Blood and Kisses - By Karin Shah Page 0,79

standing among the twitching corpses. His hands stained, his sword broken.

Inanna’s curse. And later, the hardened mercenary. The mortals didn’t stand a chance, the monster reminded him. You were faster, stronger, able to manipulate their will. What’s your excuse for that?

“I worked as a mercenary,” he said into the silence that had followed her pronouncement of faith. Let her defend him against that charge.

Thalia looked at him, her mouth opened and closed. It seemed she didn’t know what to say, then she asked in a tone that said she already knew the answer. “You fought for the strong? You massacred old men, women, and children? You worked for the highest bidder?”

It was Gideon’s turn to be at a loss for words. He wanted to say yes. But it wasn’t the truth. “No.” He grinned ruefully. “I’ve always been a sucker for a lost cause, but don’t think nobility played a part. Don’t think I was some sort of hero. I did it for the challenge.”

“Hmm.” Thalia turned away, but in the passenger-side window he could see the reflection of the smile she struggled to hide.

Despite the intensity of the conversation and the pain that lingered in her chest, Thalia couldn’t quite quell the victorious smile that bubbled up as Gideon tried to spin the truth to fit the lie he’d believed for so long.

He stopped the car. They’d arrived.

“What’s the plan?”

“We’re just a couple out for a drink.” As he spoke, Gideon seemed to shorten and grow broader, and a small paunch formed at his waist. His features shifted and flattened, his hairline retreated. Soon he was wearing baggy khaki shorts and a white golf shirt.

He looked like a former high school football player who had started to go to seed. Thalia summoned a glamour. The spell came over her with an ease she’d never known.

Why had she been unable to tap into these powers before? She sighed and put her questions away. Time to get to work.

She checked her reflection in the car window. A tall, bleached blonde with skinny jeans pasted on her legs and a cropped, white T-shirt with a sparkly multi-colored butterfly decal molded to her chest gazed back at her.

“We won’t fool Akos, but we don’t need to. He wants to find us as much as we want to find him.” Gideon put a hand under her elbow and escorted her toward the Tomb. She could see him noting the position of the various police officers, male and female, watching the bar.

Thalia muttered the beginning of a shielding spell. The final words of the prophecy reverberated in her head.

The ancient dead but living

shall attain great power

When the marked one dies

and a sacrifice is made

By one who rose long ago

from the grave.

If the prophecy were right, she wasn’t sure she wanted to find Akos at all.

She was in no hurry to die.

She wished she could conjure up courage as easily as her newfound powers. She placed her hand on Gideon’s arm, drawing fortitude from his potent aura.

“There’s one more thing I want to say before we go in.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “I don’t want you to think I’m asking for anything from you. You’ve made your feelings clear. I accept that. But if we should fail tonight,”—she put a hand on his mouth to quiet his automatic protest—“If we should fail, I want you to know that you can’t be all bad. Otherwise, I wouldn’t love you.”

Gideon stopped dead in his tracks and Thalia, in her teetering heels, almost tripped on the uneven pavement. There was some emotion she couldn’t read in his eyes. Shock? Distaste?

She swallowed the lump in her throat. Before he could speak she said, “We’ve got work to do.”

Gideon shot one last look at her and helped her up the cement steps. He opened the door to the Tomb, and Thaila stepped into the smoky room. The familiar surroundings calmed her nerves for a moment. Tom nodded to them as they approached the bar, no sign of recognition in his eyes. Gideon nodded back and ordered their drinks.

“Do you see him?” Thalia took her drink and leaned one elbow on the bar, casually surveying the room.

Gideon took a sip of his drink. “Not yet. Do you know any of the pettys here?”

Thalia let her gaze meander from face to face. The cops were easy to pick out. Their cheerful expressions and relaxed body language cried, “play”, but their serious, ever-searching eyes screamed, “work.” “I’ve met some of the cops