Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,60
might answer some questions, if I could charm her. And then, I felt the urge rising. My mother’s blood, already triggered, sprang to life and without thinking, I reached out and stroked my hand down the bartender’s face.
“What’s your name?”
She hesitated, almost pulling away, before catching her breath. “Aida.” She stared at me for another moment, then whispered, “You’re so beautiful.”
“That’s right,” I whispered, letting my fingers drift down her cheek. “And so are you. Aida, we need a few answers, and we’re really hoping you might be able to help us.”
She was lost now, caught in the waves of my glamour. I poured it on full strength, my gaze holding hers, my fingers lightly stroking her face, promising pleasure if she would only cooperate. I leaned closer, my lips close to her own.
“What do you want?” she asked, lost in my thrall.
“We need to know about the Spooks. I want you to look at a couple of pictures and tell us if you recognize them.” I glanced at Yutani and mouthed, “The victims…the ones we aren’t sure of.”
He looked like he wanted to kill me, but instead, he brought out his phone and tapped away, bringing up the pictures of Patrick and Dorian, the two Amy hadn’t been able to place at Fire & Fang. He showed them to Aida.
“Do you recognize them? Did they come in here? Were they members of the Spooks?” I asked, licking my upper lip ever so slightly as I remained face to face with the barkeep.
She was breathing heavily now. She glanced at the pictures. “Yes, I do recognize them. They used to come in here, but I haven’t seen them the past few weeks.”
I glanced around. Nobody was watching us that I could tell, and I couldn’t see Eldris around. Leaning forward, I placed my lips against Aida’s and gave her a long, deep kiss, breathing energy from her, drinking in her life force. Yutani forcefully grabbed my arm after a moment, and I almost backhanded him, but caught myself. I broke away from the bartender, doing my best to rein in my thirst.
I forced down the desire to siphon off more energy and managed to shake myself free from the urge. After a moment, I said, “You need to lie down and rest. Ask someone to take over your shift. As you sleep, you won’t really remember what happened.”
She nodded, shaking, and turned away.
“What the hell was that?” Yutani asked, keeping his voice low. But he looked fit to be tied. “That wasn’t keeping a low profile. What if Eldris had seen you?”
“I don’t think he did, and what it was, was me gathering information. Otherwise, we’re just sitting here, waiting for Raven. Now we know that all five victims belonged to the Spooks.” I glared at him, feeling testy, then with a shrug, turned back to the bar. I wanted to go home, grab Herne, and work off the energy that had built up in me. I was so horny I could barely stand it.
“Come on, let’s wander over toward the Spooks and see how Raven’s doing,” Yutani said, still looking pissed.
I followed him, keeping a step behind, as we approached the seating area where Raven was talking to a group of what I could only assume were fellow bone witches, necromancers, and other members of the magic-born who used death magic.
As I tried to maneuver around a couple who were dancing, I jolted into someone. I turned to apologize and found myself staring at one of the Ante-Fae. I wasn’t sure whether they were a woman or man, but they snorted, graciously stepping out of my way and motioning for me to proceed. I tried not to look back as I passed by, but I couldn’t help but wonder what business the Ante-Fae had here.
The pall around the Spooks was heavy, looming like a cloud. Most of them were men, but there were a few women. One in particular caught my attention, but I couldn’t figure out why. She was gorgeous, with long blond hair, an athletic, lithe figure, and ruby lips. Her eyes sparkled but in the dim light, it was hard to tell what color they were. She was wearing leather pants, a black V-neck sweater, and a pair of black stiletto ankle boots. And she was talking to Raven.
Raven caught a glimpse of us out of the corner of her eye and very softly inclined her head, then turned away, ignoring