Shifty Magic (27 page)

I returned for inspection, wearing a
designer silk sheath that came to mid-thigh and nothing else. I
knew the crimson color of the dress made my pale skin glow and
brought out the sapphire blue of my eyes because I'd stared at
myself in the full-length mirror and wondered what Cooper would
think if I ever wore something like this. There'd also been a gold
link choker interspersed with a dozen dark stones wrapped in tissue
paper, but I'd left it on the counter.

After I'd gained the scary lady's approval,
I headed for Bellmonte's office, my bare feet not even making a
whisper of sound on the thick, soft carpet. To my relief, I found
him seated behind his desk looking calm and debonair in a gray
pinstripe that brought out his eyes and fit him like only
custom-made clothing can.

His cool gaze raked over me, and I caught a
spark of appreciation in his eyes before he hid it. For a vamp, he
sure was emotional.

"Where is the
Buccellati?" he asked.

"Huh?"

He looked tempted to roll
his eyes. "The necklace. Purchased especially for you."

"It looks like a dog
collar."

His eyes darkened, whether
with anger or something else, I couldn't be sure.
"Exactly."

I stared at him for a
moment. "I went along with your little dress up game as a gesture
of goodwill. Now, I'm getting impatient."

He narrowed his eyes and I
definitely saw some anger in there.

"I came here to bargain,
not fight," I said, dropping the smart ass tone from my
voice.

Bellmonte steepled his
fingers together and tapped them against his chin. After a moment,
the fury in his eyes settled back into his usual predatory iciness.
"Are you returning what you stole from me?" he said, his voice
deceptively calm.

A smile tugged at the
corner of my mouth. "Dumb, but not that dumb. This is something
new. Kind of a good news, bad news situation."

"Now who's playing
games?"

"The good news is I found
out who attacked Danny and killed all those people."

Interest flared across his
face.

"The bad news is she's
dead. Not even a body left."

"The woman you arrested is
dead?"

"She's not the murderer."
I held up the iC. "I put it all in a file. What happened, what we
discovered and how it went down." I was breaking so many FBI no-nos
by giving him this information that I didn't even want to think
about it. Unfortunately, all that pondering on the couch had made
me realize that I'd left some serious loopholes in my previous
bargain. I saw no other way to keep both Kathy and me
safe.

"Why would you do this?"
he asked, his expression so neutral it was like looking at a
statue.

"Call it a peace offering.
If the information has value to you, then you agree to leave Kathy
alone and guarantee that she reaches a healthy, happy old age.
Ninety-two ought to do it."

He frowned. "Kathy? That
is not the name my retainer's gave me."

"It's all in the
file."

Bellmonte studied me for
an excruciatingly long minute, and I did my best not to fidget or
think about how cold my bare legs were getting. "What will prevent
me from keeping the information and making no bargain?" he finally
said.

"Guess."

"Ah, you also have a
duplicate file of the more personal information ready to go public
if I double-cross you," he commented in a dry tone.

"Do we have a deal, or
not?"

His gaze slid over me once
more. "I'll be in touch."

* * *

I heard from Bellmonte before I got home. I didn't recognize
the number when it came up on my iC's display, but the cool,
cultured voice was unmistakable. That and his first
words.

"The dress and jewels were yours to keep,"
the vampire said.

"Do you agree to the bargain?"

He released a long-suffering sigh. "The
information is indeed valuable to me. However, I hesitate on one
point. In the contract you so thoughtfully provided, you included
yourself in the guarantee of a long, harassment-free life."

"Yup."

"How do you propose I keep someone so rash
and with such a talent for infuriating dangerous enemies safe?"

"Your problem, not mine. Yes or no?"

He took so long to answer that I wondered if
he'd put the phone down and wandered off. I guess getting
outmaneuvered took time to get used to when you were lord of the
castle. "You'll have the contract in a moment," he finally
said.

"The information I borrowed about Danny
should be arriving at your office any minute," I countered.

I heard a chime and the muffled voice of the
battle maiden receptionist in the background. "It appears to have
arrived," he said with surprise. "You were that confident I would
find your report informative?"

"I was."

"And the other information?"

"Safe as long as I am."

I heard an envelope being torn open and
could almost feel the relief coming through the iC.

"You would make an excellent vampire,
Addison Kittner," he finally said, and I could have sworn that I
heard admiration in his voice.

"Only as good as you would be at being
human." I disconnected and stared at the iC in my hand as the
signed contract popped up. Relief and amazement raced through my
bloodstream. Despite what I'd told him, I hadn't been sure at all
that he'd take the offer.

My thoughts turned to Cooper, and my
satisfaction faded. One challenge down, but one to go. I'd
successfully faced down one of the most dangerous monsters in the
state, yet the idea of telling Cooper that I was considering his
offer made my palms sweat.

I stared out the window of the hoverbus at
the lonely, beatup Walmart on the block next to mine. It took time
for broken bones to heal, even for Weres, right? With any luck, I
still had a few days to get used to the idea before I had to face
him.

* * *

The next night, Cooper showed up at my apartment whole and
healthy and with Chinese take-out. The urge to throw myself into
his arms nearly overwhelmed me, and I considered telling him I was
busy. The container of Cashew Chicken smelled too amazing to send
away, so I invited him in. As he brushed past me, I refused to
admit that Cooper looked and smelled even better.

The aroma of the food brought Wizard into my
closet-sized kitchen in a mewing and leg-rubbing frenzy. Females of
all species apparently responded to presents that involved food. I
gave her first dibs on some chicken, and she happily settled down
to her feast oblivious to the awkward tension between her
benefactor and me.

We ate with chopsticks while we stood on
either side of the counter and did our best not to make eye
contact. I guess I wasn't the only one who wasn't sure where to
start. After a while the tense silence got too much for me. I'd
missed him; the kind of missing that felt like your heart was being
ripped out of your chest every minute.

"You're not even limping," I ventured,
avidly studying his features as subtly as I could. "And you got a
tan."

His gaze flashed across mine and then
focused on his food. "For Weres, healing requires a lot of time
outdoors." He took a big bite of beef lo mein.

"Any news on the case?"

"Your money's back."

"Minus the payments from Bellmonte."

"Want to tell me about it?"

I frowned. So much for introducing
conversation at dinner. Sooner or later a question you don't want
to answer lands on the table.

"I hope you got an egg roll," I said,
"because I'm taking this one." I took a bite, making sure my mouth
was too full for extended conversation.

He studied me over the edge of his take-out
box. "Kathy was released. Her account enjoyed an unexpected boost,
and she won a voucher that will get her a first class plane ticket
to anywhere in the world. One way. Any information you'd like to
share on that?"

"I hope you brought fortune cookies."

He grabbed one out of the bag before I
could, cracked it open and held up the little strip of paper.
"Telling your partner what you know will bring fame and fortune,"
he pretended to read.

"Glad to see my skill for lying is rubbing
off on you. And we're not officially partners."

"My supervisor wants you on retainer."

"I'll think about it."

"Imagine having a stocked fridge all the
time. You could afford to get Wizard Chinese food every weekend.
She'd like that." Cooper took the last egg roll, ate it in two
bites and swallowed.

"The department ran a full check on
Marla—the real one," he said without missing a beat. "She had an
apartment at Morrocroft. The floor below Laiyla's. They found VR,
evidence of vamp blood and a couple of blonde wigs."

I lowered my chopsticks and stared at him,
my mild irritation at his teasing forgotten. "I can't believe I
didn't realize it." A terrible sense of failure twisted through my
stomach.

His dark brows arched up. "Realize
what?"

"The morning after I was attacked, a van
drove by. I was too busy ducking for cover to pay attention, but
the driver was a blonde woman. Now that I think about, she looked a
lot like Marla. Laiyla was probably drugged in the back." I
clenched my fist. If I'd realized, would I have been able to save
the practitioner?

Cooper's warm hand covered my fist. "You
couldn't have known. You were a couple pints short of blood,
recovering from the shock of the attack, exhausted. You couldn't
have known."

I narrowed my eyes at him.
"So it
was
you
who fought them off and destroyed evidence."

His silver-green eyes sparkled with humor.
"Don't have any idea what you're talking about." He pulled his hand
away and picked up the container of rice. "Have you thought anymore
about what I asked you?"

"Some," I said quietly.

He paused in the act of scraping up rice,
then continued eating with deliberate focus. "Which part?" he
asked, his tone deceptively casual. "Partnering with me on the
force as a consultant, or becoming my girlfriend?"

Something frightening and wonderful hitched
in my chest at the sound of that word. I looked down at my hands
resting on the counter. "Both."

The air seemed to thicken with electricity
like it does before a thunderstorm rolls through. I waited, hardly
daring to breath.

"And?" Cooper asked, his voice rough and
drenched with emotion.

"I'd...like to give it a try."

He came around the counter and put his hands
on my shoulders. "Why Addison?" he asked, gently turning me to face
him. "Why do you want to?"

My throat tightened. He stroked two fingers
down my cheek until he reached my chin, and then tenderly lifted it
until I met his gaze. His eyes shone with admiration and affection
as he gazed down at me. My heart stumbled and then started racing.
I remembered how I'd almost lost him and tears stung my eyes.

Throwing my arms around his neck, I buried
my face against his chest. "I don't think I'd like my life as much
without you in it," I whispered.

Cooper's arms went around me and he pulled
me tightly against him.

"But if we're going to do this, you need to
understand what you're getting in to." He had to know. I had to
tell him what I feared was true.

"I'm not going to like what you're about to
say, am I?" he asked, his voice rumbling under my ear.

Dread sank into me. "Being with me might not
be safe. Aedodra has a brother."

"If he's a threat, we'll find him," Cooper
said, rubbing his cheek against my hair. "We'll stop him."

"And...I may not be...human. Or even Were."
I winced, bracing for the rejection that was inevitable. "I may not
be like anyone else alive."

Pulling back, Cooper gazed down at me.
"Sweetheart." He tipped his head down and brushed his lips across
mine. "That's what I love best about you."

"I'm serious, Cooper," I said, dodging his
mouth.

He cupped my face in his hands. "I don't
think you're grasping the concept of being a couple."

I considered pushing him away as fear and
excitement tangled together in the middle of my stomach.

"It means," he said softly,
"that no matter what's ahead for either of us, we'll face it
together.
Together
, Addie. You're not alone anymore."

Something warm and melty touched my heart.
Something so new I didn't have a clue what to do with it. "I'm—" My
throat tightened and I swallowed. "We'll see."

Cooper smiled. "We will." He dipped his head
toward me again, and his iC buzzed.

"Shouldn't you get that?" I asked and if
there was a touch of breathlessness in my voice, I'd never admit to
it.

"It can wait," he murmured.

"It might be a case."

"Right now, I don't care if it's the
President calling." Cooper tossed the iC onto the counter and
covered my mouth with his.

Since he put it that way, neither did I.