Page 31 of Wicked Little Tricks

“Lilith helped you?” he asked.

“You know her?” But of course he knew her. Thiswas all some giant sick joke, created just for me.

“It’s not important.” His gaze went distant as he watched the fire. Apparently it was now time for quiet contemplation.

My eyes were drawn to Gabriel approaching with a wine decanter and two long stemmed glasses. I hadn’t noticed him leaving to fetch them.

My eyes roamed up the full height of him. “You sure move quiet for someone so large.”

“Not all of us tromp around loudly enough to alert every troll in the forest.” He set the glasses on a little table, then filled them both with a pale purple liquid.

The sharp tang of alcohol hit my nostrils, along with a more pleasant aroma of lavender and vanilla. Not that I couldn’t use a drink, but I wasn’t sure if some unknown goblin beverage should be that drink.

Mistral took his glass without acknowledging anyone. He sipped it, still peering pensively into the fire.

What the hell, they came from the same carafe, and I was stuck here with Mr. Broodypants until sunrise. Lifting my glass in sarcastic thanks toward Gabriel, I took a sip. The liquid burned all the way down, but the flavor was divine. The mixture boasted the strong herbal taste of lavender, the warmth of vanilla, and a touch of honey for sweetness.

Gabriel smirked, pouring more of the liquid into my glass when I extended it his way, then retreated toward the door.

“You will continue learning from Sebastian.” Mistral’s voice startled me after he had been silent for so long. “And you will report to me until our bargain is fulfilled. At that point, I will assist you with your problems.”

I swirled the pale purple liquid in my glass. “You know, Sebastian is paying me for my work.”

He finally looked at me, seeming genuinely surprised. “Why?”

I shrugged. “There was no mention of timeline in our bargain. I agreed to work for him, but I didn’t agree on how quickly I would do it.” I cradled my glass before me and lifted a brow. “I believe there was no mention of timeline inourbargain either.”

He returned his glass to the small table, his long graceful fingers trailing across the stem. “Perhaps not, but I am also the only thing standing between you and a pack of angry vampires.”

I glowered. “Fair enough. So can we crash here until morning?”

He furrowed his brow. “Crash?”

“Yeah, like stay here? Spend the night?”

He wrinkled his nose. “I’m familiar with the term, I’m just not sure I’ve ever had the request for someone to…crashhere.”

I leaned back in my seat, taking another sip from my glass. “There’s a first time for everything.”

“Apparently so. You may crash, but on onecondition.”

I lowered my wine glass. “Go on.”

Ringo trembled on my shoulder, reminding me of his presence.

“You will tell me more about yourself.”

He honestly couldn’t have surprised me more. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Call it simple curiosity. I do not interact often with humans.”

I doubted it. If I had to guess, he was still trying to figure out why Sebastian was interested in me. Just what was their history with each other?

I took another sip, though the delightful liquid was already starting to go to my head, then shrugged. “I’m an open book. Ask away.”

“Your mother was full-blooded celestial?”

I deflated. That was the last thing I wanted to talk about. “Yep. Good ol’ mom.”

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