the thing.” He swept his gaze over me. “Though there’s a free solution.”
The portrait of innocence, Bishop leaned in. “Oh?”
“Let her feed on multiple partners.”
Ugh.
I never saw that one coming.
“She’s got a taste for me, I’m afraid.” Bishop rubbed at his mouth. “I heard you’ve got a fix for that.”
“I’ve got a stimulant that will keep you going for days.” He dialed the ick factor up to ten when he waggled his eyebrows at me. “How’s that sound?”
Like he wanted me to punch in his teeth. “Great.”
“Let me check my supply.” He scanned the massive open room from left to right. “Give me a minute.”
Once we were alone, I glared a hole through the side of Bishop’s head. “A succubus?”
“He’s a little blue pill dealer. I had to pitch him a plausible issue.”
“You couldn’t have told him you were an incubus?”
“How sad would that be? An incubus who couldn’t get it up?” He shook his head. “I flattered you. Why would you want to insult me?”
The cover did fit the situation, but sheesh. All this sex talk was squicking me out. For the most part, Bishop treated me like a kid sister. Hearing the fictional state of his erection made me super uncomfortable.
And, if I was being honest, it might have also slid my thoughts in a different direction. One with blond hair, blue eyes, and a spot reserved in my bed.
Truth be told, I had trouble relaxing when his hands roamed in his sleep. It made me wonder if I could get away with blaming my subconscious for my hands wandering too.
Probably not.
“This is the last batch.” Luke jogged over with a vial in hand. “You’re lucky you got here in time.”
That line didn’t really work on people, did it? I bet he had a box full of the stuff hidden away.
“Good enough?” I checked with Bishop, who nodded. “Excellent.”
I stuck out my hand to accept the vial then tossed it to Bishop. He caught it while I clamped my hand over Luke’s wrist and twisted his arm behind him. I leveraged his arm higher until he squeaked and trembled, and then I got down to business.
“You’re ex-coven.” I gave him time to answer, but he shut his mouth. “That’s what I’ve heard. The thing is, you’re peddling roach Viagra out of a church, and that makes me curious how you came by it if you’ve cut ties with them.”
“I left with my supply after some psycho bitch killed Iliana.” He struggled against me. “I haven’t had contact with them since.”
“How did you come into possession of the spermatophores then?”
“Spermawhat?” He wrenched his head toward me. “What is that?”
“You’re selling mutant roach sperm. Did you not get that memo?”
Pallor swept through him, and he sagged. “I didn’t know.”
“No one ever does,” Bishop chimed in. “The I didn’t do it disease is sweeping the nation.”
“A friend gave them to me to unload,” he protested. “She said they were too hot for her to move.”
“She’s coven, I assume.”
“Yeah.” His knees buckled, and I had to help him sit or let him fall. “She’s still in.”
“Hadley,” Bishop warned, taking a step closer. “Get back.”
“Where are they?” I used my modified pen to draw a restraining sigil on his wrists. “Help us, and we’ll go easy on you.”
“You can’t…” He toppled onto his side. “I can’t believe she…”
His eyes rolled back in his head, and froth dribbled from the corner of his mouth.
“No, no, no.” I rushed over and checked for a pulse but found nothing. “He’s dead.”
“He recognized you.” Bishop cursed under his breath. “He took something when he went to the back. That or he tucked a pill into his cheek just in case.”
Coven members probably kept a wanted poster with my name on it stuck to their refrigerators, but he was supposed to be out, frak it all.
The heart was viable for the next few minutes, so I had to ask, “Do you think he was still active?”
“There’s no way to tell.” He loomed over the body. “We better err on the side of caution.”
Natisha didn’t strike me as the forgiving sort, so I nodded quick agreement.
“The coven must have invested a chunk of time and money into creating the Martian Roaches.” He crouched and went through Luke’s pockets. “Maybe they cut a dead one up into little pieces to find out what, if anything, the other bits and pieces were good for. Luke might have been placed here to peddle spare parts to parishioners. Easier to track folks, and