Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell) - By Jenn Bennett Page 0,60
coke habit and is also looking for a steroid hookup.” Hajo gestured to the party outside the door. “I’m trying to placate him. Get him introduced to people who can steer him away from me. I don’t need a high-profile client with a big mouth.”
“Tough to be you.” I glanced around. “Your place is . . . really freakin’ nice.”
“Don’t act so surprised.”
“Well, geez. The first time I met you was in that hellhole in Waxtown.”
His chin lifted as he made a vague noise of acknowledgment. “Cristina’s place. She was a pig.”
“I’m sure she wasn’t the only one,” I muttered.
His lazy gaze rambled over my body. “Oink.”
“Don’t start.”
“You’ve got a little extra something going on tonight, Bell,” he said, waving his hand up and down between us. “Your energy’s sharper. What’s up with that?”
Hajo once told me that he could sense living energy trails, not just dead ones. Said my energy was different and he could probably track it, which scared the bejesus out of me, truthfully. And now that he’d noticed something different, I thought of my moon magick and my mother. A dull panic surfaced. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just busier. More potent. Riper.”
“Maybe you’re just higher,” I said.
“Maybe. Have you gained weight? Your breasts are starting to balance out that big ass of yours.”
I think my mouth fell open. Sure, Kar Yee’s shirt made a ridiculous show of my boobs, but this was my own T-shirt. Was I really getting fat? And, oh my God, why was I even listening? Who says this kind of stuff?
“It was a compliment,” he explained. “Your ass is marvelous.”
“What’s the matter with you? Stop saying shit like that.”
“Me? What’s eating you? You’re in a horrible mood.”
Pfft. Like I was going to tell him. I grumbled to myself and jerked my head away, but he just stared at me, waiting. “Lon’s ex-wife is in town.”
He whistled. “The hot supermodel.”
“She’s way hotter in person.”
“Nice. I mean, not for you. That blows. Are they getting back together or something?”
“Over my dead body. Or hers.”
“Mmm, smells like jealousy,” he said with a smirk.
“Shut the hell up.”
He shrugged and looked at the paintings again. “So, what did you want from me?”
“Nothing, now.”
“Oh, come on. Tell me what you’re here for. Another dowsing job? That last one didn’t turn out so well. I’m not all that jazzed about stumbling into magical cockroaches again.”
“Me neither.” I reached into my jacket and pulled out the red vial. “Do you know what this is?”
His eyes narrowed. “Looks like an elixir. Already gave one of these back to you, though I’m still fuzzy on why, exactly.” He shook his head and swallowed, momentarily lost in remembering. He hadn’t figured out that Jupe persuaded him with his knack. I’d definitely like to keep it that way.
Music spilled into the room. I looked up and saw someone standing in the doorway, a man about my age with long blond hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. One of the barefooted girls roaming Hajo’s place had her hands all over him, trying to get his shirt unbuttoned.
“Do you not understand what a closed door means? Get the hell out of here, Darren,” Hajo snapped. “And don’t even think about heading to my bedroom. Go bang in your own apartment.”
“Sorry,” the man mumbled, high as a kite. I held the red vial behind my back until they retreated and closed the doors again.
“Asshole trust funder,” Hajo said under his breath.
“Not a friend, I take it?”
“He lives on the floor below. Always begging me for shit. Spoiled asshole. Just like everyone else here. I hate every last person who lives in this damn building.” He nodded to the hand behind my back. “Anyway, you were saying?”
“This isn’t my brew,” I said, showing him the vial again. “You really haven’t seen this?”
He held out his hand. “May I?”
My fingers brushed his when I passed it to him. A little burst of static electricity almost made me drop the bottle.
He sucked in a breath. “Oh, Bell. One of these days . . .”
“One of these days you’re going to fall for someone who’ll want you back. And if you’re lucky, they’ll be patient enough to stick around while you wean yourself off the sømna.”
Dark lashes blinked as he regarded the bottle with curiosity, holding it to the light. “What am I looking at?”
“Bionic juice.”
Every muscle tensed. His gaze locked with mine. “You’re joking.”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“Three people have asked me for it tonight. Including the quarterback and that