Page 79 of Playing with Fire

“Best you have.”

“Why? Should I be worried?”

“I’m going to commit a felony tonight while making you the happiest man on Earth.” Consent was important. I didn’t know anyone who would reject such an offer, but with Quinn, I never knew.

His eyes widened. “Oh.”

“The neutralizer, Chief Quinn.”

When motivated, he moved fast. Within five minutes, I had a mason jar filled with pink powder. He also brought an unlabeled pill bottle with him. “D grade transformative. I thought it might be useful for you. There are a hundred pills in the bottle. Try not to abuse your unicorn privileges too much.”

I took the jar and bottle, set them on Quinn’s desk, and snatched a tissue from the box. Fishing out some of the pills, I wrapped them up. After a brief search, I located plastic bags in a drawer. Later I’d find a better way to keep them close at hand. The pills joined the vial in my bra. “You filed the papers to give me these properly?”

“Of course. What do you take me for?”

“A man hoping I’ll need an entire mason jar of neutralizer.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Yes. Let’s get out of here. Between the drive and teaching your cops how to make coffee, you really owe me. March, Chief Quinn. It’s time for you to pay up.”

I loved the way he smiled at me.

Everything went according to plan until Quinn decided he wanted to make plans of his own. I left him in the lobby talking to the concierge about something he promised I’d like a lot if I gave him five minutes alone to complete his scheming. The playful gleam in his eye intrigued me enough I agreed and headed up to our room.

I’d use the few extra minutes preparing the pixie dust for his consumption. I’d also change into one of the bathrobes so he’d have a soft, fluffy package to unwrap. Smiling at the thought, I swiped the key card for our room and opened the door. A pop startled me, bright blue powder puffed in my face, and within three breaths, someone turned all the lights out.

The world was blurred around me, and I had the faint sense of people nearby—and something not quite human, too. A feeling of wrongness clung to me, but every time I realized something was amiss, something soft and warm sucked me back into the darkness.

When I finally clawed my way free of the smothering, comfortable lethargy, spurred by the sense of something not being quite right, my ears rang and my entire body hurt. I groaned.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Why couldn’t I go an entire week without someone or something cleaning my clock? I blamed Quinn. The closer I got to sharing a bed with him, the worse my circumstances became. Then again, I wouldn’t change anything. He was worth it. However, we needed to have a long talk about his cursed luck.

“She’s awake, Mistress.” A man giggled from somewhere disconcertingly close to me. “Can I play with her now? Please? I’ve been good.”

Oh hell no. No, no, no. The only man I wanted playing with me was Quinn, and he wasn’t Quinn; his voice was too deep. My attention turned from my aching body to the man who wanted to play with me. I wanted to tense, but my muscles hurt enough I remained limp.

Would Sylvester’s fancy golden tattoo bracelet work? Where was I? What had happened? I remembered a pop followed by a big, black nothing.

Not good.

A soft, feminine voice laughed, and I recognized the sound. Yippee. I needed to have a long talk with Quinn about his ex-wife. Of course, if I had my way, we’d be having the discussion over Audrey’s corpse. It counted as self-defense if I killed her while escaping, right? I cracked open an eye.

As a human, Audrey had been pretty, a good match for Quinn in appearances. Becoming a gorgon had changed her, giving her skin a gray-green cast, narrowing her face, and giving her cheekbones a sharp edge. Her smile revealed a pair of fangs, and a writhing mass of black snakes coiled around her head.

If the kings and princes of the gorgon world had venomous snakes for hair, Audrey appeared harmless although uglier than sin. She didn’t wear sunglasses or a shroud, which made me wonder. I thought I remembered someone mentioning some gorgons were so weak they could easily learn to control their powers, petrifying their victims only when their emotions were heightened, including during sex—or when they bit someone. Was the male her gorgon lover? That would also explain the lack of a shroud. Peeking through my lashes, I checked.

Nope. I recognized the incubus, although the last time I’d seen him, he’d been tangled with three human women in a bar. Wonderful. Why wasn’t the incubus a statue? Was Audrey really that impotent, or had she somehow learned to control her gaze, petrifying her victims only when she wanted rather than by accident?

If she had become a gorgon through exposure to gorgon dust, she should have been able to petrify even other gorgons.

The incubus knelt beside me, his tail lashing from side to side while his wings quivered. He stared at Audrey with wide eyes. “Please, Mistress? Can I play with our harem queen now? I’ve been waiting, just like you wanted. She’s awake.”

I bit my lip so I wouldn’t groan from a mix of pain and disgust. Since they knew I was awake anyway, I forced my eyes open all the way and took a good look around. Musty, threadbare blankets, check. Abandoned warehouse-like building, check. An incubus reduced to an adoring teenager in lust, check. Evil ex-wife gloating over me, check.

I wiggled my hands and feet, and with a little experimentation, I determined they hadn’t tied me up or removed my clothes. A quick glance down my cleavage revealed the pixie dust vial and the pills remained where I’d stashed them. The number of felonies I could commit within ten minutes would enter the double digits. Would I get off with a light or suspended sentence if I committed them escaping a gorgon and an incubus working together? Self-defense went a long way as justifiable motive, but would the law bend enough in my favor?