The Sorceress Screams Read Online Free PDF Page B

be a good
distraction. There wasn’t anything in particular I needed in it, but rummaging
would give me something to do other than looking at him for six minutes.
    “And yours?”
he asked.
    “It’s been a
crap week.”
    He inhaled one
of his soft breaths. “I’ve been dying to ask how your auctioned date with
Desmond was.”
    “Uncomfortable.”
    “Should I
assume he didn’t get lucky?”
    I couldn’t
help but laugh. Even if I hadn’t intercepted the message from Desmond’s
assistant—the one about him “sexing me” for the crystal he’d been obsessing
over for days—Desmond wouldn’t have gotten lucky.
    While
infidelity technically wasn’t an offense that would tarnish the soul according
to the modern-day Greek mythos, cheapening the act of lovemaking was. The Greek
gods took their sex very seriously, and paying or accepting payment for it was
unequivocally unacceptable. Desmond had given fifty thousand dollars to charity
for a night with me. It would have fallen under the accepting payment clause.
    “No, he most
definitely didn’t get lucky,” I said. “We fought the whole night. Frankly I’m
still shocked he bid on the date in the first place.”
    All the truth.
    “Desmond
doesn’t know how to treat a woman of your caliber,” Maximo said.
    Yeah, I was
probably too low a caliber for Desmond. He was embarrassed to be seen with me.
    I rummaged
deeper into the drawer for an index card I knew was at the bottom rather than
share any of that.
    Maximo tapped
a fingernail against the nearby window, sending up a grating pinging. “In fact,
he may not know how to treat a woman of any caliber. Did you know there’s a
rumor floating about that he’s gay?”
    “Nell
mentioned it.”
    “I was so
hoping you’d find out once and for all. I thought for certain you’d be more his
type than Ascencion .”
    I shot a
glance over my shoulder. Did his expression match his rueful tone? I couldn’t
tell. “You had your girlfriend try?”
    “No. She
attempted without input from me.” He made a dismissive gesture. “She thought it
her duty to test every priest in Wipuk .”
    “Let me guess.
He refused her, so she started the rumors about him being gay?”
    “They didn’t
catch on until the populace noted he never dated.” I could tell by his voice
that he was smiling.
    This was
quality info here. I kept him talking. “You had an open relationship then?”
    “No.” It was a
flat, bitter response this time.
    There was a
long pause. Perhaps he’d leave it at that.
    Maximo broke
the silence. “ Ascencion did whatever she pleased, but
I’d be painted the beast if I took more than blood from another woman.”
    “That sounds
fair,” I said sarcastically to cover a shudder. This man drank blood as a
matter of survival.
    “Precisely.” I’d gotten my fingers on
the index card by the time he continued. “Rarely did I find a woman worth her
wrath. You were worth her wrath.”
    I felt my
cheeks flush.
    “Never had she
disliked someone so much as you,” Maximo said. “In the end you were her
downfall. I wonder if she knew you would be.”
    He was blaming me ?
    “I wasn’t her
downfall,” I said coolly. “I wouldn’t have killed her.”
    “You were
foolish not to.”
    If I had, I
wouldn’t be debating with him right now. But I probably wouldn’t have lived
long either. With the mark of murder on my soul, Trip would have arranged for
an early demise.
    “But let’s
discuss happier topics,” Maximo said. “I’m a free man now, and your life is no
longer in jeopardy. It’s cause for celebration. I hope you drink tequila, for I
intend to get you very drunk, Miss Walsh.”
    I pushed the
drawer to the rolling cart shut and then started for the Wipuk storefront. “I need to lock up. Then we can go.”
    “Excellent.”
    I didn’t like
the slow, suggestive spread of syllables. I hurried upstairs, lingering there
as long as I could. It would be the only peace I’d have until he dropped me off
later