Hello, William the Ever Randy, brother to Lucifer. The bluebell.
“What? What’s wrong?” Sable asked, already reaching for the dagger hidden beneath her sleeveless jacket.
Rage sparked, quickly catching fire. An inferno blazed through her veins. “Look,” she grated, motioning to William. Had he heard about her vendetta against his family and come to stop her? Maybe, maybe not. But why else would he be here?
Why not sneak up on her? So many questions, so few answers.
“Speak of the devil,” Sable ground out, “and he appears.”
Sunny had done her research and knew he was an infamous mercenary and legendary womanizer who disdained the sanctity of marriage. A few years ago, he’d helped slay a god king. More recently, he’d gotten drunk at a nightclub and shouted, “I consider myself a pleasuretarian. I only eat organic pussy.”
“If rumors are true,” she said, “he sleeps with a new woman every night, possesses a fiery temper, sometimes injures his friends for laughs, and enjoys killing his enemies as painfully as possible.” So much to admire…so much to disdain.
“Well. I think we should rearrange our list of hits and take out the royal first while we’ve got the chance.”
“Agreed. One way or another, he’ll die today.”
Yes! Vengeance will be mine! “I can’t read his aura. Can you?”
“I…can’t,” Sable said, and frowned.
Daisy! The more they knew about him, the better.
Despite her research, she’d failed to learn William’s true origins or species, so she didn’t know what strengths to guard against or what weaknesses to exploit.
No matter. She would find out.
“He’s beautiful, though, isn’t he?” Sable asked.
“He is.” Beautiful beyond imagining. But oh, the admission grated. Sunny did her best to ignore the flutter in her belly. “He looks like an incubus, ready to lure unsuspecting women into his bed.” Was he an incubus?
Arrogance and sensuality clung to him like a second skin. On his wrists, a pair of leather cuffs. On his fingers, multiple spiked rings. Not just rings—weapons. But, so what? She had a weapon-ring, too: a tiny gun with brass pinfire rounds.
He stood and switched seats with the women on his right, making him the meat in a flesh sandwich.
Heart thudding, she dragged her gaze over his body. Mmm, mmm, mmm. For a moment, only a moment, lust overcame rage. Had she ever seen such a perfect example of raw, rugged sex appeal? Such a deliciously large muscle mass? A black shirt molded to his bulging biceps. In the center, the shirt read “Check Out The Cypher in My Pants.” He wore black leather pants and combat boots.
When he threw back his head and laughed a second time, the rage returned. “After the terrible things he and his brother did to innocent people, he deserves misery.”
“Agreed.”
A trio of females sat at his table, one on one side, two on the other. All three hung on his every word. Sunny recognized two of the women. Screen names ‘Jaybird’ and ‘Cash.’ They were cryptanalysts, like her, and they would be presenting a workshop tomorrow.
Jaybird continued to touch her lips to draw his gaze there. Cash leaned forward, putting her wealth of cleavage on display.
“Duuude. They have the art of the flirt nailed, and I kind of want their autographs,” she said. Both Horror Show Sunny and Roses and Rainbows Sunny sucked at flirting. “I think it’s safe to say we found our first target.” She set her glass on a nearby table and led Sable into a shadowy spot beside a potted plant, so they could better study him.
With movements as sexy as hellebore, he lifted a glass of whiskey.
“—yeah, man,” the guy closest to her was saying to a group of his friends. “Sage.” Pause. “Sage!” He frowned. “Why can’t I say sage?”
The humans surrounding him guffawed, as if he were teasing. One even elbowed him in the chest.
Sunny’s magic prevented anyone from cursing in her presence, not that the affected ones ever understood why. On the flip side, her magic stopped people from speaking lies. Have to take the bad with the good.
“How should we play this?” Trembling, she stuffed a flower petal in her mouth and—oh hellebore! She’d been eating leaves and petals, the potted plant almost bare. Oops. Bad Sunny! This wasn’t snack time. She dropped the remaining foliage and dusted the dirt from her fingers. Anyway.
“I don’t think he’ll know who we are, otherwise Hades himself would have come. Last I heard, he hoped to recruit a creature like us to help him win his war with Lucifer. He doesn’t want us dead. He wants to use our magic.”
“I don’t think he’ll know what we are either. Anyone I’ve interrogated about the royal families of the underworld, I’ve killed. That way, word about me and my inquiries has never spread.”
“One of us should make contact,” Sable suggested.
“Definitely.” Yes, but should they wait around and hope William approached them? What if he didn’t? Should they try to lure him over with a come-hither smile? He might not go for it. The women with him wore fancy dresses; as usual, Sunny and Sable wore an unadorned T-shirt and jeans, the perfect blend-in, forgettable outfit.
Should one of them close the distance and make the first move?
Yeah. That. It guaranteed contact.
Her heart raced at the idea.
“How about we draw straws?” Sable asked. “If you get the shorter one, you have to approach him. If I get the shorter one…you have to approach him.”
Sunny snorted. “No need for straws. I’ll do it.” She would stroll over there and introduce herself. His reception would provide the first shard of truth, and her magic would prevent him from lying. She could invite him to her hotel room for a night of debauchery…and strike. “You
