Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,52

blank for a moment, then she laughed and shook her head. “No. Just no. You and Yutani would kill each other. I think you could end up good friends, but right now I can tell you that we’d have to drag the river if you two got involved.”

I nodded. “I know. If Yutani and I were together, we’d either burn each other to a crisp, or we’d blow it all sky-high. He likes to control the relationship, and I won’t be controlled. Not that way.” I bit into my sandwich and then began spooning the soup into my mouth.

We ate in comfortable silence for a while, the only sounds those of the traffic outside, and of Mr. Rumblebutt playing with one of his squeaky toys. He brought it to me and dropped it at my feet. The toy was a stuffed squirrel that squeaked when you shook it, and I picked it up and threw it down the hallway for him. He raced to it, bringing it back again.

We played fetch while I ate. Angel and I seemed to be in a similar mood, because we ate in a comfortable silence. But the staccato tick of the grandfather clock reminded me that tonight, I’d be deep into the Catacombs, looking for a murderer. Once again, the feeling of foreboding cast a pall over my mood, but this time I let myself drift in the sensation, not fighting, but only observing.

Chapter Twelve

I called Yutani from the grocery store. Except for the remains of last night’s dinner, the cupboards were bare and I had told Angel I’d do the shopping if she would weed the raised vegetable beds we had planted.

“I’m not sure if I should dress as usual, or in some leather bondage gear, or a Love Shed nightgown with peekaboo nipple tassels.” I prayed he wouldn’t suggest the latter two.

“Black mini-dress, low cut. I’ll bring a collar for you—don’t ask, it won’t hurt.” He sounded like he was enjoying this a bit too much. “Wear flats. Stilettos would be more appropriate, but if we have to run, I don’t want you stumbling. Also, while the dress should show off all your assets, make sure it doesn’t slow you down by being too tight, and make sure your tattoo is covered.”

I felt better. That Yutani was considering my safety made the whole endeavor more bearable. “Anything else? What about weapons?”

“They have a metal detector at the door. You can’t bring in anything like a dagger. We’re going to have to watch our step in there, and make certain we don’t engage in a situation likely to blow up in our faces, because we’re going in unarmed.” He paused, then added, “Remember to leave the silver at home, out of courtesy to the vamps.”

“Right, I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I’d take my whip as part of my costume, but I doubt they’d allow it in.” Yutani’s father—the Great Coyote—had given him a whip as a present. We weren’t sure all that it was capable of, but it was woven with ilithiniam in it—a silvery blue metal that was magical in nature and difficult to find. The dwarves were able to dig deep enough to mine it, but it might as well have been a myth to most people. Great Coyote had woven the metal into thin strands, and plaited it into the braided whip as he made it.

“I wish you could. For what it’s worth, Raven and I will have our magical abilities. Speaking of which, she’ll be at my place at five p.m. See you then.”

I hung up, mentally running over the clothes in my closet as I added various cheeses to the cart. We needed just about everything, so I made a clean sweep of the supermarket, piling the cart high. I added the frozen goods at the end—ice cream and frozen veggies and several heat-and-serve meals for when we were too tired to cook. Then, with one last stop in the cat food aisle for litter and food, I headed to the checkout stand. Three hundred and fifty dollars later, I transferred the groceries into my car and headed home.

Angel was mowing the front lawn and as I pulled into the driveway, she met me at the car, helping me carry the groceries in.

“Yutani wants me to wear a black mini-dress and flats tonight. I don’t think I have a black mini-dress. I guess I have to go shopping, right? Except I really don’t want to.” I frowned at the