Page 43 of Wicked Little Tricks

“Do I know you?”

Her eyes shifted beyond me for a moment, then back to my face. “No, but I know your mother. She sends her regrets that you were almost accidentally killed. It will not happen again.” She flashed a smile. “At least not at the hands of Lucas.”

I pressed my back more firmly against the pillar. “You mean the blond asshole who tried to throw me from the fire escape?”

“Yes. You changed your name, and you were hidden from us. Your mother was not aware of that, else you wouldn’t have been targeted.”

Was she saying mymotherwas the reason I was almost killed? And maybe she targeted that other messenger too? And what did she mean I washidden?

I finally pushed away from the pillar and stepped toward the woman. There was no way I was letting her slip away. “Where is my mother? What does she have to do with anything?”

Her eyes flicked behind me again. “I fear our time is short. Now that your identity has become known, you are at the center of a very dangerous game. If I wereyou, I would find a boundary to hide behind, and I would stay there.”

Thinking she was about to flee, I reached out to grab her arm, but then she wasn’t quite where I thought she was. The flash of her magic was enough to tell me the truth. “You’re a celestial.”

I was so shocked I reacted too slowly as someone came around the pillar and grabbed me. The vampire from the table pulled me against him, baring his fangs. “You’re coming with me.”

“I don’t think so.” I tried to shift, but he’d wrapped his arms tightly around me like he knew exactly what he was dealing with. I looked desperately toward the woman for help, but she was gone.

The vampire dragged me away from the column, further from the poker tables. I thrashed in his grip, knocking the back of my head against his face, but it was like having two iron bars around me.

A few people in the crowd noticed my struggle and started pointing at us, but did nothing. Then one of the wraiths stepped into our path, looking down at us coolly.

“I’m working for Ivan,” the vampire said to him, then to my horror and surprise, the wraith stepped out of our way and the vampire wrapped his arms tighter, lifting me from my feet.

We started moving faster as I kicked at his shins. “Who the hell is Ivan!”

He didn’t answer. He was rushing me toward a doorway with anemployees onlysign.

The door opened, revealing the female vampire who had chased me the night before.

White wings spread behind her, then something came down on top of her head, knocking her to the floor.

She didn’t move, and my captor just stood there, holding me right in front of the blond angelic who had been at the poker table just a few moments before.

The angelic stepped toward us, his eyes on the vampire. “I’ll be taking that, if you don’t mind.”

Oh, like hell. I used the distraction to slam the back of my head into the vampire’s nose, making a sickening crunch.

He cried out and dropped me, and I fell to the floor.

I shoved to my feet and started running without thinking. My closest path of escape was up the stairs toward the high roller rooms. I tried to catch sight of Sebastian as I ascended, but I didn’t see him anywhere. That wretched bastard had left me to the wolves.

Knowing there were only closed off rooms in one direction, I ran down an adjacent hall, finding more stairs at the end.

I ran up them, but the other angelic who had tried to kill me waited there. He lifted his hands. “Just give me a moment. I only want to speak without your devil present.”

I turned on my heel and ran the other way down thehall, shifting as I did to make me more difficult to grab, but he didn’t give chase.

I ran into an empty room and looked out the window. I had only gone up two flights. I might be able to make my way down.

Sure enough, there was a fire escape outside. Of course, I didn’t have much luck the last time I had tried that. Glancing behind me for signs of pursuit, I slid open the window, then stepped outside.

The small metal platform groaned beneath my weight.Just two stories down. I could get to the bottom, then run out to the hubbub in front of the Circus. With my ability to shift, no one would be able to catch me there.

I started climbing, and was shocked when I actually reached the ground. It felt so good beneath my boots I could have kissed it, if it wasn’t filthy city asphalt.

I started running, my panic abating. Maybe I had actually lost them.

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