Dusk Avenger (Flirting with Monsters #3) - Eva Chase Page 0,100
last look at my transformed self in the mirror and then tugged the wig off. The plan was to move out in a little more than an hour. We wanted to be sure the business day had begun in Europe before we grabbed the boss here, because we couldn’t count on keeping our hands on him for all that long once we had him. Get in there, pull him and then his boss under Ruse’s spell, and end the Company for good—as fast as we could manage it.
All our running and fighting might be over tonight. It was too bad Omen wasn’t here to see it. Of course, maybe he’d have argued every detail of my scheme.
I’d found a part for each of us to play. Antic had brought in our first Company lackey; Snap had found the ticket to the boss. The rest of us would tackle that boss tonight. Our combined if very different skills were going to bring this all together… as long as I hadn’t miscalculated in any way.
As long as all those pieces lined up just right when it mattered most. And as long as the powers lurking inside me didn’t act up at the wrong moment in the wrong way.
I inhaled slowly, reminding myself of the inner cooling techniques Omen had talked me through, and someone knocked on the bedroom door. I could tell it was Ruse from the jaunty rhythm of it before he even spoke. “I hope that black monstrosity hasn’t swallowed you whole, Miss Blaze.”
I opened the door. “I wouldn’t call it a monstrosity. It’s actually not a bad look. Maybe I’ll have to keep it when all this is done.”
Ruse made a scoffing sound and curled a stray red strand around his fingers, his chuckles caressing my jaw. “You can’t be Miss Blaze without this.”
“The actual fire that can pour out of my body isn’t enough to justify the nickname?”
“I suppose I might make a temporary exception.” He stroked the side of my face again, a whiff of his bittersweet scent reaching my nose. The gentleness of the gesture woke up a flutter in my chest alongside the heat that always came with his touch. “Shouldn’t you be getting a little more sleep before the big play?”
I grimaced. “I tried—and I managed a little. I don’t think I’ll be able to totally relax until this is over.”
“It should be simple enough, shouldn’t it? You coax the Man In Charge onto that elevator, and the second you’re out on the floor below, we pop out to distract him while you yank off any protections he brought with him. Then I’ll get him eating out of my hand.” The incubus smirked. “Possibly literally, if we have time for that.”
“Right. Piece of cake.” But I’d thought that plenty of times in the past, and ever since these shadowkind had entered my life, my ability to judge hadn’t been quite as sharp as it’d used to be. Too much chaos in the mix.
Leaning into his caress, I rested my hand on his chest just below the collar of his sleek button-up shirt. “The plan does put a lot of the burden on you.”
“Do you hear me complaining?” The incubus slid his fingertips along my jaw to tilt up my chin, his warm hazel eyes holding mine. “I never expected to be the cornerstone of any operation we carried out here, Sorsha. I figured I’d be a convenient tool to smooth along the larger plans. Turns out I’m good for more than that after all—and I’m flattered that you believed that before it ever occurred to me.”
I couldn’t help smiling back at him with a playful tug of his collar. “I do have a talent for spotting valuable objects. Very handy in my usual line of work.” My good humor faded as I considered the point of uncertainty our entire plan rested on. “We don’t know what kind of personal protections he might be wearing, though. It won’t necessarily be as simple as luring him out and snapping off a badge. If you all jump out at him too early…”
“Then we decide on a signal for you to give us as our cue.”
“That won’t work if I need you to spring out the second the elevator opens. And even if I don’t, anything odd I say or do might tip him off. He’ll already be on edge.”
Frowning, I dropped my gaze. If we could have used radio gear, I might have been able to make