Страница 46 из 63
I sensed the rain before I reached the plaza. And for once, I was too spent to react much to the raw power that misted over the plaza’s brick floor. It still tingled, still spoke to me, but not so intensely as usual. Probably because I’d just spent much of my power and energy fighting with my partner.
Or maybe sex was the key?
I laughed out loud, garnering weird looks from the two darkling fae standing near the soda machine as I headed toward Solomon Street. Yeah. Just give yourself over to the O and all your problems will be solved.
I weaved my way through the chaos of Solomon Street on autopilot, lost in thought, my mind replaying events, thinking of all the things I should have done and should have said.
My steps slowed as I advanced on the Lion’s Den, Grigori Te
A wave of humid, earth-scented air and jazz music hit me full on. My boots echoed over the planked floor; the old wood coupled with the heavy timber beams overhead gave the place a dark feel. Typical bar on Solomon Street, though. Steady business. Regulars, mostly ji
The ji
I made my way to the bar to the beat of sultry old jazz, which kept the place on a mellow keel, and gave the strippers something to writhe to. Two Pig-Pens—a male nymph and female siren—sat in the back corner. Black crafters. They’d given up their i
“Detective,” the bartender said, laying both beefy hands flat on the old bar top, his shoulders hunching over and making him look like a water buffalo on steroids. All the ji
“Your boss in?” I asked.
Ji
“He’ll want to see me.” I turned my back to the ji
The bartender muttered under his breath in Charbydon, but he went to the phone and made the call, returning a few moments later. “You can go down.”
Casually I swung around and smiled—the twisted smile I reserved for sarcasm and assholes—and then strode to the door that would lead me into what I liked to call the First Level of Hell.
Damp. Hot. The distinct scent of ji
A male guard met me at the base of the steps and then led me to the main corridor. Two months ago, Hank and I had made this same journey, passing open rooms where the ji
As I stepped into the main chamber, I expected to find Te
One of Grigori’s personal female guards appeared from a small archway across the chamber. Not that he needed a guard. I’d learned firsthand that the tribal boss of a ji
“This way,” she said, taking over, and then leading me back the way she’d come.
I followed her down another corridor, past several curtained rooms and wall torches that suggested this was a more personal area of the tribe’s abode. Beneath an archway, down another similar hall, and finally the guard stopped and pulled back a heavy multicolored curtain, ducking inside. The chamber was small, and thick with heat and humidity. A fire burned in a pit dug into the far wall.
Grigori Te
Te
I let loose a bitter laugh. “That second debt, the one where you beat the shit out of my ex-husband, we didn’t bargain on that,” I said tightly.
He rose onto one elbow. “Ah, but I did. When we bargained, I simply said I hadn’t decided yet on what the second debt would be. You agreed. Then, I made my decision. End of story, as they say. But he lives, eh? So all is good for you.” He put his head back down and closed his eyes.
“Yeah, if you call being stuck inside a body you can’t control living.”
One eye popped open, surprised, and then narrowed in a calculating way. “You don’t say?”
“Cut the bullshit, Te
“Which ones? I own many, you see.”
I sighed, wondering why I was even bothering. “You sent Ebelwyn into the warehouse. You knew what he’d find.”
“So what if I did? I own them, nothing more. You figure it out. You’re the detective, no?”
I wanted to hit him. Really, just whale on him until that smug look was off his face completely. “I’d like to speak to your Storyteller,” I said.