Page 51 of Gambling with Time

He scuffed his shoe on the pavement between us but said nothing.

“Are you still working with Osiris?”

He pressed his lips together, telling me everything I needed to know. I pretended not to notice.

“I’ll take that as a no. You can come back to the horde, you know. We are going to move against him. Take the war to his doorstep.”

His gaze narrowed slightly, and I knew I had his attention.

“You can be a part of that. I need someone that knows things about him.”

“If I don’t come back?” he asked.

A cruel smile spread over my lips. “Well–” I shrugged. My fingers secured around the stake strapped to my thigh, courtesy of my hunter. For protection, she said. I wasn’t going to use it; I didn’t need it. Not if I actually wanted the vamp dead. Which wasn’t part of the plan.

“I don’t know much. I only know how to contact him.” He crossed his arms in front of his heart. He must be a young vampire if he thought I needed the stake to do the job. It would explain why he fell for the lies of the Leyak and why he was still steadfast in his betrayal. Not that he was going to say any of that out loud.

But I picked up what I needed from his mind. The words were almost a whisper. Can’t let him know about the portal opening…it would lead directly to Osiris. Play along. The God would tell me to misdirect. I can do that. I’ll tell him it is in the woods, not in the basement of that house.

The image of the small bungalow filtered into my thoughts from his. The paint on the outside was a faded and chipped yellow, weeds grew out of control in the yard, the walkway to the front door was broken and jagged. It had been abandoned for a while. The numbers next to the door hung off their screws, 4-4-6-5-8, the third number could be a nine as well. We’d look for both.

“How can I reach him?” I asked. All of my real questions had been answered, but if I left in the middle of the conversation, he’d suspect something, so I played it out. Asking all of the questions he expected and accepting all of the bullshit he spewed. As long as he ran back to the God and told him all of the misinformation I had fed the vamp, it would be fine.

* * *

Alastor had obtained the penthouse suite again. He thought it was a better base of operation than the club, where supernaturals of all kinds could just waltz in. I had a key this time, so I didn’t have to force the man in the elevator to take me to the top floor.

Although, the little man did shrink back in fear when he recognized me. Not that it was an unusual response to my red eyes and blue skin. I looked very much like the demon I was. I swished my tail, knocking it off the side of the elevator, and he pressed further into the wall, his gaze fixated on it.

It amused me.

When the doors slid quietly open, I raked my gaze over his shaking form and then bared my teeth before stepping into the penthouse. The doors closed quickly behind me as if he pressed the button to get them to shut. The grin hadn’t fallen from my face when Samantha came into view. She eyed me like she knew I just terrified the human and enjoyed it.

What could I say, I was still a demon.

“Did you find him?”

“Yep,” I popped the ‘p’, and she smiled. “He fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. The God will be expecting an army. I told him I would be in touch with our next steps. And I picked up the location of the portal to Osiris.”

She grabbed me by the cheeks and smacked her lips against mine. “You are the best.”

“I know.”

“Don’t give him a bigger head than he already has,” Alastor called from the couch.

When I glanced over, Lex, Raiden, and Alastor were watching us. My arms came up to trap Sam against me as I let my power loose. Her eyes hooded immediately, and she licked her lips.

“Love, do you want to really give me a big head?” I asked. She nodded, her hands circling my shoulders and pulling me closer. “Mmmm, you are going to need to say that out loud.”

I dropped my ability, the air clearing of the chocolate scent, and she blinked. “Bellamy, I want to give you anything you want.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

I kissed her hard, devouring every bit of her mouth. Unable to get enough of her intoxicating taste. I released the hold on my power again. Not that I needed it. But I knew how to use it to give as much pleasure as I got. She mewled a sexy noise into my mouth as she pressed against me. Dragging my lips over her jaw and down her throat, I urged more sounds from her.

My thumbs ran over her hard nipples, then dropped to the hem of her shirt, lifting it up and over her head. I wasn’t far enough gone to magic it away, although it was always an option. It was another thing I found I preferred, undressing her piece by piece.

Raiden came around the couch and leaned against the back of the armchair, his arms loosely crossed. Hunger painted the lines of his face, and I paused to see if he’d join us. When he didn’t, I looped my fingers into her pants, snapping the button holding them closed and releasing the zipper before I followed my progress down her body with kisses.

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