Ash to Embers (Courting Shadows) by C.V. Larkin Read Free Book Online Page B

drawing the eye towards an obscenely low waistband on a pair of turn of the century breeches.
    "You look like you mugged a Quaker," Tian said. "That all you got away with?"
    Xavier grinned; the well groomed dirty blonde goatee made his strong jawline even stronger and his teeth appear impossibly white. "Don't worry, sweetheart," he said, running a hand down his chest to where he gripped the bulge in his breeches. "I still got something for you."
    He winked. It was a nice sight and he knew it. He also knew that she couldn't give a shit less. Tian raised an eyebrow. "Anyone ever tell you you're a crass bastard?"
    "Surprisingly often. Speaking of which, Zulpey, go find Royal. Why don't you let me like our half-breed for a while in private?"
    Zulpey bobbed her head, causing a great big eye-full of anatomy jiggle before disappearing into thin air.
    "It's been awhile," Xavier said. "We missed you." His tone was light, but the earnestness crept in despite his obvious effort to the contrary.
    "Don't tell me you boys couldn't find anyone else to bleed."
    "Sweetheart, no one else looks quite as good while they're doing it."
    "I need a spell and a favor, Xavier."
    Xavier's almond shaped eyes glowed like a blue beacon over impossibly high cheekbones. "I'll take any opportunity you give me to perform."
    "Motherfucker."
    He was beaming. "You always were my favorite show."
    "Lucky me."
    The walls around them began to move. The marble slabs shifted and bunched with a loud grinding noise. They elongated, sculpting themselves into drapes that appeared the exact texture and shape of a heavy velvet cloth. They ran from the now twenty foot ceilings to the floor. Objects built themselves from the ground until they stood in a palatial office made of bright stone. Everything from the chairs to the impossibly thin post-it notes on the desk in the corner were monochromatic and smooth.
    Xavier leaned in. "If you're impressed you should let me show you what I can do with my hands."
    "For an angel you're pretty rough around the edges. You don't need to prove it."
    "Half angel. How do you know that I'm not the one with the demon taint?" he asked. He twined his hands into the strands of her hair easing his body closer as she took a step back. He ignored the response.
    "Ceyla finds Royal...of interest," Tian said. "Besides, you work too hard at being a dick."
    Xavier traced her mouth with his gaze and tugged on the strands of hair in his grip. "It used to come naturally. Tell me, Tian, what kind of men interest you?"
    He leaned in close, pressing the lean lines of his body flush against her. Xavier had pull, she'd give him that, but he'd have been better off using it on someone with a pulse. Despite the
attitude and the endless supply of come-ons, he was decent.
    "No one interests me," Tian said. She turned her head because his mouth was too close to her own. "It's part of the appeal."
    Intimate proximity made her feel like a victim when it wasn't a prelude to violence. She leaned back further and watched Xavier' s eyes grow serious, becoming too old for his face and too tragic for comfort.
    "I believe you," he said with a gentleness that made her want to cringe. Damn him. He was definitely part angel and in the mirror of his light, the image of her soul he reflected was not a pretty one.
    "I'm looking for something that belongs to Faerie, but could be obscured by black magic. Will you accept my blood in payment for the tracking spell I require to find it?"
    "Indeed," he said, sliding the mask of bravado back into place. His smile was hollow as he gestured to the marble tapestry becoming translucent in front of them, "Far be it from me to deny our audience this kind of spectacle."
     
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    Sio leaned against a tree across the street from The Gates waiting for the cavalry to arrive. Something about the place had set his teeth on vibrate, not that he minded. The feeling was a great distraction, even if it did cause his rapidly fading wounds to hurt all