in with Javier, only this time Stefan was the one lounging back against the sofa. She pulled the packet of fake diamonds from her purse and handed them to him, then retrieved the bunched-up tissue from the pocket of her slacks. He sat forward, his gaze intent on her. “These are the real ones,” she said as she handed the tissue to him.
He unfolded it and stared at the two raw diamonds in his palm. “Excellent,” he breathed. He looked up at her, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Well done, Keira. Very well done.” He leaned back and crossed his legs. “I’m sure we’ll have other things you can assist us with, especially in the next several days.” A hungry look flitted through his eyes, and she prepared herself to start deflecting his intent to feed. But just as he scooted to the edge of the sofa, his hand reaching toward her, two raps sounded on the door.
Stefan’s lips tightened and he called out a terse, “Come.”
The door opened and another vampire poked his head around the edge. “You’re needed. Now.”
A harsh sigh burst from Stefan. “Can’t it wait?” His gaze drifted back to Keira, and she saw the crimson ringing his irises. His hunger was growing. If he stayed, she’d really have to pull out all the stops to fake him out.
“No.” The vampire stooge winced at the sharp glare Stefan sent him. “You have a call, and he insists on talking to you now.”
Stefan cleared his throat and stood. He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. After pressing a light kiss to her knuckles, he murmured, “Later, my dear.”
Keira scurried out of the club, but not before washing her hands…twice. She mulled over their conversation as she drove away from the club. What had he meant when he’d said she’d be able to help them with other things? There wasn’t time to plan any elaborate scheme and pull it off before the next rift. So what else could he have planned for a grifter like her?
She glanced at the digital clock on the dash. Eight fifteen. She grabbed her phone and called Caladh. He picked up on the first ring. “I have news.”
“Meet me at the contemporary art museum,” he said.
Half an hour later, after doing her best to make sure she wasn’t still being followed, she stood next to him in front of an abstract painting by a local artist and brought him up to date on what she knew of the rogue group. “For all his grandiosity,” she said, “Stefan Liuz has plans that are well thought out. He may be crazy, but he’s also very smart.”
“I am not at all comfortable that they’re raising the kind of capital they seem to be.” The selkie councilor glanced at her and then put his gaze back on the painting. “Do what you can to foil his intentions. You’re my best asset, so be careful. Don’t do anything to jeopardize your position in the group.”
“Or my life,” she muttered.
“Yes, yes, of course.” Caladh seemed irritated by her clarification. Was he becoming too focused on the goal to remember the asset he’d put in danger? “We cannot lose the foothold we now have.” He glanced at her again. “You say Finn Evnissyen has joined the group?”
She gave a nod.
“I trust you’ll not allow your personal feelings toward him to influence your decisions in any way.”
She frowned.
“My dear, you haven’t exactly made your flirtations secret. You and he have been seen together in public, dancing at Devil’s Domain, having dinner. You’re both, by all accounts, quite flirtatious with each other.”
She couldn’t deny that. Finn was fun to flirt with, and to be flirted with. “It won’t be a problem,” she promised.
“See that it’s so.” He paused and then exhaled on a soft sigh. “Keep me informed.” He walked away, hands behind his back.
After a few minutes Keira left the gallery as well. It was time to slough off the unpleasantness of the evening. She had a long overdue shower to get to.
“Meet me at your mother’s house, all right?” Finn gave a low growl at Nix’s obstinacy. He’d been on the phone with her for five minutes, trying to get her to agree to see him. Sweet Jesus, but she was even more obstinate now that she was part vampire than she ever had been as half human. “I promise you I only want to talk,” he said.
Finally she agreed and hung