replied vehemently. “She’s my sister, dammit. I’d never let that happen to her.”
Arys moved fast, a blur of motion. He was dangerously close to Juliet, scowling down into her face. “You led the fucking team that came to get her.”
Briggs pulled his gun and trained it on Arys. That might work on some vampires but not on my vampire. Arys never took his eyes off Juliet. He merely snapped his fingers, and Briggs’s gun flew from his hand and skidded across the pavement.
I laid a hand on his arm. “Arys, please.”
I didn’t have to say anything else. Reluctantly, he backed off. Juliet’s eyes were wide, and the scent of fear rolled off her. She wasn’t foolish enough to try pulling a weapon.
Agent Briggs was fuming. He was also looking at Arys with a new sense of intrigue. Showing even a small display of power in front of the FPA was a bad idea.
“Would it be too much to expect you people to sit down and have a civilized discussion?” Briggs stooped to retrieve his gun. He stuffed it back in the holster but rested a hand atop it.
“You people?” I rounded on him with a snarl. The urge to bare my four vicious fangs at him was strong, but I held the wolf back. “We’re just monsters to you, aren’t we? You don’t see us as human in any way. We were once, you know. Human. Like you.”
Briggs looked down his nose at me, haughty and self-assured. “You are a monster, Ms. O’Brien. That’s just a cold, hard fact. But, I don’t believe that makes you void of any humanity whatsoever. I meant no offense.”
“I think we’re done here. I have nothing further to say to you.”
I didn’t want to give Briggs a chance to coerce me into staying; I couldn’t count on Arys to behave himself. He was eyeing up Briggs with a devilish glint in his eyes.
“We need your help, Ms. O’Brien. You want to talk about dangerous demons? Let’s talk about Shya.” The agent’s face softened. “That’s not even his real name. Demons don’t give their real names if they can help it. He’s up to something, and we need to stop him. You’re the closest one to him that can help us.”
Arys’s energy was hot and scattered. His growing frustration was palpable, teasing my senses. I wanted to get him out of there before he did something I’d regret, but I was curious as to how much the FPA knew about Shya that perhaps I didn’t.
“Clearly you’re misinformed about my relationship with Shya.” I kept my voice low so it wouldn’t carry outside the four of us. “I don’t have one. I never did. He never interacted with me personally until recently. He sure as hell hasn’t shared any of his big bad plans.”
“Yet he trusted you to help him bind a demon goddess that he is supposed to bow down to. Sounds personal enough.” Briggs smiled slightly, as if sure he had me there.
“Shya and I both had our reasons for that. They were entirely selfish. We weren’t doing each other any favors.” I wasn’t happy to hear that they knew about that. “I want to make it very clear to you that I have no alliance with that demon. Whatever he’s up to, I don’t know about it, and I sure as hell have no part in it.”
Briggs didn’t believe me. Skepticism colored the grimace he wore. “Would you be willing to help us gather more information?”
I wanted to tell Briggs to sit on it and rotate. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I saw a chance to learn more about the FPA and what they were up to, so I reconsidered. Could I make this work to my advantage?
I exchanged a glance with Arys, sharing so much with just a look. Tilting my head, I gave Briggs my best smile and purred, “What’s in it for me?”
He couldn’t hide the relief that swept over his hard features. Relief quickly gave way to a cryptic grin that didn’t sit well with me. My stomach flipped a few times. Briggs’s grin grew until it was downright unnerving.
“I’ll tell you what really happened to Kale Sinclair.”
Chapter Three
“Are you fucking kidding me?” The words spilled out, driven by a crash of emotion. A growl rumbled in my throat, and I was all fangs and claws.
Briggs raised his weapon. Uncertainty replaced his smug smile. So much for negotiating with the FPA. Briggs had uttered