mission magic 01 - the incubus job by Diana Pharaoh Francis Read Free Book Online

can’t do that! The guests would panic,” LeeAnne said. “It would be a disaster.”
    He shrugged her off. “I mean it, Mary,” he said. “If you so much as look at the exit, the shutdown will trigger.”
    I wondered if he could really do it. The ghosts could change my aural signature into an infinite number of variations. He might not know how I did it, but he certainly knew I could, so he wouldn’t set the shutdown to trigger off that. What else could he use? I didn’t know, but his threat didn’t sound idle. He must have a card up his sleeve.
    “Fine,” I said. “Do what you’ve got to do.”
    It sounded more like a challenge than an agreement. He started to say something, but LeeAnne tugged his arm. He gave me a hard look, and they strode away down the corridor. They matched; they belonged together. Her ice queen elegance and his lion grace. I looked down at myself. I was all alley-cat grunge.
    I shut the door and reset my wards then took a shower. I felt more than a little grimy. I’d driven from Chicago to Greenwich, Connecticut, in a couple of days, sleeping in the car and eating fast food. I was exhausted and working the wards and dealing with Tabitha had drained me. Not to mention the conversation with Law.
    I shied from thinking about him at all. I still had butterflies zinging around my stomach from his kiss, and somehow hope had knifed its way inside my heart. I hated hope. It lied more often than not.
    Instead I concentrated on the job.
    I was after an incubus. Rather, I was after a box that the incubus had stolen. He’d stolen the box after seducing the wife of one of Ivan’s business partners, so Ivan had called on me for help.
    He’d hired me to do odd jobs for him a couple years after I left Law and Acadia, a quasi-governmental company and our former employer. A few years later, he put me on retainer and gave me regular work. I liked it. I could still take on any client I wanted, but I had a regular paycheck. Not that I spent much of it. Ivan covered most of my living expenses since I was never at home to get my mail or pay my bills. That left me a good chunk of change to drop in the bank every week. I liked the vagabond life. The ghosts kept me company, and I didn’t have to answer to anybody.
    I also didn’t have to think about why my apartment was so bare or the fact that I didn’t have many in-the-flesh friends. I talked to my cousin Remy sometimes, my Aunt Sandra’s eldest. I visited him when I could and sometimes his sister, Traci. They were about the only family I had left, besides Aunt Sandra. She didn’t talk to me much. My dad had told her how I killed mom the second time. Even though she’d said I’d done the right thing, she avoided me.
    After the shower, I wrapped up in one of the plush bath sheets and went into the bedroom. I’d left my backpack on the floor. I picked it up, set it on top of a dresser, and untied the knots at the top. As much as I wanted to sleep, I had to get to work. The incubus wouldn’t stay in the hotel long if he thought he was in danger. Tabitha’s tantrum would have made him itchy. He’d not had a chance to feed for a few days, though, so with any luck, I could tempt him into letting me be his meal of choice.
    I pulled the stuff I’d need out of the pack. First came the slinky Vera Wang dress. Next came the makeup pouch, shoes, and thigh-high silk stockings. I dug out the perfume, hairbrushes, and thong underwear. No bra with this dress. I was aiming to look like a buffet for the sex demon.
    I’d become an expert at dressing first class, thanks to Ivan and the lessons he’d insisted on. I needed to know how to fit into every setting, he told me, especially the ones built out of money.
    There wasn’t much to be done with my hair. I blew it out with one of the dryers in the bathroom. The makeup was quick. I gave myself smoky cat eyes and painted on bright red lipstick. I rolled the stockings on and stepped into the slinky dress. The bugle