Page 60 of How to Seduce a Slender

Councilor Dawn’s right hand, Aaliyah Clearwater, secretary of the council for business. A tall, red-haired woman. She was broad shouldered, round faced, her wide hips always in a perfect pencil skirt without a single wrinkle, stockings, and pumps. Her green flesh complimented the autumn colors of her outfit. The fae woman before him kept her fluttering, butterfly wings tucked against her back to keep from beating people in the face with them. Aaliyah was what Smith imagined the ideal secretary was; silent and deadly. Especially as she rounded the aisle Smith stood in, a dagger already out, a parchment in her other. “You think you’re funny?”

“Not particularly, but threatening a civil servant is rather rash, don’t we think, Ms. Clearwater?” Smith purposely snapped his head a full ninety degrees. Aaliyah hissed, stomping around in a circle, and shivering before she snatched up the Slender by the front of his vest. She backed him into one of the many stone shelves full of enchanted papers and folders. Books upon books floated overhead, being updated then resorted into new homes. One did not wander the aisles inside the hall of records. One came in with purpose, lest they became the newest victim to the mass of magical parchment.

“You’re not a civil servant, you’re a servant of a civilian, those are two separate things.” Aaliyah pressed the blade to his throat.As if.Smith pushed against the blade, shadows sprouting out of the imaginary wound it caused.Smith was not flesh and blood.In fact, just to make sure the message was clear. He pressed himself through the blade, watching in wicked joy as her eyes widened. His head floated in the air, smokey tendrils writhing between his head and his neck. Then he snapped his head back onto his neck, taking her dagger with him. It was gone into the Endless Wood with every feeble excuse for a weapon that buried itself in his form.

“And it is the civilian, Melody Deathless, for whom I am here. And why I sent you that taste of your own medicine, Ms. Clearwater. Know that’s only a taste, for if I need to rain misery upon you and all of the business wing of the council…I am not above playing dirty. Something you’re well acquainted with, am I wrong?”

Aaliyah glanced down at the papers in her hand, her frown deepening. Smith knew it all, as that had been his instructions from Sebastian. Being a lawyer was good; being the inside eye upon the council that ran the city Sebastian protected was better.

If the Lich so much as requested it, Smith had dirt on everyone. Even Aravis Blightwood, small and meager as it was. Though, nothing on Fergus Fowler, the councilor of defense, or his Lord Commander were quite juicy enough to destroy them. Those two were relatively clean, minus one or two schoolboy infractions that could easily be explained away by teenager stupidity. Aravis would hate to see the photo Smith had locked and loaded of him stealing a prized pig from the local farmer’s market. According to the other kids involved, Aravis intended to grease it up as a trick for Fergus to chase…unfortunately that pig was more of a boar, and that wild boar destroyed twelve vehicles, shattered a window, and went on a general chaos spree through the town. Aravis got away with it, as the son of the Lord Commander, but Smith had that fact tucked away for another day.

And if his Lich requested it, Smith was prepared to destroy the council at any given minute and raise a new one like a phoenix from its ashes.

How little the council knew their positions and power were merely a Slender with spite away from being ripped from their fingers.Tiny mortals.

What was Aaliyah’s crime? Smith caught her on multiple occasions changing out submitted paperwork to benefit Councilor Dawn. Many people wouldn’t fight it when the council denied their claim, believing that they’d filled out that form wrong. Not many went back over the forms they submitted to double check what was put there.

Smith put captured photos of her in the hall of records, just where they stood now…as well as a copy of a certain business’ submission for expansion approval.

“I would hate for people to find out you’ve been making it legal for Lavender Dawn to deny claims. You know she’ll throw you under the proverbial bus and let you get trampled, over and over again. Business owners will call for your head and she’ll claim you did it of your own free will. She always gets away with it.” Smith slithered out from between her and the shelves.

Aaliyah scowled harder, crumpling up the papers in her hands. “What do you want?”

“Bellivenue Winters. I want where he’s staying right now and what he’s working on. If you’re honest with me and he’s not fled the city by the time I get there, the business district won’t find out whose claims were wrongfully denied. Including one from a prolific assassin rogue, one a barely retired adventurer with blood under his claws…oh, and, my favorite, telling the estranged daughter with a score to settle that you arranged all those paparazzi that took indecent photos of her with her now-husband? I’m sure Mrs. Hauntings will be most understanding.”

“You can have Winters!” Aaliyah hissed, ripping to face Smith head on. “He’s down on 14th Street. He’s investigating some bar named The Iron Gullet. Dawn doesn’t want that business still standing when we rework the district budgets.”

Smith tucked his hands behind him. “And why would she care about a random bar on the other side of town? Is it run by random civilians living their life? Or does she have an actual reason.”

The secretary glanced around before nodding her head further into the halls. They walked down hushed aisles toward the back. No sunlight broke through the windows the deeper they traveled. Stale air as well as moldy papers were pungent in the back section of the hall. Aaliyah tugged out a project file. An accordion file full of half-done papers. She spread out an architect’s designs of buildings that were ripped straight out of elvish folklore.Typical.

“The owner won’t sell the business. She wants to tear down the whole street, renovate, and reinvigorate that area, but the owner of the gullet has refused, making the other business owners back out.” Aaliyah whispered, pulling out a few investigator snapshots of an orc with an iron jaw bolted into his bones. A banshee with all her claws extended and pretty red eyes hung on his arm, clearly talking to customers while the orc welcomed them inside with a single arm movement.

“Let me guess, she’s already got investors into the new business strip?”

“Old money too, and you know how rich, old fucks deal with being patient. But that’s been his side job. Dawn took him off his main job and put him full time on sinking the Gullet. You’ll find him probably slinking around there, doing whatever he can. I was supposed to send a health inspector tomorrow.” Aaliyah’s eyes dropped to the paperwork, shame written all over her face. As she tucked it away, Smith let her mull over what she’d become. When he first met the secretary, she’d been a bright-eyed, fresh out of college fae with hope for the future.

And Lavender Dawn rotted her out from the inside.

“It’s not too late,” Smith whispered as he poked two fingers into his jacket. Aaliyah furrowed her brow, taken aback and confused as her attention snapped up to him. He produced a business card without a phone number on it.Didn’t need one, plus the phone didn’t work in the manor.“If you cancel that inspector for tomorrow, when Dawn finds out and asks why the inspection isn’t on her desk, you slip her my card. But know by doing that, you’re going to make enemies with the council. I’d suggest speaking with the Lord Commander…or Fowler, I know that man could use another secretary.”

Aaliyah snorted, “Those two are worse than Dawn, I hardly see them take time off even when they really should. And their poor assistant, I pray for her hairline. If she wasn’t elemental, I’d worry she’d be bald by now.”

“Precisely,” Smith breathed, letting the information sink in.

Aaliyah glanced down at the card, her hands beginning to tremble. Her ruby lips quivered for a moment, “If I do this, are you sure you’re ready to put this kind of target on you and Lord Rosemont’s head? The council are already touchy about the Lich in the woods…but his pet Slender putting his nose where it doesn’t belong?”

Smith slithered back a step, oozing with smug confidence.

“It’s about time this city remembered who built it. And what thin walls they’ve put up around it.” Smith bowed completely in half to her. “I look forward to celebrating your job change, Ms. Clearwater. Just, one last question.”

Aaliyah glared at him. “What?”

“What was Winter’s main job, the one he was working before bullying business owners.”

“Pfft,” Aaliyah snorted, taking the file she’d pulled out and stuffing it back into the cold, indifferent stone shelf it’d come from. The very shadows of the room tugged it fully into place. “That’s all Winters does. But before this, he was taking lunches with donors and investors who weren’t pulling their weight. He was supposed to convince them to be more generous. I guess one of them wasn’t happy with the insinuation.”

“Why would you say that?”

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