City of Everdark (Chronicles of Arcana Book 3) Read online

  “Beautiful,” Noir finished. He inclined his head. “I’m honored to escort you to the gala.”

  I swept down the stairs in my kitten heels, excitement bubbling in my chest, not just because we were finally going to get answers about the fate of Valance, but also because I was in a pretty pink dress and going to a party.

  I gave them a twirl and Noir offered me the crook of his arm. Tay looked pained but covered it quickly with a smile. Shit, this couldn’t be easy for the troll in him, more so now that we’d made love again. The addiction was stronger now, not just on his end but on mine too.

  I took Noir’s arm but reached up to run a hand over Tay’s jaw, reveling in the scrape of his stubble. How would that feel against my skin, between my thighs. Whoa, back up there, Bastion, PG thoughts only.

  But Tay’s eyes had darkened as if in response to the flare of desire that had lanced through me.

  Noir cleared his throat. “Shall we?”

  Tearing my gaze away from Tay’s luscious mouth, I allowed Noir to lead me out into the brisk night air.

  I paused on the step. “Are we atom scattering?”

  He grinned as a limo drew up. “Not tonight, Bastion. Tonight we travel in style.”

  I pressed a hand to my chest. “Oh, Noir, you do pamper me so.”

  His eyes twinkled, and he grinned, flashing the dimples in his cheeks. “Only the best for my date.”

  Date. This was a date, but not really, he was simply playing, but still, flutter, flutter went the butterflies around my heart.

  He held the door open for me, helping me to sweep the skirt of my dress carefully into the vehicle. Oh, wow. This was a first. The ride in Valance’s limo didn’t count, not like this. This time, I was dressed like a princess and being escorted to a ball—okay, gala—and there were no glass slippers in sight. Fine, so it was not a fairytale, but it damn sure felt like one.

  Noir climbed in beside me and then the limo pulled away from the curb.

  The ballroom was draped in cream and blush organza, pink and white flower arrangements were dotted everywhere, and guests glided about like they had wheels under their shoes. The scent of money and magic saturated the air. There was Loraine Vincent getting cozy with Kelter, and Sanguinata standing in a cluster imperiously holding opaque goblets probably filled with blood, and every eye swiveled our way as we entered. Noir cut an imposing figure in his tailored-to-fit-like-a-fucking-glove suit. The lights shone off his golden hair and accentuated the dark shadows cast by his thick lashes. Seriously, did all the guys in my life have epic lashes?

  I leaned in to Noir. “What is this gala in aid of again?”

  “An opportunity for the elite to compare wallet sizes,” he said as he smiled and nodded at the greetings he received. “And to pretend to care about the little people by collecting pocket change to be donated to some cause they care nothing for.”

  Oh, man. “So, pretty much the same cause as the last event?”

  “Yep.”

  But we weren’t here for any cause but our own. We were here to find and charm the new Draconi ambassador. Correction, I was here to charm the Draconi ambassador.

  I squeezed Noir’s arm. “Can you see him? Do you know what he looks like?”

  “No,” Noir said. “I made some casual enquiries, and he’s supposedly a redhead.”

  “Well, that shouldn’t be too hard to spot, right? An imposing, redheaded male Draconi.” They were naturally larger than neph males. After all, they were dragons playing dress-up.

  “Oh, shit.” Noir gently steered me to the left.

  “What is it?”

  “Just keep moving,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

  “Adam, is that you?” The voice was overly feminine, saccharine sweet, and a little too loud.

  Noir exhaled, plastered a polite smile on his face, and turned to address the speaker—his date from the last gala whose name eluded me.

  Her dark gaze swept over me then flicked away dismissively. Instead, she turned her face up to Noir, her expression beatific, as if bathed in sunlight.

  Oh, man. I was so going to gag.

  “It’s so good to see you, Adam,” she gushed. “I’ve been meaning to set up another rendezvous.” She injected a flirtatious tone. “But now that you’re here, maybe we can pick up where we left off the other week?”

  The other week? Knitting needles stabbed at my chest.

  Noir inclined his head, his eyes crinkling in half a wince. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Lucy, but I’m with my date. It’s hardly good form to proposition me in front of her.” He kept his tone light, almost teasing, but there was an edge to it that she’d have to be dumb to miss.

  “Oh.” She brought a neatly manicured hand to her mouth. “I just assumed you were escorting Miss Bastion in to avoid a scene at the reception, like the last time ...” She left her sentence hanging.

  Noir’s jaw tightened slightly, and his soft baby blues darkened to hard denim. “No, Lucy. I most certainly am not. Miss Bastion is here as my plus one.”

  She opened her mouth to say something else, but I was done with the time wasting. I leaned around Noir and cupped a hand to the corner of my mouth as if about to whisper a secret. “And once we’re done here, we’re going back to my place for some super-hot sex.” I winked.

  Noir let out an uncharacteristic snicker.

  Lucy looked up at him with wide eyes, and then her mouth pressed into a thin line. “Well, I see you’re obviously having some kind of crisis, Adam. Don’t expect me to be waiting when you tire of slumming it.” She turned on her heel and clipped away.

  Her group of lady friends watched her with inquisitive gazes as she strode toward them.

  I peered up at Noir. “Did I go too far by sharing our fictional sex life with your snooty stalker?”

  He pursed his lips and shook his head. “You know what, Bastion, when it comes to you, I’m beginning to get accustomed to surprises.”

  “So, you’re not mad?”

  He leaned down to whisper, his warm breath tickling the delicate shell of my ear, “If I’d have known that having fictional super-hot sex with you would get her off my back, then I’d have done it a long time ago.”

  His words sent a tingle down my neck, and then a zing of electricity enveloped my hand where it rested on his forearm. I looked up in surprise, but his attention was on the magic coating my fingers. He covered it with his palm and it winked out.

  It was my turn to whisper. “Did you do that on purpose?”

  His throat bobbed. “No.”

  A flash of scarlet caught my eye. Shit. It was a woman with long, cascading waves and alabaster skin. Not the Draconi ambassador ... except this woman was big, tall, and powerfully built. She reminded me of Elora, of a fucking Draconi.

  “Um, Noir.”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure the Draconi ambassador is a male?”

  He frowned down at me, and I raised my brows, tilting my head in the redhead’s direction. He glanced across the room casually and then cursed under his breath.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I think you may be right. The plan was to charm the ambassador and get him to reveal what happened to Valance. But she’s a she; your feminine wiles won’t work on her.”

  Shit. “Okay, you’re gonna have to do it.”

  He snorted.

  I gave him a flat look.

  He sighed. “The Draconi ambassadorship is an honorary position, something the Arcana offered to enforce the sense of belonging and peace, but it’s an unwritten rule that we don’t fraternize with the ambassador. They’re here as a figurehead, nothing more. There is no way I can be seen flirting with a Draconi.” He was dead serious. “Not even for you.”

  My heart sank. The tunnels had been a bust so far, and this was meant to be the win for the week. Finding out what was happening to Valance, figuring out a way to get to him, was what had kept me going. If I got to Valance, then I’d be able to get Azren too. That had bee
n the plan, and it all hinged on the ambassador being loose-lipped under some serious Bastion charm. But there was nothing I could do with a female. I was shit at girl bonding—Fran and Eloise being the exception to the rule.

  And then it was if the gods took mercy on me, because the redhead paused in taking a sip of her champagne to rake her gaze over a slender blonde in a dress that hugged her so tight it left nothing to the imagination. The ambassador licked her bottom lip, and just like that I was back in the game.

  “Hey, Noir.”

  “Yes?”

  “Say something that should piss me off.”

  “Huh?”

  I tilted my head to look up at him. “You know, act like a dick or something.”

  He gave me an are-you-insane look.

  I rolled my eyes. “Trust me.”

  He gave me a half smile that flashed his left dimple, and my plan almost slipped out of my head.

  “Those things are lethal, you know that?”

  “What?” He was grinning now, the bastard.

  He knew exactly what he was doing to my pulse with those little dips of heaven. How was I supposed to look irate when he was flashing those at me?

  I glared at him. “Focus, dammit. Be a dick.”

  “Really? Won’t that look suspicious seeing as you just told blabbermouth Lucy that we were headed home to have super-hot sex.”

  Fuck, he had a point, but … “People argue all the time. And it’s not Lucy we need to convince, it’s the ambassador.”

  “Ah, girl bonding?”

  He had no idea. “Something like that.” I gave him a sweet smile. “Now say something offensive.”

  We were about to walk past the redhead. This had to work.

  Noir sighed and then plastered an irritated look on his face. “You should have worn the heels I bought you. You know how much it hurts my neck to have to lean down to speak to you.”

  I matched his tone. “You can’t tell me what footwear to wear.”

  He sighed heavily. “I suppose it’s not your fault you’re such a midget. You can’t help your pedigree. Oh, wait. You have no idea what that pedigree is.”

  He’d been faking it, of course, but his words hit a raw nerve and my anger was sudden and genuine.

  I yanked my arm out of his grasp. “You know what, Noir, fuck you and your perfect pedigree.”

  Realization lit up his eyes, and the anger he’d ignited began to slip, because hell, he hadn’t meant what he’d said. But needing to hold on to the ire, I turned my back on him and stormed over to where the redhead stood, grabbed a glass of champagne from a nearby server, and downed the contents in one gulp.

  Another glass was hovering before me instantly, held by an alabaster hand.

  Bingo.

  I looked across at her, my face still arranged in a frown, and then I allowed the frown to melt slightly. “Thanks.” I accepted the glass.

  The ambassador smiled. “You’re not one of them, are you?”

  I glanced about the room. “A snob? No. How’d you guess?”

  She ran her tongue over her teeth. “You smell different. Like the lightning in a thunderstorm.”

  Poetic much. “Wait, is that a nice smell?”

  She laughed a full-throated laugh that sent shivers through me. “Yes, little one. It’s a nice smell.”

  Little one? Urgh. I allowed my eyes to widen slightly. “I don’t know if you just overheard my conversation with my ex-date, but calling me ‘little one’ probably isn’t a great way to endear yourself to me.”

  “Where I come from a small stature is a delectable novelty.”

  “Where you come from?” I tilted my head in a show of dawning comprehension. “Hang on a sec. You’re one of those Draconi, aren’t you?”

  She sucked in her full bottom lip and then let it slide out from between her teeth slowly. The move was so overtly, unabashedly sexual that heat bloomed in the pit of my stomach. Who was seducing who here?

  I took a sip of my drink to calm the sudden quiver in my limbs. Trust me, I did not swing that way, but this woman was all sorts of pheromonal sexy.

  “Don’t worry, pet,” she said. “I have no plans to eat you up ... but I wouldn’t mind eating you out.”

  Oh, lord. I choked on my champagne.

  Her laughter filled the air once more. “You are so quaint. I was considering chewing off someone’s head simply for some entertainment, but you have brightened up my evening with your overly-poufy pink dress and your minute stature. I could pick you up in the palm of my hand and carry you off.” She leaned in, her breath like peaches. “Would you like me to have you in the palm of my hand?”

  Ookay, it was getting a little too hot in here. Time to take control and steer the conversation. “What is a Draconi doing at an Arcana gala?”

  She grinned, showcasing even white teeth bracketed by fang-like canines. “I’m the ambassador for the Westside.”

  I frowned again. “I thought the ambassador was a dude? Valant, Valance, or something ...”

  She arched both brows. “Not anymore. Mummy’s little pet disappointed her one too many times. He was demoted.”

  “Really? What did he do?”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “Rumors vary, but the consensus is he conspired against her in some way. The liege has finally done it. She’s exiled her little prince.”

  Exiled? Shit, what the heck did that mean? “I don’t understand. Where is there to exile someone in our world? Wait, did she throw him out of our pocket?”

  She scanned my face. “You ask a lot of questions for a little mouse.” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  I smiled, ready to show her a little bite, to reel her in, because women like her may play with the mice, batting them around until their necks broke, but it was the feline that they craved.

  “I’m not a mouse. I’m a curious cat.” I licked my lips. “And it’s not every day a nobody like me gets to rub shoulders with a Draconi ambassador. So heck, I’m going to ask questions, especially if it keeps you talking to me.”

  Her eyes lit up at that. She smiled a slow-burn smile that was wreathed in promise. “Have you ever heard of a place called Everdark?”

  Oh, fuck.

  5

  I paced the kitchen, hands on hips, skin itching. “I wanted to ask about Azren, but then she’d have cottoned on, because there was no way for me to know who Azren was, not unless I was the neph who’d been working with him, and that bit of information must have gotten around Elora’s court.” I took a breath and continued. “But if we can get to Valance, maybe we can get him to help us infiltrate the Keep and find Azren.”

  “How can you be sure he’s alive?” Noir asked softly. He was leaning up against the kitchen door frame, jacket slung over his arm, top button on his shirt undone, and sleeves rolled up.

  I looked to Tay, standing by the fridge, arms crossed. He inclined his head.

  “Because if Azren was dead, I’d feel it.” I sighed. “And I think I’ve been dreaming about him. Him and Valance. They’re in shit, but they’re alive.”

  I shifted in my seat. “Dammit, this dress is way too tight.” I raised an arm, flexing to try and stretch the material. A loud rip cut through the air. “Seriously? What the fuck is going on?” The dress that had fit perfectly earlier now felt as if it was cutting off the circulation to my ... circulation. “Someone get me out of this.” I stood up and turned my back toward Tay.

  “Um, Wila, there is no zipper.”

  Oh, God. It was too tight. “I know that. It’s a slip-over-your-head thingy, just yank it off.”

  Noir cleared his throat. “I’ll just ...” He wandered off into the foyer.

  “Tay, take it off.”

  He grabbed the back of the dress with one hand and the front with another and then yanked hard. The material tore like confetti and sweet air rushed into my lungs, skimming over my hot skin. I stood in the kitchen in just my knickers—which also felt tight, by the way—gasping for breath. Soft material slipped over
my head—Tay’s T-shirt. It fell to an inch above my knees.

  “Thank you, babe.” I slumped into the nearest seat.

  Tay studied me carefully. “Wila. You’ve grown.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to make some pervy retort turning his comment into a pervy observation, but he was right. So instead, I studied my arms. Was there more muscle definition there? “I don’t know what’s happening, Tay, and there’s no time to figure it out now. We need to find a way into the Everdark.” I raised my voice. “You can come back in now, Noir!”

  Noir popped his head round the door.

  I waved him in. “What do you know about the Everdark?”

  “Not enough. But I know someone who may be able to help us.”

  “Who?”

  “Lex Hunter.”

  “The guy who hates Shedim? Why the heck would he help me get Azren back?”

  “I didn’t say he’d help you get Azren back, but he may help you get Valance back and locate the rogue Shedim.”

  He had a point. “So, we wait for the event tomorrow night and then we approach him.”

  Noir’s gaze slid away from mine. “We don’t need to wait. He’s expecting us tomorrow at ten a.m.”

  My brows shot up in surprise. “How the heck did you swing that?”

  “I have my contacts, and when need be, I pull the strings.”

  “I think you meant to say you have your puppets ... string analogy and all.” I grinned up at him.

  He did the single dimple thing, and my heart fluttered.

  Tay cleared his throat. “And you couldn’t have mentioned this before because ...?”

  Noir tore his gaze from my face. “I didn’t want to get your hopes up. Lex can be difficult to pin down. But I just got a message confirming the meeting.”

  I clapped my hands together. “Okay. Well, that’s sorted then. We go see Lex first thing tomorrow.”

  “I’m coming too,” Tay said.

  Noir nodded. “I assumed you would. I’ll pick you guys up in the morning.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Sleep tight, Bastion. You did great tonight. Get some rest.” He looked pointedly in Tay’s direction when uttering the last words.