed aloud. “It’s almost worth my plans failing just to see the expression on your face, Lamont.”