Sin & Surrender (Demigod of San Francisco #6)(22)

“That would’ve suited her mother to a T.” Sadness crossed Magnus’s face so fast that I wondered if I’d imagined it. I wanted to ask him about it, but it wasn’t the time. He gave a nod and the woman backed away.

Kieran bowed again. “Thank you. That lays my dilemma to rest.”

“She’ll do whatever the moment calls for, like she always has,” Magnus said, and his tone spoke of history. Of knowledge about my life. “Alexis, expect a formal invitation to dine. You may bring your beau, if it pleases you, and your wards, of course.”

Not Demigod Kieran, but my beau. This could not be mistaken for a professional engagement.

I nodded and tried to tone down the pleased flush that I felt on my cheeks.

He is not a nice man. Do not be fooled by his civility. He’s a kid killer!

“Well, until we meet again.” He laid his hand on my shoulder for a moment before turning onto the path. His people fell in behind him immediately, organized and in sync, a well-oiled machine. Kieran and I stayed where we were, watching them go. It wasn’t long before he turned off the promenade all together. He didn’t plan on checking anyone else out.

The breath gushed out of Bria. “That was…unexpected.”

“That guy is super suave. Lexi, how come you didn’t get any of that in your genetic makeup?” Daisy asked.

“He’s making a public connection to Lexi and humoring you in the process,” Amber said to Kieran, looking in the direction Magnus had exited with narrowed eyes. “He’s trying to call dibs on the Soul Stealer should anything happen to you, and he’s doing it in the name of family. Smart. Too bad no one else gives a damn about family ties when it concerns a magic like hers. Expect others to try to establish a personal connection with her, too. I wouldn’t have turned down Magnus, given he is her father, but anyone else should be scrutinized before she accepts their invitation. If the asker is a single male—”

“I already know her answer if it is a single male,” Kieran growled, taking my hand and heading back to the promenade.

“Lemme guess.” I smiled up at him. “It’s yes, right? If a single male asks me to dine alone, you’ll be all for it?”

He squeezed my hand and chose to ignore me, making me giggle. “Just a little longer, love, and we’ll call it a night,” he said a moment later. “We’ve gotten more than we bargained for. I don’t want to press our luck.”

In a rare occurrence for the Summit, nearly all of the big dogs had come out to sit or walk. By the end of the evening, Kieran had gotten looks or nods from a great many of the people he’d planned to seek out.

By the time we got back to the warehouse-home, my feet were aching from the shoes, and stress coiled tightly within my belly. After those couple of great meetings, I’d been so worried I’d mess something up that I’d spent the time clenched up tight, barely trying to breathe.

“I’d say that was a successful start to this Summit,” Jerry said as we gathered around the kitchen island.

Bria shooed away all the service staff before rooting around in the cabinets for alcohol.

“Obviously that was a success, Jerry,” Donovan said, emphasizing Jerry’s name like an accusation as he grabbed items out of the refrigerator. The joy of mocking Jerry was still going strong, made hilarious when occasionally Jerry decided to volley an insult back.

“That went smashing, Jerry,” Thane added.

“Smashing?” Boman gave Thane a funny look. “What are you, an Englishman from yesteryear?”

“Yeah. Got a crumpet in one of your pockets?” Thane clapped back.

“Considering how often he keeps reaching into them, he probably has his balls packed away in there,” Henry supplied, taking a bottle of wine from Bria and opening drawers, looking for the wine opener.

“That was beyond a successful start to the Summit.” Amber sat at the small, round kitchen table in the corner and pushed open her laptop. “We have something for everyone. We have a brand-new Demigod that stole a territory from his extremely capable father, a legendary magic as feared as it is coveted, a Lightning Bolt back from the dead, a giant who must now have a reputation for the longest enduring scowl during an outing”—the guys burst out laughing—“the first Chester to ever walk the promenade, a YouTube star Berserker, and a few other people no one noticed.” She leaned back and rubbed her eyes before pinning me with a severe stare. “Tomorrow you will be the most sought-after group around. I hope you heard what Magnus’s team leader said about being quick. She wasn’t talking about running away from a fight. If you kill someone, get the hell out of there. Don’t get caught standing by the body.”

“I don’t get it, though,” I said. “Everyone knows people die here. Why would we need to get out of there? Besides, it’s not like it’ll be a mystery what happened unless we kill all the witnesses.”

“Killing is technically against the rules,” Amber said. “When it wasn’t, bodies piled up. Demigods were losing a lot of their star players. They brought in the no-death rule to keep things a bit calmer. They need to hold the rule to keep things from devolving again. Now crews attack as hard as they possibly can without actually killing. That’s the game. You maim just on this side of living. It’s a show of dominance. A few times every year, someone goes too hard, and they kill or get killed because of it. Sometimes the kill is on purpose. Regardless, it’s important to keep the illusion that it was an accident. If too many people start dying, an inquisition will happen, and those aren’t any fun for anyone.”