mission magic 01 - the incubus job Read Online Free PDF Page B

with death. The ghosts saved me. I’d been down in Costa Rica, looking for a kidnapped family, when I got attacked. It was in a village far from anything resembling a doctor. Just when I got the family safe onto the escape boat, I got raked open by a lich’s pet undead puma. The infection wasn’t the sort of thing that could be fought off with antibiotics. There was dark magic in it. The local shaman tried to help, but he didn’t have the chops. Somehow the ghosts sucked it out of me. All I can remember is the attack and falling into a fever. I woke up a month later, completely healed, the scars looking like I’d had them for years.
    Law didn’t need to know any of that.
    “Bad enough,” I said with a shrug.
    “How’s your dad?” he asked, blindsiding me.
    I opened my mouth and closed it, swallowing hard. That was a whole other barrel of snakes that I didn’t want to think about. “He died.”
    “I know. I went to his funeral. Didn’t see you there.”
    “You went to the funeral?” I repeated. “Why?”
    “The real question is why didn’t you?”
    I didn’t like the not-very-subtle accusation. What the hell did Law know about me and my dad? It was definitely something I’d never talked about.
    “It’s not like you knew him,” I said. “Or maybe you just like going to strangers’ funerals. Maybe you’re a closet necrophiliac.”
    His mouth thinned and his eyes flared with fury. “Actually I did know him. After you went missing, I went to visit him. He was a nice enough guy. Gruff. Lonely, too. He missed you. He said he regretted your falling out. I thought you’d at least show up to say good-bye to him.” Accusation and rebuke were thick in his voice.
    What the hell did he know?
    “I am not talking to you about my father,” I said, pushing away. I needed a drink. I grabbed a bottle of bourbon out of the liquor cabinet and poured a couple fingers worth. I drank it one gulp. The burn countered the confusion and hurt twisting through me. This encounter with Law was going places I never dreamed it would, places I was unprepared to visit.
    “That’s right,” Law said, following me and pouring himself a scotch. “You don’t talk. You run away.”
    “What do you want from me?” I demanded, whirling to face him. “An apology? Fuck you. I’m not sorry. I did what I had to do to save my fucking life, and I’d do it again. Frankly I figured you’d get over it pretty quick. It’s not like you were that into me. You liked me because I was there and willing, and you didn’t have to go pick up some chick from a bar. I was just a convenient bed warmer for you.”
    He slammed his glass down. It shattered and scotch splattered over the marble cabinet top. Law grabbed my arms and yanked me up against him. His body felt hard as iron and about as forgiving. The muscles in his jaw knotted, and his eyes blazed.
    “You figured I’d get over it pretty quick?” he seethed through gritted teeth. “How could you even imagine that? Even if we weren’t lovers, even if you were just convenient—which you weren’t—we’d been partners for two years. You didn’t think you meant something to me?”
    I shook my head. “I thought I was more a pain in your ass.”
    “You sure as hell are that.”
    I didn’t see the kiss coming. He dragged my up onto my toes. One arm slid behind me, clamping me like a steel bar. His other hand wrapped the back of my head, keeping me from pulling away. Not that I was going anywhere.
    His lips seared mine, more gentle than I expected. He teased my mouth open more delicately. His tongue delved inside my mouth. I’d forgotten how good he tasted. I’d forgotten the way he kissed me like I was the most precious thing in the world and the way his touch made my skin buzz with electricity. I’d walked away from this. I was a fool. No, I was a survivor.
    I slid my hands around his waist and pulled myself closer. He groaned and deepened the kiss. The sound rumbled through his chest