chin as I shoved him back into the wall. Yelping, he froze when I used my free hand to find his nuts. That fast, it was over, and Al was laughing.
"Still think you don't owe me anything?" I shouted, inches from his face, and giving a little squeeze. Okay, maybe I could do bad cop.
"Ow," he said, not moving apart from his chest as he breathed fast. "Let go, Rachel."
"Why?" I said. "You don't use em!"
"I'm not helping you," Nick said breathily. "You can go screw a demon for all I care."
From behind me Al chuckled. "No offense, but this is a lot more entertaining."
Having made my point, I let go and backed up out of his reach. I was shaking inside, but I wasn't ready to give up yet. Not by a long shot. "You're not the man I thought you were," I said. "Thief extraordinaire? Right. Fine. I'll go talk to Rose. I should have gone to her anyway. Come on, Al. Nick doesn't have the guts for it."
"Rose?" Al said, confused as he looked at me from around an open crate.
"Yeah, the gal at the place with the thing?" Turning my back on Nick, I went to the middle of the room and stood as if waiting for Al to join me so we could pop out. In a bad temper that wasn't faked, I scoffed, "You don't think you're the only thief I've run into, do you? The Turn diamond? Or England's lodestone? Who do you think lifted them?" I was making this up as I went along, but the diamond was legendary, as was the lode-stone.
Catching my drift, Al sidled closer to me. "You are a versatile itchy witch," he cooed, and I wiggled my fingers to get his lips away from my ear.
Nick, though, had paused. "No one's lifted them," he said, doubt on his face. "They're right where they belong, under enough security to kill a cockroach."
I smiled brightly. "I'm sure you're right. Al? We've got only a few hours."
"Quite right!" he said brightly, and I slipped my arm in his, dropping one foot behind the other to pose with him. God, Nick was easier to manipulate than my brother.
My heart pounded as I felt the line take us, and I had a moment of panic. This didn't count. If Al took me out of here before I could finish the deal, it didn't count!
"Wait!" Nick's voice came thinly, and I heard Al swear, but we misted back into existence to see Nick standing there with his long, sensitive hand outstretched in doubt. A surge of adrenaline and sexual excitement pulsed in me. Shit, I'm not getting turned on over this?
Al must have sensed it, because he leaned closer, his hand curving around my side, then withdrawing lightly across my back to make me quiver. "Sweet mother of chaos," he breathed. "Rachel, you are indeed one of us. Have your time in the sun. You're worth the extra wait."
Licking my lips, I stood, unable to move. The blood pounded low in my groin, and I clenched my teeth. Damn it, I was not getting turned on by besting Nick in a game of bluff!
Am I?
"What's the take?" Nick asked warily, eying me so closely that I had to wonder if he knew what was going through my mind.
Swallowing, I pulled from Al. "I want to steal something from Trent." Something more than his hoof pick this time.
Al dropped back, humming happily about this little witch of mine.
Nick looked me up and down. "Lab, office, or living quarters?"
Damn it, I think Yvegot him! There'd be the obligatory pissing contest, but he'd do it. "Thief's choice, just not his living quarters."
Nick grabbed a couple of twist ties from the trash and laced a boot closed. "Why not his rooms?"
I shrugged, shifting farther from both men. "I promised I wouldn't."
"Can I take a person?" Nick asked, and I recoiled.
"No. A thing. I don't care what it is. I figured you'd know better than me what Trent has in his basement that he's not sharing with the world. It has to be something embarrassing and sensational. Something he wants back, bad, but doesn't want to admit having."
Nick looked up from tying his second boot with a twist tie. "Blackmail? He gets the coven off your case or you go public with it?" His head shook. "He'll just kill you."
"Which is why I'm giving it back before he has the chance," I said. I didn't think Trent would