Drowning In The Dark - Pippa DaCosta Page 0,17
Harper? As much fun as this wasn’t, I needed to make progress. Still, I filed his revelation away for possible leverage against Adam. I’d learned that secrets make generous currency. “We can argue this all day and night. While we do, Akil’s getting angrier, and more demons are spilling through the veil. Let me help you.”
“I will.” He smiled that oh-so-friendly smile. “When you agree to P-C-Thirty-Four.”
“I can’t.”
“It’s temporary. You know that. Once you leave the facility, you’ll be given the antidote.”
He even looked sincere, like he believed his own bullshit. “Adam, the last time you said that, I spent six months with your poison in my veins. I was nearly killed by my owner while you procrastinated over my so-called wellbeing. I may be volatile, but I’m not stupid.”
“You have my word.”
I lifted my brow. “I’d rather die.” I might well die if I didn’t sort my shit out soon.
“Then we’re at an impasse.”
“Yes, we are.”
CHAPTER SIX
Walking back to my car, I considered how I’d failed my mission to get inside the Institute’s base. I had learned that Adam was still in love with Yukki Onna. Could I use that? Everyone has a weakness. Was she his? Was I wrong for even considering exploiting him? Hell, no. Bigger picture. I needed to get to the half bloods, and just because Adam might have a heart, didn’t mean I wouldn’t shove him in front of a bus given half a chance.
I crossed the street and descended into the parking garage. A familiar figure leaned against my car. He’d retrieved his long leather coat. Faded to the color of dried-blood, it bore scuffs and tears that should have seen it tossed in the trash. But he’d kept it. I allowed myself a few moments of selfish admiration. He stood demon-still, arms crossed over his chest, head tilted a little to one side, a curious, knowing smile playing on his lips. At least, I guessed as much. I couldn’t quite see the smile, but if the sensuous touch of his element was anything to go by, he had mischief on his mind.
“Well?” Stefan asked as I drew closer.
“I thought you’d have high tailed it back to the netherworld by now.” I checked over my shoulder and scanned the shadows draped over the dozen or so parked cars. We were alone, no Institute tails. Stefan hadn’t budged from my car door, but the invisible lick of his element swirled around him. I planted a hand on my hip and lifted my chin. “I didn’t get in. Adam won’t let me near their base with my demon intact. He says I’m half way to crazy town, and he’s got a point.”
“I could force the information out of him,” Stefan replied, deadly serious.
Oh-kay. “You’d kill him.”
The corner of his mouth tucked into his cheek, twisting his smile. “Yeah, there is that.”
“And you’re reformed, remember?”
He flinched. “And that.”
“So you’re hanging around my car because…?”
His gaze drifted to me, pinning me beneath its crystalline shimmer. A flush of heat spilled through my veins. My element sparked to life as surely as if he’d deliberately reached inside and stoked the fire. I swallowed, failing miserably at hiding my very physical reaction to his presence. “There might be something we can use,” I blurted, shifting my feet, and pretending to find the walls of the parking garage fascinating. Damn, he had power. It rolled off him, impossible to ignore and deliciously distracting. My demon blinked awake, very much alert and suddenly hungry for a Stefan-shaped snack. “Your mom, Yukki Onna.”
He sucked in a breath and drew the power with it, pulling it back from me as though he’d stolen the quilt on a bed. I shook out my hands, a demon reaction to rid my skin of the residual tingling.
“What about her?”
“He loves her.”
“What?”
“Adam loves Yukki Onna.”
Stefan hesitated, mind working as his scowl tightened. “How did you get him to admit that?”
“It just sorta…came up in conversation.”
He made a derisive sound in the back of his throat. “So how is his undying love for my demon mother going to help us?”
Well, at least the sarcasm now masked what I assumed to be anger and the lust-shaped elephant in the garage had vanished. “I’ve no idea. Would she come here? If you asked her to?”
He shifted, scuffing his boots on the floor. “Do you think it’d make a difference? Would he bargain his feelings for the Institute?”
“This is the same Adam, right? The man who bargains like a demon? He