Page 30 of The Monster's Desire

After all, it’s the only expression of mine that she can stand to see.

ChapterEleven

Nadia

The cunty look on Imogen Diamonte’s face indicates pretty quickly that we’re not going to be BFFs. She’s an undeniably beautiful woman, but the sourpuss look on her face suggests she’s been sucking on lemons. Or possibly eating rotten ass. I mean, who am I to judge? Maybe I should offer her a stick of gum. Damn, I don’t even have my purse.

My head bobbles between Echo and Imogen.

For the love of all things holy...is she his partner or his mother? Due to their lack of aging, it’s impossible to tell without asking for clarification, which I will absolutelynotbe doing.

The woman is already looking at me with murdery vibes.

That’s a bignope, no thanks, type of question that I’m not making the mistake of stumbling into.

Echo stands with his head bowed respectfully. His hands are clasped in front of him, but his posture is purely rigid.

Imogen huffs and waves a hand dismissively at him.

Echo’s eyes meet mine like he’s trying to convey something. Exactly what is lost on me.

“You’re early, you’ll have to wait,” Imogen says in a thick accent I can’t quite place. Wait, she said we “finally arrived,” so which is it? Are we early or late? “You’ll remain here. Someone will come for you when we’re ready for you.” She gestures to a set of three chairs near a door. She doesn’t wait for our agreement. The door closes quietly behind her, and I take a seat in one of the chairs that line the wall.

My mouth opens, but Echo slaps a cold hand over my face. He gives a brusque shake of his head, indicating I shouldn’t speak. I’m not dumb. I get that vampires and other supernaturals have excellent hearing.

Echo must think I’m the most foolish witch in existence as he quickly points to his ear and his eyes fly to the meeting room.

Rolling my eyes, I give him a nod to let him know I understand.

He yanks out his phone, typing out something and handing it to me. It’s a file or document with pictures and information on the five council members I’ll be meeting with. I speed-read my way through each listed council member, but my blood runs ice-cold when I realize they’re all vampires and demons.

There’s not a single shifter, fae, sentinel, or witch on their town council.

That seems like a bad sign.

My hands shake as I hand his phone over.

He takes it, stepping back until he’s leaning against the wall and looking like he stepped off the pages of some men’s high-fashion magazine.

My gaze falls to my own outfit. The knee-length wrap dress is comfortable, but it doesn’t scream professional, now that I think about it. The leather sandals I’m wearing are, again, comfy, but after seeing Imogen and Echo, it’s clear I’mveryunderdressed.

Why am I self-conscious?

I’m doing these assholes a favor.

The ward isn’t in good shape. They’ve allowed it to deteriorate to the point I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do the job in one trip. Add on what Echo said in the alley, and I don’t even want to anymore.

The human can come to Haven if she needs my services, and the monsters in North Falls can hire some other witch to fortify their ward.

An incubus in full demon form opens the door and hungrily checks me out before extending a hand to invite us in.

My shadows slither back from wherever they disappeared to while we waited.

Popping off the chair, I hurry to make my way inside. The pulse of desire I feel as I pass the sex demon is alarming. Usually, my magic protects me from being influenced by other supernaturals. My hand feels drawn to the demon with the platinum blond hair, and then I’m patting his wickedly muscular chest.

I mouth the wordwowlike a total loser.

“Garth,” he says with a smirk plastered to his handsome face.

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