Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(52)

His eyes crinkled, seeing everything she tried to hide. “No, this isn’t something that clings to you. It’s a scent born from who you are.”

She’d forgotten that his finger still rested against her neck until it circled around to toy with a thick lock of her hair. If she pulled away, he’d know how much that tiny connection between them affected her. Be damned if she’d give him even that much.

Her heart thrummed with a feather of excitement that slid along a blade’s edge of fear, but she wouldn’t show a weakness. Not to him or to anyone.

Ever.

His touch left a path of skin sizzling in its wake. “I agreed to partner with you because you’re not like the others.”

Not like the others.

A freak.

Which brought her back to reality and the real reason Storm had been teamed up with her—to catch her in a lie.

Allowing this attraction to blind her to the danger he presented would be a fatal mistake. He was playing with her, toying with her emotions. He’d already proven he could influence her with his powers.

Was he doing that right now? Was any part of her current emotions real, or were they sent to her by him?

If she didn’t get her guard up, he would help Sen destroy her.

She stepped back, breaking the connection. “Don’t play games with me or think for a minute that I’ll fall victim to your charms.”

If not for her night-vision ability, she wouldn’t have seen his brow tighten into a frown. He gave a harsh laugh, then shook his head at some inner thought. “I don’t think you’ve ever played games in your life, have you, Evalle?”

Games were for children who didn’t know about monsters.

And some of the worst monsters out there were actually human.

Admitting she’d never been a normal child who’d played with other children just made her look more like a freak. Keeping silent was the safest course of action.

He let out a long breath. “I only used my powers one time, and it was not to harm you in any way. Have I given you any other reason not to trust me?”

Let me think … besides working with Sen?

Wasn’t that enough?

And he still hadn’t confirmed or denied her charge that he was here to help Sen. He might not have used his powers to harm her, but he’d used them to influence her. In another situation she might have appreciated his intervention that had shut down her silent panic during the meeting. However, Storm had no reason to do something just to be nice.

She didn’t trust nice. She knew better. Altruism was a lie people used to disarm the weak. She didn’t trust that he liked how she smelled. Didn’t trust that she liked how he smelled.

Rather than admit any of that, she shrugged. “You haven’t given me a reason to trust you, and talking isn’t going to find the stone. We need to get moving.”

He stayed where he was, blocking the path. “What are you always so torqued about?”

“We don’t have enough time to go through the list.” She folded her arms, striking her I’m-done-with-this pose.

“Let me narrow it down. What have I done to piss you off? And don’t give me your baseless conspiracy theory about how I’m working against you.”

“Baseless? Maybe I’m not PO’d so much as that whole ‘we can be friends’ routine doesn’t work on me any more than your flirting.” Wonder if that lit up his lie meter?

He wanted her to trust him?

Right.

Not without a test, and the one she had in mind was a simple pass or fail.

“If you want to prove yourself trustworthy, how about telling me what you found out about the Birrn killing?”

“You want to keep this all business? Fine.” He closed the distance between them until she could see the black pupils in his eyes drilling her. “I picked up a couple scents. One was mint.”

In spite of the heat simmering the air around them, her skin chilled at that and felt clammy. He could link her to the Birrn demon.

Had he told Sen yet?

Before she could utter a word, light sparked on her left. Evalle backed away from Storm and the flash of light.

Sen’s face and body appeared as bright as a match struck in the dark. “I’ve come for you, Alterant.”

“Why?” But her brain filled in the blanks.

She looked at Storm. The bastard had betrayed her. She knew it. “You dog.”

“I’ll drive her up,” Storm offered.

Sen’s eyes closed to slits. Both Evalle and Sen shouted, “No!”

Taking a step back, Evalle looked toward the street. If she could get away from Sen, she could contact Tzader and let him know what was happening without Sen or Storm overhearing her. “My bike’s two blocks from the park.”

“Leave it,” Sen ordered. “They are waiting for you.”

“They? They who?”

But Sen didn’t answer, and the only “they” she could think of was the Tribunal.

She tried again. “Don’t I get a suspension hearing?” She swung around to argue with Sen and froze when she saw his hand outstretched toward her. “No, no, no … don’t—”

The world spun into a gray cloud. She heard Storm call out something, but it was lost in the sickening vertigo building in her head from the gut-wrenching turmoil of being teleported.