you came from?” I asked.
“I don’t need anything from you,” she said.
“Right, honey,” I said. “You had Rye fooled, but he’s not that sharp. You don’t come into my club jacked up on whatever the hell that is. You want in? You come clean. You got that?”
“I’m not jacked up,” she said. Now, as I got close to her, I couldn’t sense that fire anymore. Hell, maybe I was wrong about her. I still felt her adrenaline, but her skin was cool, almost icy now.
“I am clean,” she said. “And I can pay. In gold.”
“I bet you can,” I said. “But not today. Go home. Think about it.”
She put her hands on her hips. Her eyes flickered as she weighed her options. No way she could get past me. If she thought Rye would come to her rescue, I think the idea soon faded. Even he knew not to cross me.
“Try next week,” I said. “And bring twice as much as whatever you brought tonight. Maybe I’ll let you in.”
“Oh,” she said, purring it. “I know you’ll let me in.”
She slid her hand up my chest. God, she felt good. Cinnamon. Honey. Woman. Her scent filled me. She wanted a rise out of me. I knew she was playing me, but I wasn’t sure I minded.
“Archer,” she whispered, licking her lips. My vision clouded. In the dim light, I didn’t know if she could see my wolf eyes. It didn’t matter; she got me to growl.
“Go home,” I said. “Because I promise, I bite.”
She let out a little gasp but took a step back. I don’t know what she saw in my eyes, but it was enough to scare her. Behind me, I sensed Topher and Lupin falling in step. She knew she couldn’t get by any of us.
“Next week,” I said.
She set her jaw, then turned. Her boots clacked on the wooden floor as she walked away.
I waited until she was out of sight before I went back in.
“Archer?” Topher said. “What the hell, man? J.C. is going nuts.”
Shit. J.C. In the heat of it all, I’d switched off my earpiece. I pushed past the other men and made my way up the stairs to J.C.’s suite.
They weren’t wrong. When I opened the door, I found him pacing in front of the two-way glass. J.C. Jameson Cruz. Sector boss for northern Cali, one of the biggest Ring-occupied territories in the country. And the one bastard who might be able to give me what I wanted if I played him right. If I didn’t kill him first.
“What happened down there?” he asked.
“She was high,” I said. “Fire magic. I got a glimpse of it just before Rye did his thing. Something strong. Made her light up.”
“Bullshit,” J.C. said. “You’re no witch, Archer. Your job is muscle, not magic.”
“I know what I saw,” I said. “And my job is to keep shit from going wrong down there. If Rye had shot that girl up, she’d either be dead or have the I.Q. of an eggplant within the hour. You don’t need that.”
“What I need,” he said, charging toward me, “is that girl.”
“She’s gone,” I said. “I sent her back to wherever she came from. You’re gonna have to trust me on this one, boss. But don’t worry. She’s hungry. She’ll be back.”
“She had coin, didn’t she?” he asked.
I shrugged. “She said so. I didn’t see it.”
“I did,” J.C. said. He turned and pointed to one of the computer screens where he monitored security footage. He pulled up the feed from the front door. He hit the screen, and I watched Phaedra come to the front of the club an hour ago. J.C. paused the frame. Phaedra held out a single coin but had several more in her palm.
“We can’t afford to turn away rich girls, Archer,” he said.
“She’ll be back,” I said, but found myself hoping she wouldn’t, for her sake. For mine, a different hunger flared through me at the sight of her on that little screen.
“New mission,” he said. “Find her.”
“What? I’m not a procurer, J.C.”
“You are whatever I want you to be,” he said, his voice rising. Little sparks swirled around his head, lifting his hair. J.C.’s own magic let loose. The stench of it turned my stomach.
Fae magic. Though rumor had it he was only half. Still, if I stayed in a room with him too long, it made me want to puke.
Fucking fae.
“Go after her,” he said. “You were close enough to catch her scent, I