Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell #3)(49)

The man scribbled something on a card. Hajo glanced at me while he waited for it. Light from the punched-metal and glass chandelier cast shadows on his elongated face that made his cheekbones seem impossibly sharp. He could trace his paternal ancestry to the missing Roanoke colony, like the majority of Earthbounds in the US, but his mother was Turkish, or so he said. His mismatched heritage combined pretty pleasantly.

He took the man’s business card and jerked his head toward the door. “Out.”

The guy looked a little put-out, but he made no comment and retreated as Hajo pried the waif’s hands from around his shoulders. “Go on,” he told her.

“Hajo—”

“Are you deaf? Get the f*ck out of here. And close the door behind you.”

The girl seemed genuinely offended, and not for the first time, I thought it was kind of a shame that all this tall, brooding handsomeness went to waste on someone so miserable and douche-y.

Hajo’s chest and shoulders broadened as he crossed his arms, stretching the dark fabric of his shirt. His jeans were expensive and Euro-trendy, sitting low over his flat, polished loafers. Everything about his look projected the image that he was some sort of continental business mogul who ordered five-hundred-dollar bottles of champagne in the VIP section of a hipster nightclub. It was the first time I’d ever seen him without his black leather racing jacket. Guess this was Hajo in his natural environment. Or maybe the other Hajo was real, and this was show. Hard to tell.

“Why are you having a party if you don’t want to socialize?” I asked as the doors clicked shut.

“The football quarterback suggested it,” he said dourly. “I’m worried he knows I deal. He asks too many questions. He’s got a coke habit and is also looking for a steroid hookup.” Hajo gestured to the party outside the door. “I’m trying to placate him. Get him introduced to people who can steer him away from me. I don’t need a high-profile client with a big mouth.”

“Tough to be you.” I glanced around. “Your place is . . . really freakin’ nice.”

“Don’t act so surprised.”

“Well, geez. The first time I met you was in that hellhole in Waxtown.”

His chin lifted as he made a vague noise of acknowledgment. “Cristina’s place. She was a pig.”

“I’m sure she wasn’t the only one,” I muttered.

His lazy gaze rambled over my body. “Oink.”

“Don’t start.”

“You’ve got a little extra something going on tonight, Bell,” he said, waving his hand up and down between us. “Your energy’s sharper. What’s up with that?”

Hajo once told me that he could sense living energy trails, not just dead ones. Said my energy was different and he could probably track it, which scared the bejesus out of me, truthfully. And now that he’d noticed something different, I thought of my moon magick and my mother. A dull panic surfaced. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just busier. More potent. Riper.”

“Maybe you’re just higher,” I said.

“Maybe. Have you gained weight? Your breasts are starting to balance out that big ass of yours.”

I think my mouth fell open. Sure, Kar Yee’s shirt made a ridiculous show of my boobs, but this was my own T-shirt. Was I really getting fat? And, oh my God, why was I even listening? Who says this kind of stuff?

“It was a compliment,” he explained. “Your ass is marvelous.”

“What’s the matter with you? Stop saying shit like that.”

“Me? What’s eating you? You’re in a horrible mood.”

Pfft. Like I was going to tell him. I grumbled to myself and jerked my head away, but he just stared at me, waiting. “Lon’s ex-wife is in town.”

He whistled. “The hot supermodel.”

“She’s way hotter in person.”

“Nice. I mean, not for you. That blows. Are they getting back together or something?”

“Over my dead body. Or hers.”

“Mmm, smells like jealousy,” he said with a smirk.

“Shut the hell up.”

He shrugged and looked at the paintings again. “So, what did you want from me?”

“Nothing, now.”

“Oh, come on. Tell me what you’re here for. Another dowsing job? That last one didn’t turn out so well. I’m not all that jazzed about stumbling into magical cockroaches again.”

“Me neither.” I reached into my jacket and pulled out the red vial. “Do you know what this is?”

His eyes narrowed. “Looks like an elixir. Already gave one of these back to you, though I’m still fuzzy on why, exactly.” He shook his head and swallowed, momentarily lost in remembering. He hadn’t figured out that Jupe persuaded him with his knack. I’d definitely like to keep it that way.

Music spilled into the room. I looked up and saw someone standing in the doorway, a man about my age with long blond hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. One of the barefooted girls roaming Hajo’s place had her hands all over him, trying to get his shirt unbuttoned.

“Do you not understand what a closed door means? Get the hell out of here, Darren,” Hajo snapped. “And don’t even think about heading to my bedroom. Go bang in your own apartment.”