never there. Maybe it was just my imagination, my fear.
Maybe.
I swallowed heavily and wrenched my arm from Merle's grasp. He chuckled, a heavy sound that itched at my skin. 'You won't be pulling away like that later. You'll be begging.'
'Yeah, that you've somehow learned some technique overnight.' The words were out before I could stop them, and Merle's face darkened. Even more so when Moss chuckled softly.
'The wolf has spunk,' he said. 'Perhaps I might have to steal her back. Sounds as if she'd appreciate a man with a little more style.'
'What I have claimed you cannot have,' Merle growled. 'You had your opportunity. You were too busy looking for new talent in the recruits.'
Moss's face went red, and little veins began to stand out in his forehead. 'I am not the ass-lover amongst us—'
'No,' Starr interrupted calmly, 'I am. And if you two can't shut up, kindly remember that I am not overly fussy about my partners being willing and that I am more than ready to try someone I have until now considered off- limits.'
As threats went, it was pretty darn efficient. The two men continued to scowl at each other, but otherwise fell silent. But they'd obviously been around Starr a long time, and would have had plenty of firsthand experience about how ugly he could get. And how far he would go.
Starr walked across to the table and took the middle seat. Moss headed left, while Merle motioned me to the right. Lucky me got to sit between death and his right-hand man. Not a place someone with a stomach as fragile as mine was feeling right now should really be.
As I pulled the chair up closer to the table, I looked up at the ceiling then around the walls again. There were no monitors to be seen, but there were guards hiding in the shadows. Surprisingly, there weren't Iktar's kin, but gray things with scaly skin and human extremities. They were armed—candlelight flickered across the barrels of the guns they held inhumanly still.
And they were watching me with that same unnerving stillness. One wrong move, one nod from Starr, and I was one splattered puppy, of that I had no doubt.
Starr clapped his hands, the sudden sound making me jump. Well-built men wearing skimpy thongs and little else appeared, all carrying either wine or food. It was a decadence I would normally have enjoyed, except for the fact Starr was so close. He watched them appreciatively for several seconds, then turned in his seat so he could look at me. And he wasn't looking at me appreciatively—far from it.
A chill ran down my spine. This man suspected I was not who I was pretending to be, and I had no idea why.
'So tell me a little more about yourself.'
I shrugged, wishing like hell I had a coffee to hang on to, and yet at the same time, glad I didn't. My hands were trembling so much I probably would have scalded myself. 'I'm sure you've read my file.'
'I have, but it's all dry details. I'm sure there is more to you than that.'
'And I assure you, there's not.' I shoved my hands under my knees and let my gaze drift to the nearest waiter. I just couldn't look at Starr for very long without my stomach turning at the vileness of his aura. At the deadness in his eyes. 'The life of a thief is not very exciting.'
'These people you stole the jewelry off—Jamieson was their name, wasn't it?'
I shrugged again, and did my best to ignore the sick trembling in my limbs. Sitting on my hands helped them, but it didn't do much for the rest of me. 'I have no idea. I don't study the people before a job. I just study the house.'
'And the jewels? Who was your fence?'
Fucked if I knew. If it had been in the files, then I'd managed to skip that section of it. I glanced at him briefly. 'Who said I've fenced them yet? Maybe they're a little too hot right now.'
He grinned. He had an awful lot of teeth, many of them pointy. And not just the canines. 'A nice safe answer.'
'The truth always is.' I thanked a dark skinned man as he placed a platter of meats and bread in front of me. His gaze met mine, and the warm brown depths were haunted. This man might not be physically dead, but deep down where it really counted, only ice existed. Everything else had been ripped away by the perversity of the man beside me.
I blinked at the sudden insight, and had to clench my hands against the urge to reach out and touch him— reassure him—either physically or psychically. There was nothing I could do tor this man, nothing I could do for the others in this room. Nothing other than destroy the foul thing who had ripped away their self-respect. Their humanity.
'But how do I know you are telling the truth?' Starr said.
My nerves were so bad I jumped at the sudden sound of his voice.
'You don't.' I reached forward and plucked a slice of beef from the platter. 'I don't have the jewels with me, so there is no way I can prove anything right now.'
The beef was butter-tender, but it tasted as dry as sawdust. I swallowed with some difficulty, and reached for a glass of wine to wash the taste away.
'How very true. Unless, of course, you have a psychic at your disposal.'
He clapped his hands a second time. The elevator doors slid open, revealing Dia and a guard. At least she hadn't lied about that. Which maybe meant she was playing this whole thing
She stopped in front of the table. Her stance was neither compliant or aggressive, but somewhere between the two. 'You called for me?'
She wasn't looking at me, wasn't looking at anyone except Starr. Never turn your back on a tiger snake in mating season, my brother had once warned me. Obviously, someone had told Dia the same thing.
'I want you to read this woman.' Starr's hand came down on my forearm. It was only a brief touch, but even so, his flesh burned mine, leaving red marks long after his fingers had gone.
Dia nodded and glanced at me. Despite her stance, her expression was serene, businesslike. 'Hold out your hand.'
Given I had little other choice, I obeyed. Her cool fingers wrapped around mine, and electricity leapt from her fingers to mine, tingling warmly across my skin. Something flickered in her unseeing eyes, and just for a moment, there was a tightening around her eyes and mouth. What that meant I had no idea, but I sure as hell planned to ask her later.
'I see much anger in this one.' She hesitated. 'She has already fought with several of the women. She will fight with others before her time here is over. Rebellion is part of her nature.'
'A given, seeing she's here as an arena whore,' Starr snapped. 'Tell me who and what she is.'
Tension ran through me. If his instincts were suggesting I was a fake, why wasn't he just getting rid of me? Doing this made no sense. But then, when did psychos ever play by the rules of the sane?
Dia's finger's briefly tightened against mine, as if in reassurance, then she said, 'She is a wolf who has been rejected by kin. She has fought to survive, and will continue to fight through the many life changes that are on the horizon. Her path will not be easy.'
'The who, Dia. Stop hedging.'
Dia hesitated, and for a moment I was so sure she was going to give me up that my heart lodged somewhere in my throat and every muscle twitched with readiness to leap from the chair.
'She is who she says she is,' Dia said softly. 'A no-good lying thief. Lock up your valuables, Merle. She has already noted the gold watch resting on your side table.'
Starr laughed. It was an uncomfortable sound that itched at my ears. 'Then the thief has taste problems. That watch is gaudiness at its worse.'
'But it would have a good street value.' Dia dropped my hand and stepped back. With her touch gone, the tingling sensation of electricity quickly died. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sorry about that. At least her touch offered warmth in a room that was so, so cold.
She rubbed her forehead wearily and looked at Starr. 'Is that all?'
'For now. I will have my reading later. After we go for our little walk.'
