The Killing Floor Blues (Daniel Faust #5)(45)

Her orange eyes flared, as if tiny flames blossomed behind her pupils.

“Impossible,” she said. “I am the last of my kind, the queen of a dead bloodline. Prince Malphas saw to that. And no child of mine would ever bend his knee to a human. You were evidently twice deceived.”

“I know what I saw.”

She laughed. “Foolish words from a man who should know better. I am a mistress of illusion, and you trade in tricks. Eyes do lie. You know this.”

“I also know that I’m here because I got played by a shape-shifter you say doesn’t exist. He walked me right into a police ambush.”

Naavarasi cocked an eyebrow. “And? You had weapons, yes? Why didn’t you just slay your way out, like a warrior should?”

“Because I’m not looking to gun down some poor beat cops who are just doing their jobs.”

“You’re a ruthless man,” she said, shaking her head, “but not ruthless enough.”

I leaned forward. Locking eyes with her.

“Not ruthless enough for what?”

“The future holds many possibilities. Why don’t you let me train you, Daniel? Six months in my hands and you’d be a weapon, forged from fire and blood.”

“A weapon in whose hands?”

“Caitlin’s,” she said with a tiny smile. “Of course.”

“I’ll take it under consideration. So. Did you bring something for me?”

“Maybe.”

I had to tread carefully here. Naavarasi had—or at least I hoped she had—the ritual I needed to break free. If I pissed her off enough, she might leave in a huff and ruin the entire escape plan. On the other hand, if I let on how badly I needed those pages…well, the rakshasi queen was hard enough to deal with when she didn’t have leverage on me.

“All right,” I said, resting my palms on the table. “Are we negotiating?”

“Well, I did drop everything and fly here in the small hours of the morning, then drive for miles in the desert, just to help you. And I had a lovely conversation with those two older gentlemen—Bentley and Corman, was it?—in which I did my utmost to forget how they insulted me upon our first meeting—”

“You threatened to eat them after masquerading as my ex-girlfriend, remember?”

“And? Your point?”

“Sorry,” I said. “Please, continue.”

“My time is valuable, and I don’t see any other means of acquiring what you desire, save through my aid. As such, I think I’m entitled to…five years of service.”

“Are you entitled to make bad jokes? Because that’s the worst one I’ve heard in ages.” I rapped my knuckles on the table. “Five years? Get real. Did you really come all this way just to waste my time?”

“I knew you’d say no, but I thought you might make a counteroffer,” she said. “With, say, one year of service?”

“Is that your new offer?”

“That’s my only offer.” Her orange eyes darkened. “One year of service in exchange for the ritual. Take it or leave it. Of course, if you leave it, I suppose I’ll be visiting you here for the next few decades.”

This was pretty much the worst-case scenario. She had me bent over a barrel, and she knew it. If I said yes and signed on the dotted line, there’d be no wriggling out of the deal. I’d be hers—lock, stock, and barrel—for a year of my life.

What kind of man would I be after a year under Naavarasi’s thumb? I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to know. I needed to throw her off-balance, come up with an angle to make her want to help me.

“Well,” I said, “I do have an alternative offer in the wings.”

Her brow furrowed. “Alternative?”

“Mm-hm. You aren’t my first visitor. Nadine came to see me.”

“That…creature.” Naavarasi scowled. “What did she offer you?”

“A way out. All I have to do is go to work for Prince Malphas. Nadine and Royce are standing by to bust me out of here the second I say yes.”

She leaned back in her chair and laughed. “Oh, Daniel, you should stop trying to outwit me. It can’t be done. You would never accept an arrangement like that. Cross lines in the cold war? Turn against Caitlin? You would die first.”

“That was my first reaction too,” I told her. “But then, after a couple of nights in here? Locked in, shivering in a cell in the dark and thinking about spending the rest of my life in this place? That offer gets more and more attractive. Besides, you’re missing something.”

“Enlighten me.”

“You and I both know that you’re smarter than Royce, smarter than Nadine. I’m pretty sure you’re smarter than Malphas.”

That made her smile. “Well…yes, of course I am, but what of it?”

“Any deal I work out with them, I’m pretty sure I can wriggle my way out of. Might take some doing, but I’ll slip free eventually. A deal with you is ironclad. Like you said, I couldn’t possibly outwit you.”

“You do have a point.” She steepled her fingers, thinking it through.

“Of course, until I do cut loose, that’s bad news for whatever you’ve got planned. C’mon, Naavarasi. We both know you’re looking to stick a dagger into Malphas’s back. The only reason you haven’t already defected to Prince Sitri’s side is because you’ve got a plan in motion. Do you really want me working for Malphas, sniffing around, poking into things and generally making a mess?”