“You comin’, flood waters?” she said.

I started moving, belatedly realizing she held the keys for the Beemer.

“Crap, I was going to reject that part of the contract,” I grumbled. So much for digging in my heels.

“Regardless, you need something to drive,” Zorn said. “Bria got a ride here in anticipation of you driving. This is the only mode of transportation.”

I sent a narrow-eyed look at a smug Kieran. He’d made it impossible for me to easily reject the car. He had many super powers as a Demigod, but manipulation was where he truly shined.

Bria chuckled, clearly reading the situation. “You don’t stand a chance against that Demigod.” She disappeared through the door.

5

Kieran

Kieran watched Alexis go, recognizing the unsettled look on her face.

“Did I make a mistake, pairing them together?” he asked Zorn, suddenly unsure. “Alexis is incredibly powerful, but she has no experience in the magical world. Maybe I should’ve started her out with someone not as…”

“Impulsive?” Zorn shook his head and looked out the doorway. A car engine revved before tires squealed. Bria was clearly driving.

“Not impulsive…reckless,” Kieran said, hooking his thumbs into his pockets and forcing down the unease.

“She’s not reckless. She’s a fast thinker with a lifetime of experience.”

“She stands out.”

“In a good way. An expected way. Alexis stands out…in a bad way.” Zorn quirked an eyebrow.

Kieran had to give him that. Alexis was a woman who marched to the beat of her own drum. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but dressed in unfashionable, ill-fitting attire, as though she didn’t have a clue how to clothe a lithe, graceful body like hers. She shoved her hair up in messy ponytails, rarely bothered with makeup, and made constant use of frustrated, impatient scowls—and yet she had the poise and grace of a model. The unexpected dichotomy suited her to a T, and it was what had first drawn his notice.

Yes, she did stand out. In a sea of similar people, she was absurdly different. And he fucking loved it.

He’d have to hope Bria could tone Alexis down when it was needed. He didn’t have any other options. Not so late in the game.

Kieran checked his watch. He had a meeting with the mayor of non-magical San Francisco in an hour. On paper, they were meeting to discuss the new magical showcase. After following Alexis to the old one, Kieran had shut it down. It had been a magical freak show of sorts, whereby people with powers showed off for a bunch of small-minded, non-magical, and cash-carrying morons. The conditions had been appalling, especially for the magical animals on display. He planned on opening a new, improved showcase in the neutral zone, allowing both magical and non-magical folk easy access.

The move would also give him a great reason to spend more time in the dual-society zone. Under the guise of overseeing the fair’s progress, he’d be able to check in with Alexis more frequently without fear his father would grow suspicious. That was the plan, anyway. Valens was anything but easy to navigate.

Off paper, and unbeknownst to the mayor, Kieran also hoped to use this meeting to discuss his hidden agenda.

It was no secret that Valens deemed non-magical people beneath him. That fact created dissension in the already divided city, especially between the two governing bodies. Given apt assurances that someone else would assume the brunt of the risk, Kieran anticipated the mayor would jump at the chance to end the reign of the magical tyrant next door. All Kieran would then need to do was secure some of the mayor’s weaponized forces. Just a fraction of what the mayor had at his disposal, when added to the units Kieran had been working to accrue, would be enough to equal Valens’s standby battalion. It would give Kieran a fighting chance to take down one of the most fearsome Demigods in the world, a tyrannical leader who thought he was above the law.

“Keep in contact with Bria and Jack,” he told Zorn, heading into the back office to get changed. He’d dressed down to be more on Alexis’s level, not anticipating the strange suit she’d worn. It was on a level all its own.

He grinned. He fucking loved it.

“Sir,” Zorn said after a moment. “I would like to train the girl.”

Kieran paused in unzipping the garment bag hanging on the inside of the door. “Daisy?”

“Yes, sir. She’s…got something. She’s a diamond in the rough. Hard. Insightful. Durable. She’s training with the wolf and holding her own.”

“I heard. She has impressed the guys. What do you suspect she’d be good at?” Kieran finished unzipping, exposing his navy blue, tailored suit.

“I can’t tell for certain, but a spy comes to mind. An assassin. A mercenary, maybe.”

Kieran widened his eyes. It wasn’t normal for Zorn to take an interest in someone, even when they had some natural ability. That this non-magical girl had drawn his notice meant she had something special.

“Get to it. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that your tolerance and endurance is far above that of most people. Don’t push her hard enough to break her. Nor do I need to remind you that Alexis might be as dangerous as a kitten now, but someday soon she’ll surpass anything you could imagine. She’ll rip you apart if you harm one of her wards.”

“Didn’t need to be said, sir.”

Kieran nodded and extracted his suit. “Oh, and tell the guys that I’ll take cooking duty tonight. I want to get a first-hand account of Alexis’s first day.”

And a larger glimpse into her life. He wanted to find out all her secrets, and then he’d make her scream his name.

6

Alexis

“There’s the Medium,” Bria said quietly. She sat in the driver’s seat of my new car, leaning her elbow against the window ledge and covering half her face with her hand. The rest was concealed by the visor pulled down in front of her.

She turned off the engine but didn’t move to get out. Quiet settled between us as we stared out at the driveway of the plain, nondescript, though apparently incredibly haunted house. A woman with bright red hair waited beside a newer Mercedes parked in front of us.

“Kieran knew of her,” Bria whispered. “She’s the best in the area. Damned expensive.”

“How much is expensive?” I whispered, too, not sure why we were being quiet but going with it.

“Five hundred bucks an hour.”

“Five hundred bucks an hour?” There went being quiet. “What the hell? Who would pay that?”

“Your new boss, apparently. Highway fucking robbery, if you ask me, but he didn’t, so there you go. Then again, he isn’t going to spare any expense when it comes to his new pet. Demigods are all the same. If I were you, I’d ask for a bunch of expensive shit, starting with pants in a size long. Go ahead, you deserve it.”

“A bunch of expensive shit…and a lovely little leash and collar, yeah.” I shook my head and put my hand on the door handle. “Why are we waiting in here?”

“Sure, yeah, get a leash and collar, if that’s what you’re into. Diamond stud that shit. Kink can be fun. Just remember your safe word.”

I could tell she had misunderstood me, since it was clear she wasn’t kidding.

“No, I mean, leash and collar…as in…he’d try to control me. Like…he’s possessive.”

“Ah, right. Yeah, that’s a given. Demigods are a huge buzz kill with all the controlling shit. Don’t worry, they do it to everyone. That’s what you get for banging him. Hindsight, though, right? He’s hot, I get ya. Okay, first order of business—”

I put up a finger in indignation. “I did not bang him.” No need to mention how close I’d come. I’d been freezing cold and in need of body warmth, and he’d been mostly naked—the saintliest of souls would have been tempted. “This is strictly a professional situation.”

Her lips pulled down at the corners. “Fooled me. Okay, check this out. I’m using all of my senses to get a feel for what’s around me. Feel for that weird little tingle between your shoulder blades that means someone’s watching you. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

I did, so I nodded.

She nodded with me. “Good. You’re shit at it, because you didn’t know I was in that back room, so you’ll need to practice a lot. Don’t focus on any one thing with your eyes. You do that, and your brain ignores everything you’re not focusing on. Let movement come and go around you. Anything out of the ordinary will trigger you. I assume so, at any rate. Your experiences in the magical showcase and the dual-society zone should’ve honed that ability.” Without looking, she reached over and put her hand on my forearm. “I read a bunch of your file. Sorry to snoop. I have to get a little creepy when I gather information before taking an assignment, but you had so much crazy shit in there, I couldn’t stop reading. Your whole situation is truly whack. I’m jealous.” She pulled her hand back. “At that fucked up fair, you were probably always looking out of the corner of your eye, so you should be good at that.”

I frowned, because she made it sound like the dual-society zone was dangerous, when actually, people mostly just minded their own business. I hadn’t grown accustomed to looking out of the corner of my eye at all. Not even at the freak show, the magical showcase she was talking about.

Clearly, I should have been…

“We’re in a car, so this is a moot point at the moment, but you’ll want to key in to sounds around you,” she went on. “Now, in addition to those things, I also tune in to my environment magically. It sounds like our abilities are similar, but I won’t know how similar until we get in some field tests. For the time being, suffice it to say that I’m a kick-ass Necromancer, and can sense souls. I can feel…” She made a claw with her hand and touched the center of her chest. “What I’m doing right now is assessing what we’re about to walk into.”