Dangerous Creatures(39)

So he can Manifest, too. Great. He’s got some kind of Shifter blood in there.

Shifting. A Temporal Distortion. Ripping. His powers seemed to cross every conventional Supernatural distinction. Her debt to Lennox Gates was only getting more and more worrisome.

She tried not to panic. She willed her heart to beat more slowly.

There is nothing to be afraid of.

He’s just another bully.

You’ve seen worse. You’ve beaten worse.

Ridley collected herself and looked up at Lennox Gates, shaking her head. “No, thanks. I’m not hungry. I’ll pass.”

On this. On you. On all of it.

“More of a Paris girl? A little je ne sais quoi from La Maison Angelina? For la petite Sirène?”

Now the plate was covered with dark chocolate truffles and a delicate teacup filled with rich, steaming hot chocolate.

Show-off.

Ridley stood up. “You’ve made your point. You grabbed my sister. You forced me to hand over my boyfriend. It’s clear you’re set on destroying my future.”

“And?” Nox looked interested, as if he was actually enjoying himself. Which only made her hate him more.

“And on top of all that, I’m certainly not going to flirt with you.”

“Flirt with me? Is that what you think this is about?” For the first time, Lennox started to laugh. It almost made him seem like a real person, which Ridley found more disturbing than she could explain.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Little Siren.” He poured some bubbling liquid into his own glass. “Sit down.”

She did, against her better judgment—and what irritated her more was that she honestly couldn’t tell if he was compelling her to or not. He can’t be, she told herself; she hadn’t seen a single Siren, and she’d know if there were one in the club.

Wouldn’t I?

No one had ever turned the tables on her like this. Rid had no idea what it would feel like to be compelled, but the more she thought about it, the more she imagined it might feel remarkably like this.

“To Sirensong.” He held up his glass. “Long may they rock.”

She didn’t hold up hers. “Siren what? Do you mean the Devil’s Hangmen?”

“I’ve renamed the band for my new club. Catchy, isn’t it?”

“Not really.”

Nox clinked his glass against her untouched one and drank anyway. “Fine. Let me be perfectly clear. This is about business. You beat my drummer in that game and left him completely powerless. I had no way of knowing the drummer you offered up in return was your boyfriend. I admit, that’s awkward for you.”

“Why do I have the feeling you had every way of knowing that my boyfriend was a drummer?” She looked around. “And we both know I owe you more than that.” She finally looked him in the eye.

“Ah, yes. You do owe me two markers, don’t you? As you know, your drummer boy only settles the first one. But don’t worry. I’ll tell you when I need to collect the second.” Lennox smoothed the gold hair from his eyes. “House marker, paid on my call.”

Ridley shivered. She didn’t need to be reminded of it. She thought of it as she lay in bed every night. How I’ve lost so much more than a game.

“I’m not in a rush. You’ll know what I want, when I want it. And I assure you I will.” He looked at her. “Want it, that is.”

She didn’t respond.

“I have an exceptional memory.” He smiled. “Especially when it comes to my markers.”

Ridley faltered. For once, she had nothing in her arsenal. No clever comeback, no snappy insult—nothing was going to change the fact that she had lost the one thing she prized above all.

Power.

Power was her freedom.

Mine, and Link’s.

Lennox raised an eyebrow, sipping again from the fluted glass. “Speaking of which, how does the hybrid boyfriend feel about your trading in his future for your own?”

“It’s not like that.” Ridley winced.

“What’s it like, then, Sugarplum?”

The sound of Link’s pet nickname for her was too much. “Leave Link out of this.”

“Wesley Lincoln? The worst student in the entire fake freshman class of Georgia Redeemer? You know I can’t do that.” Lennox sighed. “But I have to say, I’ve enjoyed getting to know him.”

“You don’t.” She felt a new cold, coiling in her gut. “Know him, I mean.” Or me, for that matter. Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare.

“I keep an eye on all my investments. Your near-Mortal mistake will play in my band and work for my club and do whatever I want him to do, whenever I want it. Like all my employees.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Careful, now. You don’t know how many people would line up for the chance to help you out with that.” He held up his glass. “I, on the other hand, do. And congratulations. I honestly don’t know how you managed to make so many people so angry in such a short time. So angry, and so impatient.” He shook his head. “You’re a gifted girl.”

Ridley faltered no more. She grabbed her drink and splashed it at Lennox’s face.

“What the—” He was spluttering now.

“Screw you, Lennox Gates. Screw your giant Caster ego and your poser Siren club and your loser band. I don’t know what’s really going on here, but I know that none of this is about what happened during that card game.”