Kissed By A Demon Spy (6 page)

What the fuck is your problem?
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. This female had just escaped a life in captivity. The last thing he should be thinking about is fucking her senseless. He should be polite, maybe try charming, and at least watch her non-verbal cues so he didn’t screw up something before it even began.

A sharp feminine gasp had him opening his eyes to meet her startled ones.

“Uh…hi.” He cleared his throat. “I was just finishing up some reports in my office.”

Her eyes left his only to dart to the knife block on the counter.

Ah, hell. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel like she needed to be wary of him. “I didn’t mean to surprise you. I just walked in a minute ago…”
I scented you and couldn’t walk away.
His eyes dropped to her full breasts, pushing against the fabric of her yellow sleeveless top.

“Oh.” She swallowed, her frame tense. “Is...is it okay for me to be in here?”

“Sure.” He walked farther into the room but made sure to keep some distance from her, to help put her at ease. “Little guy fall asleep?”

“Yes. He’s exhausted.” She bit her lip. “It was an eventful day.”

I know.
“Hopefully a good one?” He kept his tone light, as if they were just two ordinary people who happened to meet that day and not a man and woman who harbored their own dark secrets.

“Very.” She nodded and a smile flickered across her lush lips.

Damn, she was beautiful when she smiled. It lit up her whole face and seemed to soften her body. Some of the tension eased out of her rigid posture as her shoulders dropped a fraction.

“You guys were gone awhile. Did you see everything in town?” He wasn’t great at small talk, but he was driven to find out more about her. Anything to keep her in the same room.

“All the shops and buildings, yes. We didn’t get out to the orchards or far fields.”

“Gonna check them out tomorrow? It’s a busy time here.” In autumn, nearly every able-bodied pixie helped to harvest at least one crop, if not five.

“Tomorrow.” She stayed where she was but leaned against the stove, her body appearing more relaxed. “I need to enroll Dash in school.”

“Oh, right. Their field backs up to my yard.”

“I know.” She glanced out the window over the sink, where Torth’s twin moons hung low in the sky. “It’s the same school I went to.”

“No kidding?” He wondered how long ago that had been. “That’s gotta feel good.”

“It does. It feels…perfect.” Another smile tilted her lips, and she crossed the short distance to the island and perched on a stool.

Encouraged that she no longer seemed cautious of him, but not wanting to push his luck, Aden grabbed a glass and walked to the water spout on the fridge. “Water?”

“No thanks. I should get upstairs.”

Not yet
. There was so much he wanted to learn about her. He stepped closer to the island, staying on the other side. “Before you go…”

Dark brown eyes with a sliver of gray rimming the iris, looked up at him expectantly.

“I really do need a cook.”

She opened her mouth, but he kept talking. “I know you just got here, but I also know you plan to stay in Ivydale. You could work here in exchange for your room.”

She blinked. “I—”

“You don’t have to decide tonight. Just think about it.”

“Okay.” She tried, unsuccessfully, to cover a yawn. “Sorry.”

“No problem. Like you said, it’s been an eventful day.” He set his glass down on the island and leaned forward, hands planted on the cool granite. This close, her scent washed over him in a cool caress and her eyes regarded him with intrigue, not hesitation. “Need anything else for your room?”

She shook her head. “No. And thank you for the offer. Of the job, I mean.”

No, thank you for showing up on my doorstep.
“You’re welcome.”

She slid off her stool. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” He watched her unabashedly as she moved with light steps across the kitchen floor and into the hallway. So tiny and delicate looking, but he guessed that everything she’d shared with him was just the tip of a vast iceberg. One he intended to thaw, slowly and surely.

A
DEN
SLIPPED
ACROSS
THE
STONE
bridge, leaving sleepy Ivydale behind. The two moons cast a faint light, but his enhanced vision allowed him to see just fine without it. His booted feet landed silently on the bridge, then padded along the main forest trail until he came to a dead oak.

Turning off the path, he navigated a barely-there trail through thick brush. Sometimes climbing over downed logs, and sometimes detouring around clusters of thorn bushes, he made his way closer to his target.

It had been too long since the Vipers had made an attack. One had to be imminent, but Aden’s scrying hadn’t revealed any activity.

Time to do a little spying the old-fashioned way.
Occasionally, he boosted his power by utilizing the same methods his kin did—acquiring an item that one of his targets had touched. Any object, from a belt buckle to a crossbow, would help.

He covered the miles swiftly, a small disc-shaped amulet on a chain moving against his chest. It could mask his scent, allowing him to get close enough to undertake this task alone. He had to use it sparingly, as its use was limited to three times.

Torth was dangerous at night, but he was fast and armed with three knives strapped to his body. He paused to take stock of his surroundings and spotted large feline paw prints.
Panther
. He chuckled. The big cats weren’t dangerous. Not to him.

Drawing in a breath, he scented its telltale musk above and to his right. He looked up and into a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

He glared at the creature. It studied him, nostrils flaring as it tried to catch his scent. A low growl rumbled from its throat but died down, as if the panther wasn’t sure if he was predator or prey.

The animal blinked before Aden did. Being on higher ground, or limb, the cat was in the dominant position, but it must have decided it was better to not tangle with Aden. Huffing out a breath, it dropped to land on soundless paws and loped away.

The cat’s eyes were striking, but it was a different pair of eyes that Aden couldn’t get out of his mind.

Garnet’s bewitching eyes were painted on his frontal lobe. Both calm and relaxed as they’d talked earlier tonight, and haunted as she’d huddled on the kitchen floor at Stroehm. Their glittering depths spoke of loneliness, horrors endured, pain stuffed deep inside because no one cared about anyone else in that shit hole.

And her son…the boy had been attached to Garnet at the hip every time Aden had seen him. The bond between them was obvious, shining bright and strong. Had it just been the two of them in captivity? Who in the hell was his father? And more important, why hadn’t he been helping his woman and son? Maybe he’d been killed in the chaos. Had Garnet loved another? Or been taken by force? The last thought enraged him.

The dark pools of her eyes had held a fierce, proud love when she looked at her son. And that love told him volumes about her spirit. It told him that no matter what she’d gone through, there was a spark in her that hadn’t died, that still held onto hope. And that spark pulled him to her like a magnet.

Aden leapt over a small stream, careful not to leave tracks in the soft earth, as questions continued to circle his mind. How long had she been at Stroehm? Would he get the chance to ask her? Would she ever reveal it? Maybe he could convince her to take the job in his kitchen. She was new in town—well, sort of—so she might need a job.

He shook his head to clear it. All of that could come later. Against the dark sky, the twin watch towers at the front of the Viper’s hideout jutted like fangs.

Aden paused behind a large elm tree as two Viper guards stalked back and forth. He had to admit, his enemy had picked a good spot. A natural cave that sloped back into a hill, it was easily accessed from the front. Hence, the two towers.

He was sure there were small hidden openings at the back. Any species, predatory or peaceful, would be smart to have more than one egress. That’s what he was on the lookout for tonight.

Navigating the brush, he circled wide around the encampment. He paused, every sense reaching for the enemy.

An owl took flight above him, wings flapping and leaves rustling in its wake. Aden inhaled, scenting the forest’s nighttime fragrances of moonflowers, bats, and possums. And Vipers. But the scent of the snake headed demons carried on the wind, from the front of their hold. One may have passed by here hours ago, but not recently.

And if one had passed, he may have dropped something. Aden scanned the grass in a methodical pattern, sweeping left to right, searching. He was almost at the sloping back of the rise.
Come on. Snakeheads are not that careful.

There!
His focus snapped to a perfectly smooth stick that wasn’t just a stick. He bent to retrieve it and found one end jagged and the other filed smooth. Part of an arrow. Perfect.

Sliding it into his pocket, he turned around. Three dark patches dotted the grass, spaced from the top of the hill back down. Exits, hidden by the decidedly non-magical means of shrubs, stood out to Aden’s experienced eye. Voices carried faintly on the night air, and he pinpointed their source to be the front entrance guards.

He jogged to the nearest exit, a crude wooden door with a few bits of long weeds stuck to it. Crouching low, he paused and listened for any sign of life on the other side.

Silence.

He tugged on the door handle. Locked.

Well, they weren’t as stupid as they were ugly, he’d give them that. He ran his fingers along the edge, looking for any possible latches or locks that might be breakable, when a speck of white caught his eye.

He bit back a chuckle. A tooth. Long and pointed, it wasn’t one of the front fangs that held venom. How a creature lost a tooth out here, he didn’t know and didn’t care. With this and the broken arrow, he had enough to allow scrying on a more detailed level. Grabbing it, he straightened to leave.

The twang of a bowstring echoed off the trees. A sharp hiss split the air and fire tore across his bicep.

Motherfucker!

Though the amulet masked his scent, it didn’t make him invisible. He whirled and saw four Vipers emerging from the side of the hill. As much as he liked a good brawl, his job was to spy. Keegan would want him to stay alive.

Aden sprinted toward the tree line, clenching his teeth to hold in a yell. Though his wound was minor, his arm burned as if the skin were melting. The Vipers dipped their arrows in their venom, making wounds that hurt like a bitch and took longer than usual to heal. Shouts echoed behind him. More arrows whizzed past his head.

He ran in a crisscross pattern, looping around and back on his own trail to confuse them. Even with the scent amulet, he would take no chances. He wouldn’t lead them to Ivydale.

The noise behind him faded and he paused to listen for any telltale sounds. Nothing.

He climbed a nearby tree to watch and wait, just in case. He needed to make sure the Vipers had given up the chase.

One by one, the nocturnal forest sounds returned. Owls hooted and large gypsy moths buzzed clumsily through the leaves of his tree. A red fox trotted by beneath him, tracking prey and seemingly oblivious to the demon high above.

Garnet’s haunted smile popped, unbidden, into his mind. He had the sudden urge to make sure these Vipers stayed far away from Ivydale, not only to keep all its residents safe, but especially to keep Garnet safe. Whether she opened up to him or not, he knew she’d seen hardship. Stroehm was the definition of vicious. And damn him if he’d lead more of the same to her door.

Standing in his bathroom at the inn, Aden scowled at the ugly red slash throbbing along his arm. He cleaned the wound, but nothing would stop the sting as his cells worked to force out the caustic venom. It would take twenty-four hours and that was only a minor amount of toxin.
Fucking Vipers
.

He slapped a bandage over it and stalked to his office, where he pulled out the supplies he needed for his usual routine. Only this time, he’d be able to get a much more detailed picture, thanks to the objects he’d found near the Viper nest. Most Deserati needed to do this to get any kind of image related to the creature or place they wished to know about. For Aden, a personal object intensified his view a hundredfold.

He waved a hand over the water and dropped the piece of broken arrow in first. The mist cleared to show him a group of guards meeting with what appeared to be a leader. Aden saw a similar arrow being flipped in the meaty hand of a guard, who bared his teeth at something that was said.

Aden commanded the water to shift to the leader. Zooming in on his ugly scale-covered face, Aden read his lips.
Sunday night. Cotton Creek.

Shit. Cotton Creek was a settlement similar to Ivydale, about fifty miles to the east. The fae there specialized in harvesting cotton and spinning it into raw fiber. Like the plant pixies, they were peaceful.
Motherfucking Vipers
. What was the motive for these attacks?

Aden cleared his scrying bowl and pulled out his gem phone. He dialed Keegan, who picked up on the first ring. “S’up, bro?”

“The Vipers are going to attack Cotton Creek on Sunday night.”

“That’s in two days. I have enough time to put a team on it. Nice work.”

“I had enhanced help this time.” Aden went on to tell Keegan about his visit to the Viper’s home.

Keegan let out a low whistle. “You should have brought Leif or Luke with you. You were way outnumbered.”

“Fuck it, I was fine. I had the amulet. Still have one use left on it.”

“Yeah, risk-taking isn’t as much fun if you end up dead. Next time, take backup. That’s an order.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aden mumbled.

“You get a cook yet? I heard your food tastes like shit.”

“You wanna come over here and cook, dick? And who’s running their fucking mouth?”