Page 57 of Deal with the Devil

An outfit was already picked out for her on the bed. She saw the collar was distinctly not there. Instead, there was a long, dainty chain with a single amethyst dangling from it. She snorted, “You know, the purple theme’s really a lot, Knox. You gotta like other colors!”

She was speaking to no one but, for some reason, she assumed he would hear her sass. Amelia could feel the spank from the ethos. Her lips curled into a smug smirk. The outfit consisted of a pair of simple slacks, a silk camisole that draped over her breasts, the necklace, and a pair of flats. Nothing like her slinky black dress…but when she looked in the mirror, she appreciated the silhouette.And clearly, he still wanted to have her ass and tits on display.Amelia rolled her eyes before leaving the room.Denver was halfway up the stairs when she closed the door behind her.

“Ah! Ms. Armstrong, perfect timing. I was coming to show you to the office.”

“About that, and I’ll take any punishment I get for being late, but…Penny and I need to go into town today.” Amelia pocketed her phone, wallet, and sunglasses as she stepped out further into the hall.

“I’m afraid that’s not allowed, Ms. Armstrong.”

“It’s the Lord Commander. He’s demanded we come talk to him about the case with Rick.” Amelia left out the part about Penny going into work, it wasn’t worth arguing over. Once they were in town, they could redirect.

Denver paled, his face pulled in an unhappy grimace. “Oh, well, that does complicate things.”

“Look, I didn’t think Knox wanted us inviting him out here. Is there any way we can have a babysitter, just to go see what Blightwood wants? Plus, it’s daylight. Declan can’t get us during daylight, right? He’s a vampire. Plus, it’s the council building, he wouldn’t want to be within a hundred yards of that place.” Amelia felt atwingeof guilt for partially lying to Denver. It wasn’t a complete lie; she did intend to see Aravis Blightwood. And she felt like she made a good point.

Denver groaned, “Fine, I’ll see to you two in a car. Shall I collect Mister Brayden as well?”

“No, let him sit and play with car parts. Besides, if we discuss Rick’s body or anything, I don’t want him hearing about it,” Amelia sighed.

“Very good, I agree. Give me a moment to collect you a guard and a driver. And no funny business. If Mr. Zrazduel hears of any mischief or change of plans at all, I suspect he’ll be very cross with you. He did explicitly tell you not to leave the house, I’m pretty sure.”

Amelia nodded, “I fully accept any punishments accrued from this trip, but it’s necessary.”

“Alright then, meet me at the front doors in five.” The centaur bowed his head and began his long trek back down the stairs. Amelia left to find her sister and tell her the good news.

“First, before the councilbuilding, we need to stop at King’s Falls First.” The guard named Doug, the goliath man in a gray suit, and the driver both looked at them suspiciously. Amelia sighed, “It’s just for a moment. She needs to help her boss with something. It’ll be in broad daylight and highly visible.”

Doug glared at her but said nothing as he nodded to the driver to continue. They turned around a bend and headed away from the direction of the council building. Penny was already on the phone with her boss, tapping away at her crystal pad for work. Amelia did her best not to search for faces on the sidewalk. The last thing she needed was to freak herself out more. Instead, she opted to call Aravis Blightwood back and let him know what was going on.

“Blightwood’s office,” a charming, sweet voice filled the phone.

“Hey, it’s Amelia Armstrong. I got a call from Aravis Blightwood this morning about wanting me and Penny to come in for follow up questions?” She traced the seam of her slacks to keep her eyes busy.And more importantly, off the people meandering around.

“Oh? I didn’t know he called you. I don’t have anything written down about that. No problem, let me go and ask him about it. Do you mind if I put you on hold?”

Cold, suspicious fear swirled in her belly. “Of course.”

He didn’t tell his secretary. That’s…it’s fine, he probably forgot. Or maybe he didn’t expect her to call back? Yeah, that’s it, he just didn’t expect her to care enough to call back.

Amelia pulled the phone away from her ear, the soft sound of jazz played over the receiver while she looked at her call log.Did I imagine the voicemail?Yet, there it was, on her call log. The number that called herlookedlike it came from the Council Building. They were the only ones in King’s Fall whose numbers started with ones. However, she would bet her left toe that some young, wise-cracking tech wizard could spoof a simple number to her cell phone.

They pulled up to King’s Falls First, and Penny flew out the door. Doug pointed at Amelia, “You going in with her?”

“Would you like me to? Or I can stay here with the driver, and you follow her?”

He weighed his choices before asking her to stay put and following Penny inside. Amelia watched from the parking lot as Penny and the guard spoke at the door before both entering the building. Obviously, Penny was giving him the speech.This is a business, so please, treat it with respect and don’t snoop on anyone’s stuff, anything you hear? No, you didn’t.Brayden and Amelia got the same speech when they went to work with Penny. Granted, they both would sit in the lobby, on their laptops, hanging out or working on stuff while Penny worked.

The jazz cut off and Amelia fumbled with the phone in her hands to get it back to her ear. “Ms. Armstrong, are we still here?”

“Yes ma’am.” Amelia tried not to flinch at the sound of her own squeak.

“I apologize, but the Lord Commander did not call you this morning. If you’d still like to ask him questions, you’re more than welcome to swing by. He’s working on a few things but he’savailable if you need to talk to him about your brother-in-law’s case.”

Amelia’s mouth went dry. The voice on her voicemail wasidentical.Heart slowing to a stop, she glanced up to the driver. He sat still, staring through the windshield, tapping his fingers to the steering wheel in time with the song lightly playing on the radio. Amelia swallowed audibly, “Uh, thanks. I must have confused the voicemail I got. Thanks for your time.”

“Any time, thank you for calling.” The secretary hung up.

Amelia clicked the end button and watched in slow motion as the partition rolled up between her and the driver. Rushing forward, she slapped a hand against the dark glass between her and the driver’s seat. It was mostly opaque, but she could see enough through the shadowy shield to know the driver got out of the car and walked away. “Hey! Hey!”

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