Page 37 of Magick and Lead
He nodded. “Yeah. I saw him at the presidential mansion today. He’s supposedly part of some peace envoy here to parlay with President Ramos.”
“Impossible. Only the queen could broker peace.”
He shrugged. “I’m just telling you what I know.”
I looked away from Charlie. There was only one person I needed dead more than him—only one person more urgently deserving of my revenge—and that was Prelate Kortoi.
My mind raced as I thought of the possibilities. Kortoi would never expect me to know he was here in Admar. And he’d never guess that I was here, too. There would never be a better chance to catch him unawares than this. If I could find Kortoi, take him by surprise, and kill him, the rebellion back home would crumble.
Charlie seemed to sense what I was thinking.
“Kortoi was the one behind the coup back in Maethalia, wasn’t he?” Charlie said. “The creepy bastard. I never trusted that guy. You know, I could help you. We could find him together.”
My eyes snapped back to his.
“I came here to kill you. Now you want to help me?” I demanded. “Are you a fool?”
A smile curled on his lips. “For you? Always,” he said.
18
KITTY
Kitty paced the sparsely furnished living room in the safehouse apartment half a mile from Charlie’s apartment. She’d called Langford to meet her here, but she was still startled when the door swung open and he was there. He stepped inside, straightening his tie, and the door banged shut behind him.
He eyed her for a moment, then moved toward her—not the way a man walks, but with the unnatural smoothness of a prowling panther. When they moved about in the world, Langford and his fellow agents were good at pretending to be normal. But when he was alone with her, it was always painfully clear that he was not human.
Of course, neither am I anymore,Kitty thought.
But that didn’t diminish how disquieting it always felt being alone with Langford. Her master.
He approached until he was so near that her breasts pressed against the front lapel of his suit through her dress.
“I’ve told you before,” he said in a low, smooth voice. “When you come here, you disrobe.”
The words set her tingling and trembling. She hated what he did to her. And she loved it. Oh, God, did she love it. And she hated herself for loving it.
She knew what would come soon. It loomed over her, filling her with dread and desire in equal measure. But first…
“I have something to tell you,” she said, her voice tremulous. “The one-armed princess of Maethalia. Essaphine. She’s here.”
Edward tilted his head. “That seems unlikely.”
“I’m telling you, I saw her,” Kitty said, her voice rising. “I’d just left Charlie’s apartment and…”
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” Langford cocked an eyebrow, but there was no emotion in his arctic blue eyes.
“Stop. You’re the one who told me to get as close to him as I could. And I didn’t getthatclose,” she huffed a sigh. “Anyway,I heard a female voice when he closed the door to his apartment, so I went around to the far side of the building, climbed up the wall, and looked in the window. It was her. She had a fake arm in a sling, but I could tell in two seconds that it wasn’t real. Besides, how many girls run around carrying Maethalian daggers? And why would anyone else be trying to kill Charlie?”
“You’ve expressed that you’d like to kill him,” Edward pointed out. “It could be just another of his lovers.”
At those words, Kitty felt her cheeks burn. The truth was, she didn’t love Charlie. Never had. And it was also true that she and Langford were…involved. But that didn’t make the idea of Charlie having another lover any better. In fact, Edward’s mockery made her feel worse—like a hypocrite as well as a girl who’d been passed over.
“I just thought you might like to know that the Princess of Maethalia is here in Ironberg. Forget I said anything,” she grumbled. But Edward reached out a hand, running it along her jawline and her lips, soothing her. His fingers were like ice cubes. Frigid. Arousing.
“You did the right thing, Kitty, as always. And you’ll be rewarded. I’ll send my watchers. We’ll take it from here.”
Silence hung between them for a moment, a silence so complete she could hear herself breathe. But not Edward. She’d never get used to the fact that he could live without breathing. He’d assured her that one day she, too, would lose the habit. It scared her, the thought of becoming that inhuman.
