Magic Forged (Hall of Blood and Mercy #1)(56)

One of his hands glided around my waist, stopping at my mid back, and he scooped me into an embrace. His other hand slid under my chin and gently pulled up so I had to look up at him. “Don’t you agree?” The seduction act dropped when he grabbed me by the cheeks like a grandma pinching a baby.

Smooshed against him as I was, I was able to confirm his entire body was pleasantly cool. (Not fair! Vampires got the looks, the speed, and a pleasant body temperature? I call foul play!)

“Why would we do that?” I asked through squished lips. “We’d both be miserable!”

Killian released me, though he didn’t move away. “I’m willing to suffer a little for my own amusement.”

I eyed him. “Your reputation won’t take a hit?”

He hardened abruptly, his expression turning flinty and his smile threatening pain. “I’m enough of a monster, no one will dare to question it.”

I felt the truth of this in my bones, so I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay?”

He blinked, the darkness draining from his eyes. “Hm?”

“I’ll play bait.”

“…are you certain?”

“Yeah.” I brushed my slacks off to give me something to do. “This can’t keep going on.”

He slightly narrowed his eyes. “It’s wrong?”

I nodded.

Killian rolled his eyes. “See—a regular paragon of virtue. Disgusting.”

“It’s working to your advantage right now, so I don’t think it’s anything to complain about.”

“Whatever,” he sourly said. “You’ve taken all the fun out of it.”

“When will we go?” I asked. “Tomorrow?”

Killian appraised me, his eyes traveling over my small frame. “A week.”

“Do you think we have that long?”

“Yes, because I’ll make our outing known publicly tomorrow when I send Celestina out to order a dress for you and make reservations.”

I nodded and awkwardly swung my arms. “Okay. Sounds good.”

Killian returned to his desk and sat on the very edge. “In the meantime, I expect you to train with diligence. An extra week might be the difference between life and death.”

“Got it. I guess that’s my cue to go get changed.” Not knowing what else to do, I nodded to him and headed for the door.

“Hazel.”

I paused in the doorway and turned around, surprised by the use of my name. “Yeah?”

Killian stared at me, the only sounds in the whole office was the rhythmic tick-tock of a grandfather clock in the corner and my breathing. “Be extra diligent in practicing your magic with your sword,” he said.

“Will do.” I slipped out of the doorway, almost positive that wasn’t what he was going to say. But I didn’t know what else he could possibly bring up. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the hallway that our conversation finally caught up with me.

Wait—he said he was ordering a dress? Just how fancy is the place he’s taking me?





Chapter Fifteen





Hazel





About a week later, I found myself teetering down the stairs in heels trying to juggle my sword and a black clutch stuffed with a book to give it extra heft. (I was willing to go, and I expected Killian would probably protect me, but there was no way I was doing this without my own weapon.)

The sun had already set, but the air was hot, so I wasn’t cold in my sleeveless cocktail dress. I was pretty sure the humidity was going to ruin the fancy braid a nice maid had helped me tame my hair into, but thankfully I was wearing waterproof makeup, so I wouldn’t look too rough if I stayed outside long.

I had calculated everything about my look to strive for maturity—the smoky eyeshadow, the heels that added a bit to my height, and thankfully the dress was a sophisticated wrap style. Normally I didn’t care a ton about how I looked, besides being presentable. But I wanted to find that murderer—or at least help uncover a lead—and I didn’t want to do this a second time. If I had waltzed out to meet Killian without the extra prep, I was pretty sure I’d get mistaken for a high school student, so I had to do whatever I could to make our act believable.

Thankfully, when I explained my plan to Celestina, she was all over it. She’d gotten me the makeup and the heels—which I was actually pretty comfortable in. (It helped that she made me jog laps around the mansion in them during the past five days.)

I was pretty happy with my overall look. The dress was gorgeous—it was an opalescent dusty blue color that had hints of white depending on the way I turned. It looked great with my blue eyes and reminded me of a bright afternoon sky decorated with wispy clouds—but I didn’t want to know how much it cost. I was pretty sure just seeing the price tag would be enough to make my kidneys shrivel.

The only downside to my outfit was that I hadn’t taken the time to ponder how I was going to secure my sword to my waist…

By the time I made it down the last stair, the solar lights that were stabbed into the flower beds at the front of Drake Hall had winked on.

A line of three SUVs were pulled up, but only one driver stood at the side of the car, his hands clasped behind his back. The other two were still in their cars.