Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(94)

Kieran’s red Ferrari rolled up the street, five minutes late. He pulled a U-turn and stopped by the curb before quickly getting out and hurrying up the walk. I feasted my eyes on that handsome face, letting myself fall into his stormy blue eyes, open all the way down to his soul. A soul I held firmly in my magical grasp. His perfectly tailored suit molded to his outstanding body, his broad shoulders leading down into trim hips.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said with a mouth-watering smile. “Sorry I’m late. The treasury meeting ran over.”

He put out his hand and I took it. Electricity sizzled up my arm and settled into a low hum deep in my body. Lord, I was smitten by this man. I wanted nothing more than to glue myself to his side and run, eyes open, straight at our future.

Whoa, girl. Learn to crawl before you walk. Then think about running.

“You’re finally letting me out of the house?” I asked with a smile, hiding the nervousness twisting my belly.

“It’s time for you to finally join the magical world. I’ll be your guide.”

I took a deep breath as he opened the car door for me. “I don’t really wanna.”

He shut it and came around to the driver’s side. “I’ll happily live in obscurity with you after everything is all set up.”

He still believed he’d turn the job down and walk away. Amazing.

My anxiety grew as we headed for the center of magical downtown.

“Are you going to hang me in the middle of Union Square to win the love of the people?” I asked as we slowed for the increased pedestrian traffic.

“And accidentally kill half the shoppers when you resist? Not likely.” He chuckled and turned into an underground public parking garage under the square. Right out front, beyond the ticket booths, he pulled into a spot marked Demigod.

“You don’t want the job, but you sure do enjoy the perks, huh?” I asked as he put the car in park.

“Yup.” He walked around the car at a leisurely pace, slipping one of his hands into his pocket.

I stalled for a moment, collecting my thoughts. I wore his mark—the people who saw us would know who I was. They’d know what I was. I did not envision this going well.

He opened the door and stuck out a hand for me, the turn of his shoulders and lean of his body indicating he was unimpressed with his surroundings. Here came the ego.

I allowed him to pull me out. “Should I be playing a part, too?” I whispered as he entwined his fingers within mine.

“Yes. The part of a woman confident in her own skin. The Alexis Price who grabbed ahold of my vitals, literally, and won’t let go. Be her.”

“Except she scares people, and I might make you look bad.”

“Then be the Alexis Price who doesn’t care when she makes a stalking, possessive Demigod look bad. It’s the same Alexis Price, by the way.”

I laughed and looked away. “I’m just worried I’ll meet the lynch mob.”

“You might, but it’ll be because you stole my affections. They’ll want what you have.”

I rolled my eyes. “No wonder you’re so strong. You have to carry your enormous ego around all the time.”

“There she is.”

We exited the parking garage into the sunlight, Kieran now in charge of maintaining the weather. Instead of the perfect blue his father had favored, puffy white clouds drifted through the sky.

People had asked him if he didn’t have enough power to keep the sky clear. He’d responded that true power lay in diversity. True proof of magical ability was the act of keeping constant change peaceful. A cloudy day would make people grateful for the sun, and would give a more interesting canvas for the sun to paint when it entered and exited the sky. It would give daydreamers shapes to picture when they stared at the heavens.

As one might expect, his answer went over extremely well.

Charismatic bastard.

“Here we go,” he said with a strong, sure voice.

People passing by glanced over. Their gazes caught on Kieran, making them slow, then stuck like glue to me. Mouths dropped open and eyes widened. People started chattering.

“That’s the Demigod!”

“Oh my God, that’s the Demigod’s girlfriend. Quick, get a picture!”

“I don’t have a chance in hell with him…”

I laughed softly.

“What?” he asked as we crossed the street without waiting for a lull in traffic. Cars slammed on their brakes and drivers leaned forward against their steering wheels, watching us. More people waited on the other side, excitedly pointing at him or me.

“That woman thinking she wanted a chance in hell with you,” I said.

“That’s funny?”

“Yeah. You made me walk through my nightmare, then I nearly got myself killed. She should count her blessings.”

“Ah.” He was quiet for a moment. “Solid point. You’re incredibly unlucky.”

“Don’t I know it.”

We strolled up the sidewalk, and I felt the soul of Zorn lingering in an alley we passed.

“You have the Six on watch?”

He slowed as we neared a cluster of stores. People stopped walking and gawked. I half waited for someone to throw their underwear at Kieran.

“She is absolutely gorgeous,” I heard.