Dusk Avenger (Flirting with Monsters #3) - Eva Chase Page 0,18

through my body at the hot crush of his mouth. I would have reached for him in turn if he hadn’t ripped himself away a second later.

The orange glow faded from his eyes, but his tawny hair had become thoroughly mussed without my even touching it. His jaw clenched at a harsh angle. There was Mr. Ice again.

He swiveled on his heel as if we hadn’t been twined like lovers just a moment ago. “We’re gathering up the others and getting out of here. That’s been enough commotion for one night. We’ve got a shoe museum to scuff up come tomorrow.”

6

Sorsha

As we strolled up to the museum entrance all casual-like, Ruse offered me his elbow as if he were a Victorian gentleman. The effect might have worked better without that goofy baseball hat perched over his horns.

“M’lady?” he said in a near-perfect imitation of Thorn’s somber voice.

I poked him with my own elbow instead. Thankfully, with some aloe and the healing powers that seemed to come with my ability to barbeque myself, the burns on my arms from last night were already pretty much gone. “Let’s save the joking for after we’ve gotten Snap and all the little beasties out of here.”

“Ah, you wound my heart,” he teased, but his warm eyes took in the foyer with total alertness. For all his playful nature, he was taking this operation seriously.

There were actually a shocking number of patrons browsing the glass cases holding various styles of shoes. A tourist couple snapped photos while their two kids tugged on their shirts, looking like they’d rather be anywhere else. A young guy in sneakers so puffed up he could have pulled off an excellent Donald Duck imitation exclaimed about the history of sporting footwear to a girl with glazed eyes. Good luck hitting a home run on this date, dude.

We passed boots worn by soldiers—not anyone who’d seen much action, from their pristine condition—and slippers supposedly possessed by emperors, with an obscene amount of gold thread. The celebrity hall of fame boasted diamond-encrusted stilettos worn by some pop star on a recent tour. Did she still have working ankles after stomping around a stage with those things strapped to her feet? Or vision, for that matter? Their sparkle was blinding. Luna would have approved, anyway.

We came up on the inner sanctum, its doorway discreetly tucked down a little hall between Put Those Soles To Work and A Watery Good Time—boat shoes and diving fins for the win!

Ruse didn’t give any noticeable signal, but he must have primed the guards he’d charmed well. A muscular woman in a tan uniform approached us with a respectful tip of her head.

“Everything’s in order, sir,” she said. “Let me know when you’re ready to begin your final inspection.”

Ruse put on an expression of total professionalism, but a hint of his roguish smirk showed through. I bit back a smile.

“I’d like to meet the other guards on duty out here first,” he said. “Everyone except Mack, I already spoke with him. If you could escort them over to the vestibule one at a time, so we can keep this discreet…?”

“Absolutely, sir, absolutely.”

“The vestibule?” I repeated with another twitch of my lips as she hustled off.

Ruse let his grin slip out. “One of my favorite words. Can’t go wrong with a good vestibule. Now let’s get over there so I can have the rest of this contingent singing our praises.”

There were only two other guards patrolling the collection during the day—the Company must have thought it was unlikely anyone would risk an invasion while there were so many witnesses around. Of course, that fact worked in our favor now. And once we had what we needed, we could clear the innocent bystanders out of the place with a pull of the fire alarm before any real fires got started.

As long as we kept the situation totally under our control.

Ruse made great friends with the other two guards in a matter of minutes—easier when he only needed the influence to last for an hour or so now. As much as I hated these people who’d dedicated their lives to eradicating the shadowkind, watching the incubus work his charm was still a little unnerving. I couldn’t completely suppress the faint but chilly quiver as I remembered the other shadowkind who’d toyed with me as a child using his own brand of persuasive voodoo.

But Luna had chased the jackass off, and I emerged unscathed, and Ruse wasn’t anything like that prick. I