Darkness Hunts(28)

He escorted me toward the bar. The stranger’s gaze flickered down my body and it felt like I was standing there naked, being judged inside and out. Her expression seemed to say I’d been found wanting. And that, unsurprisingly, was something of a relief. The last thing I wanted was to attract the interest of someone who dealt with the dark forces of this world on any level other than that of hunting them.

Not that the man who did hunt them had been sighted for the last few hours. Which suggested Azriel had taken to heart my snarky wish that they’d all leave me in peace and was keeping watch from a distance rather than up close and personal.

Lucian waved a hand in the stranger’s direction. “Risa Jones, Lauren Macintyre.”

“Evening.” Lauren’s voice was mellow and soft, the opposite of what I’d been expecting. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Jones.”

She held out her hand. My pause was brief, but nevertheless there, and something flickered through her eyes. Not amusement. Something deeper. Darker.

The fingers that wrapped around mine were long and warm, her grip strong. But there was nothing untoward in her touch, no dark shimmer or foul feel, despite that flicker in her eyes and the vibrations that continued to roll off her.

“Would you like a drink?” Lucian walked around the bar. “We have wine, beer, and champagne.”

“Champers, please.” I propped on a barstool and returned Lauren’s gaze steadily. “I’m gathering Lucian has told you the reason I wished to see you?”

A small smile touched her lips, though little amusement reached her ice-colored eyes. “A woman who gets straight down to business. I like that.”

“I told you she was a no-nonsense person.” Lucian slid a glass of bubbly toward me, then leaned on the bar.

Desire slithered through me, quick and hungry. I took a drink and tried to keep my attention on the sorcerer, not the lover.

And wondered, even as I did so, why the hell he affected me so strongly. He might be Aedh, and able to ensnare lovers with just a kiss, but this was something else. Something that was almost darker.

And that was worrying.

“Indeed,” Lauren said. “So tell me, what do you think of dark sorcerers?”

“My personal opinion is that you should all be dumped in the deepest, darkest hole in hell and forgotten about.” My shrug was casual, but tension rode me. I couldn’t be anything less than honest, even though she was obviously ready to walk, given the slightest reason, and being honest might well give her that reason. “I’m afraid I’ve seen too much pain and catastrophe caused by your kind to want anything else.”

“And yet here you are, wanting my help.”

“Just because I hate what you do doesn’t mean I won’t use you if I need to.”

White teeth flashed in what I presumed was a grin, though it was an oddly unsettling one. “If you had answered any other way—if you had been less than honest—I would have walked out the door.”

“Then thank god for honesty.” I contemplated her over the rim of the champagne glass. “So, back to my original question—did Lucian fill you in on why we wanted to speak to you?”

“Yes.” The amusement died from her lips. “I know of the reapers—one such as I cannot help but be aware of them. However, I did not know there were beings called Aedh who once manned the gates to heaven and hell. Or that some fool wants the gates of hell opened permanently.”

That raised my eyebrows. “Don’t you trade with hellkind?”

“Of course, but that doesn’t mean I want all hell to break loose here on earth. If demons were as common as ants, it would destroy my business.”

I snorted softly. Consorting with demons was a business, was it? “Then you also know why I need your help.”

She nodded. “However, we are talking about a device created by beings who aren’t of this world. I will need to get the feel of it before I can say whether I could help you or not.”

“That’s going to be a bit hard, given that it’s woven into the fabric of my heart.”

Lauren gave me a cool smile. “I did not mean that in the literal sense.”

“Then how did you mean it?”

“I simply need to touch you. Stand up.”

I took a large gulp of champagne, then did so. She pressed her hand under my left breast, the coolness of her long fingers sending goose bumps skittering across my skin. There was nothing sexual in her touch, nothing dark or uneasy, and yet all of those things slid through me.

Lauren closed her eyes. For several minutes, she neither moved nor breathed, although she obviously was breathing, since otherwise she’d have passed out.