Blood Assassin (The Sentinels #2)(13)

A strange emotion flickered through the bronze eyes. “The Mave hasn’t been pleased with me for several decades.”

Serra was caught off guard by the warm familiarity in his tone. “You know her?”

“Our paths crossed years ago. It was . . . memorable.”

Hmm. She’d trade her Ferragamo purse to hear that story. But later. After she knew what the hell she was doing in St. Louis.

And after she’d broken his nose. And made him spend a few days believing he was a mushroom.

“How did you get the locket past Valhalla’s security system?” she instead demanded.

He shrugged. “I have a talent for becoming invisible when I want to.”

He’d snuck into Valhalla? Was it even possible? Surely it would have taken a miracle to get past the magical layers that protected Valhalla, not to mention the high-tech alarms.

Or someone who had skills she’d never heard of.

“Who are you?”

“I told you, I’m Bas. A witch and businessman.”

She shook her head. A mere witch couldn’t have snared a powerful psychic with a compulsion spell. And he sure as hell couldn’t have gotten into Valhalla unnoticed.

“Who are you really?”

His lips twisted. “It depends on who you ask. To most of the world I’m B. D. Cavrilo, a highly successful businessman.”

“And to the rest?”

He hesitated, the beautiful features hardening to reveal the ruthless nature she’d already sensed.

“I’m the leader of a shadow society of high-bloods.”

Serra frowned. Was he screwing with her?

“Sounds very James Bond,” she taunted.

“Not really,” he denied. “We’re just trying to survive.”

“Why in the shadows?”

“Because we don’t play nice with others,” he said, obviously proud of their outsider attitude. “Those who follow me have turned their back on Valhalla. Either by choice or necessity.”

She wrinkled her nose, unimpressed. Long ago she might have been intrigued by a man who refused to play by the rules; now she just found them childish.

A true man understood that power came from protecting those weaker than himself, not flexing his muscles to prove he was a badass.

“You’re criminals?”

“Some.” He smiled at her blatant disapproval. “Others have an allergy to following the Mave’s rules.”

“But they’ll follow yours?”

“Follow is a debatable term,” he conceded. “They accept my protection in return for offering their services when I need them. Otherwise, I stay the hell out of their business.”

She couldn’t deny a curiosity. She’d met a few high-bloods who preferred to live as norms. And even a few who lived in complete isolation, far from Valhalla and civilization.

But she’d never met an entire community of high-bloods living in secret.

“What services?”

“It varies depending on their powers.”

He was deliberately vague, but Serra abruptly realized what had been staring her in the face.

“You’re mercenaries,” she said in shock.

He shrugged away his lack of concern that he was breaking one of the high-bloods’ most sacred laws. Since the formation of Valhalla it’d become illegal to peddle talents to the norms. Once high-bloods had bartered their services to survive. Gypsy fortune-telling, magical conjuring, and sideshow acts had been the most famous, but most weren’t nearly so harmless. Sentinels had hired themselves out as warriors and bodyguards and trackers. Paid killers. Psychics had compelled norms to become little more than slaves. And witches had used magic so dark it had tainted entire swaths of land.

Now high-bloods were forbidden from using their gifts for financial or personal gain. They were dedicated to benefiting society.

Or at least, that was the goal for most high-bloods.

But not this man.

“A necessary evil,” he said.

Yeah, right.

“Did you kidnap me to force me to become a part of your posse?”

He blinked, something that might have been amusement shimmering in the bronze eyes. “Posse?”

“Answer the question.”

“Only a temporary member.”

She rolled her eyes. He was delusional if he thought he could force her to turn against the Mave and work for him.

“And it didn’t occur to you to pick up a phone and call me? I could have told you I wasn’t interested and saved us all a lot of time and trouble.”

“Which is precisely why I didn’t bother calling.” He held her gaze. “Your agreement to help me is nonnegotiable.”

Oh, he didn’t just give her an ultimatum, did he?

Her spine stiffened, her eyes narrowed. Only an idiot told a female she had no choice.

“You don’t know me very well,” she said in a low, dangerous tone.

His gaze slid suggestively down her rigid body. “Something I hope to change once our unpleasant business is concluded.”

She slapped her hands on her hips. “So not only do you assume I’m too weak to decide who I offer my services to, but that after I’ve been kidnapped and manipulated to become your unwilling employee you think I’ll still spread my legs for you?”