Page 59 of Infernal

He shook his head. “The only allegiance she has is to herself.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good, right? She might be willing to help us if she hasn’t pledged herself to the Dark Legion.”

“She’ll help. But it’ll come with a cost.”

“Awesome.” I huffed out an aggravated breath, causing a loose piece of hair to flutter in front of my face. “I have about eighty bucks to my name.”

“It’s not that kind of payment, love. She prefers to be paid in favors and flesh.”

A chill crept down my back. Already, I didn’t like the sound of her. “What do you mean by flesh, exactly?”

“Never you mind that, angel.” He met my gaze again, and for the first time ever, I could see color in the depths of his dark eyes. With the sun hitting them just the way it was, they looked almost amber. “If we have to cross that bridge, I’ll be the one to take care of it.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of him dealing with Priscilla and her payment of flesh.

Especially if it involvedhisflesh.

“Were you two ever together?” I blurted out, and then swallowed down the nasty aftertaste the words left in my mouth.

The corner of his lip pulled up ever so slightly. “Curious, are we?”

“No—I mean, I just think I should know if you two had some kind of history,” I said, doing my best to sound casual about it. “You know, in case it interferes with our plans.”

“Of course.” He turned back to the sun, which had almost completely disappeared into the horizon. “There’s always history with a sire. The bond is deep and rather complex, but I assure you, angel, it will not interfere with anything.”

Deep and complex? I wasn’t sure why, but hearing him speak about his bond with her rubbed me the wrong way.

“Were you in love with her?” I asked him before I could think the question all the way through.

He met my eyes again and searched my face as though his answer were hidden somewhere among my features. The intensity in his gaze made my heart speed up. It felt like a lifetime before he spoke again.

“No, angel. I wasn’t in love with her.”

I released a breath of air that felt a lot like relief. When I looked back up at him, he appeared to be studying me.

“Does that please you?” he asked, his voice low with curiosity.

Shrugging, I glanced down at my hands and remarked how badly my nails needed a manicure. I stared at them for a long time, hoping he’d forget he asked me a question.

But of course, he didn’t.

“Angel—?”

“Yes, it pleases me.” I felt my face warm at my admission.

Another stretch of silence wafted between us, but I wasn’t brave enough to meet his eyes again, even though I knew that he was staring at me as though I held the key to all of life’s mysteries.

He leaned into me, his shoulder brushing up against my own. “Why do you think that is?” he asked tentatively.

The truth was, there were a lot of reasons why that made me happy. Because I had feelings for him. Because I didn’t like the idea of him with other women. All of which would further complicate my life at a time when I needed the least amount of complications.

“Because it’s one less distraction for me to worry about,” I said, deciding to go with the least problematic answer. “You know, if we end up having to work with her.”

“I see.” He shifted his attention back to the evaporating horizon and ran a hand through his pale hair. “Then you needn’t worry about that, angel. For what it’s worth, you have my full attention,” he said and looked back at me.

I bit my lip, working hard not to let his words sink into my heart.

His gaze immediately dropped to my mouth as a heated look passed through his eyes. “You have for a very long time.” He reached out and touched the palm of his hand to my cheek, his thumb brushing softly against my bottom lip.

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