at the bills as if he found them distasteful and stuffed them into his pocket. “You don’t get to decide when we’re done. I’m feeling like a snack. Get me a pie from that shop.” He pointed to a bakery across the street.
Was he kidding me? I opened my mouth to tell him where he could shove his pie… and then realized there was an even better option. Instead, I gave him another smile. “Does it have to be stolen, or can I buy it? And any particular flavor you’d like, boss?”
Really, calling him “boss” should have tipped him off. I could almost hear Ruse’s snicker from the patches of darkness nearby. But Omen either wasn’t paying enough attention or assumed he’d actually persuaded me of his ultimate authority. He waved dismissively at me. “An expert thief shouldn’t need to spend any money, right? And I’ll take apple or cherry.”
So generous of him, giving me two options. I gave him a mock curtsey and strode across the street.
A beautiful cherry pie was sitting on the top shelf of the glass display cabinet beside the cash register. I asked for one of the tarts next to the pie, and once the clerk had opened the cabinet door, “accidentally” knocked her tip jar onto the floor. As she scrambled to grab a broom to sweep up the broken glass and scattered coins, I thought a silent apology at her and liberated the pie. If she’d understood what good use I was going to put it to, surely she wouldn’t have minded.
When I returned, Omen was leaning against his car, looking way too smug. I had the perfect cure for that.
I gave him a broad grin as I crossed the street. “Here’s your pie. Enjoy!” Then I lifted his just dessert and planted it smack-dab on his face.
I moved quickly enough that the unsuspecting shadowkind didn’t have a chance to dodge. He jerked away an instant too late, sputtering as chunks of golden pastry and syrupy globs of cherry filling dribbled down his face and onto the front of his shirt. A couple of passersby snickered at the sight. He couldn’t blink away into the shadows to remove the mess in front of witnesses.
His eyes flashed with the fiery glow I’d seen in the Company’s facility. “You.” With a wordless growl, he snatched my wrist and spun us around to slam me into the car.
The impact radiated all through my back, making my healing shoulder throb, but it was worth it—to see his sneering face covered in fruity gore, to watch his rigid control snap and let out the heated rage underneath. To prove he wasn’t the perfect model of cool authority he liked to pretend he was. As he raised a fist, I stared right back at him, daring him to use it.
My trio ruined the fun. All three of them dashed from the shadows in the same moment. “Omen,” Thorn said in protest, and Snap leapt to my side.
Ruse cocked his head, studying my masterpiece. “You did want her to show she can stand up for herself, didn’t you? You’ve pushed her pretty far. Looks like sweet payback to me.”
Omen’s shoulders had already come down. His teeth flashed as he bared them, and then, with Thorn’s massive form hiding him from view, he slipped into the shadows and back again so swiftly his body only seemed to stutter before my eyes. Just like that, the mashed pie was gone other than the bits that had fallen to the sidewalk. The lingering scent smelled pretty damn good. Almost a waste of a tasty dessert—almost.
Snap eyed the splatters on the ground as if he was thinking the same thing, but he stayed next to me, his arm coming around my waist. Omen glanced around at his supernatural companions, his expression back in its chilly mask but his stance tensed and the ice in his eyes searing.
“I decide when she’s done,” he said, and shifted his gaze to me. “Was that prank supposed to convince me of your self-discipline?”
“No,” I said. “I was just getting the pie to your mouth in as speedy a fashion as possible. But it probably does show my self-discipline too, considering I’d been wanting to do something like that for ages. I’ve met all your challenges. Either I’m in or I’m out, Luce. Or are you not very disciplined at making up your mind?”
A renewed spark of anger danced in his eyes, but he held it in check. His