“I’ll be right back,” I snarled, turning away.I hoped that a few minutes alone would give her the time she needed to clear her thoughts and calm down. Maybe I should tell her about the curse and the reality of why I couldn’t involve myself with her and her sister.Bring back tonight’s pay, too!” Selina yelled after me. “I’m not coming back.”I whipped back around to look at her.“You didn’t do anything tonight.”She scoffed.“I came here, didn’t I? It’s not my fault if you didn’t let me work.”The anger was laced with hurt, but I swallowed again and nodded.“You know, you’re no better than Ernest, Jeff.”I reeled around, stunned and infuriated by the comparison.“What?!”“You say you will help me one second and then redact it the next. You say that we can’t do…” She motioned between us. “Whatever this is, and then you go down on me until I scream,” she muttered, blinking furiously. “At least Ernest is upfront with what he wants from us. He’s made his intentions clear.”I inhaled shar

Virgil carefully avoided me when I entered the office, although I caught her sneaking me sidelong looks.“If you have something to say, say it,” I barked at her.“Did you touch that girl?” she demanded bluntly.I wished I hadn’t given her the opening to ask.“What?”“You heard me, Jeff.”“You have no right to question me about my personal life.”“Oh, gods,” Virgil moaned worriedly. “How far did you go with her?”I fixed my eyes on the computer, pretending her words didn’t drive into me with every syllable.“Nothing will happen,” I told her flatly. “That curse is outdated, and who knows the virtue of its validity?”Virgil scoffed loudly, folding her arms over her chest.“Are you denying that Gabriel was a powerful fae in his own right? That he had magic that could destroy your empire?”“If he wanted my empire to fall, why didn’t he just do it?”“Because he wanted to leave something for his own bloodline!” Virgil fired back. “You were partners, in case you’ve forgotten.”I tilted my hea

“You never did end up telling me Why you stop working,did he chase you away”She asked as we lay on the bed together.I blushed, the feel of Jeff on my skin was still too much for me to forget. Every night, when I tried to sleep, I closed my eyes and saw him there, behind my lids, his eyes blazing with passion as he took me to heights I’d never again see. I liked to think I was over the hump of forgetting him, but Agnes’s words showed me that I was nowhere near that place.“You don’t need to trouble yourself with what I’ve been up to.”Agnes snickered lightly. “I’m living vicariously through you. It’s no trouble at all.”I grinned and snuggled back against hers.“I stopped working for Jeff due to some misunderstanding.Misunderstanding? You should have stayed back and settle whatever differences you have with him.I looked away, thinking of the generous cash payment still sitting hidden under our shared mattress.“I’m really attracted to him.” I blurted it out so fast, I didn’t even ha

I lessened the pressure of my foot on the gas as I entered the black, crumpled countryside, half-built over the years on the other end of my empire. The air smelled different here, staler and rank with sewage.Ernest has let this all go to shit,I thought angrily.Like his great-grandfather, he had no business sense, only one of greed. He wanted fortune and lusted for anything that moved, but unlike Gabriel, he had no actual way of maintaining it. Gabriel had had me, at least. Ernest had no one.Or had Gabriel ever had business sense? I had been much younger then, too. Perhaps I had been misled by Gabriel’s charisma as well. It was harder to remember now, with all the years that had passed.The crumbling compound was upon me, and I killed the lights, dropping my feet to the ground to walk the motorcycle toward the low wall of the area. A low din of voices met my ears, but no one was wiser about my arrival. Ernest’s guards were half drunk on whatever crappy moonshine they bootlegged amo

Who knew what he was capable of?“I’ve come to take you to a much better environment,” he declared. “With less than a week before our nuptials, it’s high time that you see what awaits you in my palace, don’t you think?”I couldn’t help myself. I snorted loudly.“Your palace?” I repeated. “Is that what you call your shit house?”Ernest’s smile froze, and he pushed his face closer toward me.“You forget yourself, girlie,” he hissed, spit hitting my face. “I am your one true sire, your lord and master. You would do well to remember what I can do to you if I stop liking you and your friend so much. What will happen if my patience with you runs thin?”“I will pay you but let us go?” Agnes interjected, trying to end our face-off.Ernest turned his weasel face toward her, eyes brightening at her quivering question.“I don’t want your payment anymore,I want you both anyways,I want to show you what kind of life waits for you. Gather whatever things you have. You’re moving into the palace.”I n