EVEN VAMPIRES GET THE BLUES

'I will not give up my soul,' I said firmly, refusing to be drawn into a conversation about whether or not I'd sacrifice myself for Paen's mother. I'd already done it for him, and look where that had gotten me. 'There must be something else I have that you want. Something of value.'

'I do not make a habit of bartering,' she said stiffly, but considered me for a few minutes. 'However, in this case, I find you do have another valuable asset, one which I will accept in place of your soul.'

'What would that be?' I asked, wary.

'Your immortality.'

I almost laughed with relief. I never wanted to be immortal—giving that up would be no trouble now that Paen had made his feelings for me—or lack thereof—quite clear. 'It's a deal.'

Her lips pursed slightly. 'You do not mind becoming mortal again?'

'No, I don't mind. I'm not really a Beloved. Well, I am, but I've kind of been fired from the job. So immortality is not needed or desired. I lived my whole life as a mortal—I don't mind being there again.'

She looked like she wanted to ask something, but all she did was pull a pendant from under her blouse and hold it out toward me. A large amber teardrop gleamed in the light, glowing beautiful shades of reddish gold. 'Swear to the terms, please. You must consent in order for the bargain to be struck.'

I placed my hand on the pendant and swore to give up my immortality in return for the seer's help. A little buzz of electricity went up my arm at the oath, but that was all. There was no big thunderclap, no sound of trumpets from heaven, nothing.

'Is it done?' I asked, rubbing at the faint mark the amber had left on my palm.

'Yes. You sound disappointed. Do you regret the bargain already?'

I looked her in her cold blue eyes. 'No. It's just a bit anticlimactic, you know? I don't quite know what I expected would happen, but I guess I felt there should be a little something to mark the event.'

She was all business, not even giving me a friendly look or slight smile. 'What do you wish to know?'

'Oh… um… what I want to know is who has the black monkey statue known as the Jilin God.'

Her fingers stroked the amber amulet as her eyes lost their focus. Part of the reason seers were so respected (not to mention feared) was the fact that many of them tapped into dark powers to achieve their visions. Some had working arrangements with lesser demons; others used conduits like an amulet or reliquary that harnessed a dark power. I gathered by the way Kelsey touched her pendant that the amber stone in it acted as a conduit. 'The statue you seek was last in the possession of the being known as Pilar.'

'Pilar? Are you sure?'

She gave me a look that was answer enough.

'How bizarre. I had a feeling he wasn't mortal, but he has Paen's statue, too? Hmm. Where is Pilar?'

'He is at present nine miles distant, south-southeast.'

Hmm. Nine miles meant he must still be in the greater Edinburgh area. But how did Pilar get both my bird statue and Paen's statue? And why would he want both? One was a valuable antiquity, the other a cheap Taiwanese knockoff. I shook my head, confused. 'You said the statue was last in the possession of Pilar. Does that mean he no longer has it?'

'That is correct. It is no longer in his possession, although he was the last person to possess it.'

'Which means no one else has it now,' I said softly, thinking hard. 'I bet he's hidden it away somewhere safe. When I saw the Jilin God, it was entombed, held in darkness, away from all light. Is it still?'

'Yes, it is.'

'How can Pilar have hidden it somewhere if it's in a tomb?' I asked.

'The statue is not in what you know as a tomb per se—it is protected while it sleeps through the centuries, kept from sight so as to remain undisturbed.'

'Oh.' I thought about that. It fit what I saw when scrying—I just interpreted that protected, confined state to be a tomb. But if it wasn't in some sort of a big tomb, then what was it in? 'What sort of object is protecting the statue?'

Her eyes snapped back to focus as she dropped the pendant. 'You have asked five questions, and received five answers. If you wish more, you will have to pay me again.'

'Wait a minute! You never said I only had five questions to ask!'

'And you never asked,' she replied, gathering her raincoat and bag. 'Do you wish to consult me again?'

I gritted my teeth against the expletive that wanted to burst out. There was no sense in being rude, even though I do think she could have warned me there was a limit to the number of questions I could ask. 'No, thank you. I believe I have enough to go on.'

'You have my number should you wish to contact me again to answer other questions'—she eyed me like I was a piece of dead fish at the fishmongers—'mortal.'

I swore to myself all the way back to town, in between trying to figure out why Pilar wanted both Paen's statue and the bird one. Maybe he was a statue freak?

The lights, music, and chatter from Mila's sex shop spilled out onto the street as I approached my office, relieved to see the lights off upstairs. I had half expected Paen and the others to be lurking around the office waiting for me to return, but I guessed they'd done the sane thing and wrote me off to go have dinner.

So why did that thought depress me?

'I'm hungry, that's all,' I said as I unlocked the door to the office and used the light from the hallway to find my desk. I flipped on the desk light. 'I hope they're all having a fabulous time without me. Although it might have been nice if someone cared a tiny fraction enough to wonder if I'm all right.'

'How about if someone cared enough to turn you over his knee and spank you as you deserve?'

Chapter 15

I jumped at the sound of the voice, clutching my chest as I spun around. A man stepped out of the shadows, his brows pulled together in a familiar scowl. 'Dammit, Paen, just give me a heart attack, why don't you?'

He stalked out of the darkness like he was a lion and I was a particularly succulent bit of steak. 'It wouldn't matter if I did. You can't be killed short of decapitation.'

That's what he thought.

'Where have you… what do you mean, that's what I think?' Paen stopped in front of me, his hands on his hips, his eyes glittering like polished silver.

I tried to gather the shreds of my dignity, giving Paen what I hoped was a coolly professional look. 'I didn't say that to you. You read my mind. Since you dumped me so cruelly and heartlessly, we are no longer a couple, so I will thank you to stay out of there. As to where I have been, that, also, is of no concern to you except insofar as my trip has resulted in several good bits of information regarding your statue.'

His eyes narrowed. To my surprise, he didn't seem to care about the statue. 'I didn't dump you, either cruelly or heartlessly. You fell in love with me! You broke the rules of our relationship!'

I stepped forward until I was toe-to-toe with him, determined to give as good as I got. Oh, sure, being so close to him sent my body into ecstasy, but I ignored its demands in order to clear up a few things with Paen. 'At no time did you state I couldn't fall in love with you.'

'Aha,' he crowed, triumphant. 'You admit that it's true!'

'Yes, of course I admit, you great big boob! And how can you say you didn't dump me? You most certainly did.'

His eyes glowed with silver brilliance. 'I did no such thing. I would have been perfectly happy to continue our relationship within the terms to which we both agreed.'

'You would, would you? Just casual lovers, getting together once in a while for sex, is that what you want? Are we back to fucking versus lovemaking?'

'Yes,' he snarled, grabbing my arms. 'That's all I want. To fuck the breath out of you.'

My heart gave a leap despite the crudity of the words and temporarily overrode my brain. I leaned into Paen, every curve, every soft line of my body melting against his. The feel and scent and presence of him filled me until I knew, I knew to the very last beat of my heart, that we were meant to be together. Joined. One. 'Tell me,' I said against his lips. 'Tell me that all you want from me is sex. Tell me nothing else