Page 25 of A Hint of Delirium

“Is it because he’s your brother?” Cael scoffed.

I glared at him. “Him being my brother has nothing to do with it,” I snapped. “But stay away from him. Leave him to me. I’ll handle it.”

“If we’ve been tasked to find the registry and your brother has it, why are we just sitting around?” Cael groaned, then threw back the whiskey he was drinking.

We were in Luka’s bar, which was considered neutral territory for both Seelie and Unseelie. I’d returned to see if I could squeeze some more information out of Luka, but there was barely anything there. The man truly didn’t know. It was positively infuriating.

The fact of the matter was that Ansel knew the last name on the list. He was the only one with that information. I couldn’t send Cael and his goons after Ansel because I knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against him, but they thought I was doing it to protect my brother. Pfft. If they only knew I was protectingthem.

I gulped half the beer in my glass. “I’ll find my brother and locate the registry.”

Cael nodded. “Last time we saw him, he was with a human girl—”

I straightened and jerked my attention to Cael. “Ignore her. She’s simply a temporary distraction.”

“But if she means something to your brother, shouldn’t we—”

“No,” I cut him off. “Stay away from the girl. That’s an order.” I fixed him with a glare and held it until he looked away.

Cael huffed as if I was taking away all his fun, which I probably was. In any other circumstances I would give him free rein to do whatever he wanted with the girl, but there was something about this human girl I couldn’t quite put my finger on. She was more than she appeared to be. No one wore an iron anklet because it was pretty. There was a story there and I vowed to find out what it was. And if it pissed Ansel off in the process, even better.

I gulped down the last of my beer and rapped my knuckles on the wooden table before standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I strode out of the bar and the crisp bite of Fall made me shiver. Extending my right hand, I opened a portal before me. Familiar orange flickers of magic swirled around me, blowing my hair back as the wind picked up and pulled me closer. I stepped inside and let it propel me through the swirling miasma, depositing me safely in the hallway outside Ansel’s apartment.

With ease, I walked purposefully toward his door and knocked, knowing it wouldn’t do either of us any good to make a spectacle for his human neighbors. I ran a hand through my dark hair and waited impatiently, knowing Ansel was probably watching me through the peephole.

After a few minutes, he opened the door; I didn’t wait for an invitation. I pushed my way inside, strolling in like I owned the place. I swiveled my head all around to make sure we were actually alone this time and there wouldn’t be any surprise visitors.

With a huff, Ansel slammed the door shut. “What do you want, Alec?”

I shrugged. “I just came to chat.” I continued to survey his apartment. “Nice décor. Very human chic.”

Ansel rolled his eyes. “Enough with the bullshit. Why are you here?”

I smirked. “You know why I’m here. The registry. Where is it?”

“Destroyed,” he replied with a straight face. “And now you’ll never get your hands on it.”

I chuckled. “I doubt that. No seelie would ever get rid of it. It’s too valuable. Try again, brother.”

He huffed in anger, momentarily stumped on what to say. I decided to change it up and throw him off his game.

“I like your little girlfriend,” I remarked idly, trailing my hand across the back of his sofa. “What’s her name again?” I furrowed my brows and pretended to think about it. “Oh, that’s right. Violet, is it? Such a lovely name.”

“Stay away from her,” he growled.

He actually growled. That made me grin.

“Well,someone’stouchy!” I laughed and strolled away from the sofa to his bookcase. “She’s quite a mystery. A human with an iron anklet. What a conundrum,” I mused. “Don’t you find it sort of odd?” I raised a questioning brow and looked over my shoulder at him.

Ansel gritted his teeth as if he was barely able to control himself from throttling me. Toying with him was just too much fun. It took a lot of self-control to contain my enjoyment.

“By now, you should know about the bargain we made,” I taunted. “Your girlfriend is quite naïve,” I chuckled. “An open-ended deal with no end date? Who does that?”

“You tricked her!” he accused hotly.

“Moi?” I placed my hand on my chest dramatically. “Never.” I frowned. “But Iwillhave some fun with her. She seems like a good time.”

He clenched his fists and took a step closer. “I swear—”

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