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“I never caught your name,” I said.
“That’s because I never gave it.” She eyed her phone, which was now on top of the counter. I’d discovered in my search that it had been on her bedside table and not on her person, which meant she’d lied about calling the cops when she’d locked herself in the powder room. What else was she lying about? I positioned myself to block her line of sight to the device.
“I’m Mateo.” I held out my hand, but she didn’t take it. She didn’t offer her name either. Well, I’d tried. “I’m sorry, Little Thief, but since you’re my only suspect, I’m afraid you’re coming with me.”
She lunged for the phone, just as I thought she would, but I caught her around the waist. I clapped a hand over her mouth, careful to keep my claws hidden, before she could scream and wake up the neighbors. She struggled against me, rubbing that deliciously round ass all over my front. I groaned.
“I would stop that if I were you. If you keep rubbing that ass against me, I’m going to think you’re asking me to fuck it.”
She froze immediately.
“Don’t forget,” I continued, “I don’t work for the police or the EA. I don’t have to follow rules. In fact, I kind of like breaking them. Especially when it comes to a sexy little witch like you.”
Her sweet spike of fear returned, and I couldn’t help burying my face into her neck to savor it, letting the untamed predator in me revel in it.
“Since scaring you doesn’t get you talking, maybe we can try bribery,” I continued. “If I get you screaming my name and coming all over my face, will you decide to be more cooperative with my investigation? I’m very good with my tongue.”
I smelled the rush of arousal coloring her fear. “Again, you’re welcome to try,” she panted against my hand, which I had relaxed enough to let her speak. “But I don’t know any more than I’ve already told you.”
This woman! As much as I wanted to have a little taste, she was distracting me from my job.
Just then, the gray fluff leaped out from under the couch, hissing and scratching in defense of his owner. Instinctively, I hissed right back. Little Thief’s eyes grew round. Oops. I forgot I was in disguise.
Faced with a bigger predator, the cat retreated, its ears flattened.
I dug out the canned spell I always kept on hand to get out of a jam without being spotted. It was a powerful spell that combined a blanket of silence, a look-away spell, and a sudden burst of energy that messed up any recording device in the area for a few minutes.
I let her go and pulled back the ring tab, opening the can. Magic spilled out, enveloping us with a burst of sparkling light, fading so quickly most people would think they’d imagined it.
“A literal canned spell?”
I shrugged. “The wizard working for Desmon has an odd sense of humor. When we asked for canned spells, this is what we got.”
While the mini cans were kind of cute, they were unwieldy. I would have much preferred a foil-lined paper envelope, but he claimed those tore too easily, resulting in premature or accidental spell release. But I had to admit that I still preferred these mini tin cans over the glass bottles of old. I only needed to have one of those break in my trouser pocket once to realize I hated them. Not only had I accidentally opened a portal in my pants, I’d also had to deal with broken glass.
“Come on, Little Thief, let’s go.”
“Argh, stop calling me that! I’m not a thief!”
“Well, you never gave me your name.”
“It’s Eva,” she said with a pout.
“Eva,” I mused. “Well, Eva, you’re mine until I find this treasure.”
Chapter 3
Eva
Sassing out the scary dude with the golden eyes wasn’t the smartest thing to do, obviously, but I couldn’t seem to control myself. Nope. I was turning sassing into an Olympic sport. I blamed it on the nerves.
I was like this around any kind of authority figure, to be honest. I got nervous and started acting like a smartass despite myself. It was like the world’s worst instinct, and it had gotten me in trouble before, mouthing off at my teachers and even a cop once at a traffic stop. But this time was probably the worst, because I now found myself locked up in some mercenary’s basement because he thought I’d stolen some ancient artifact from a dragon.
At least it wasn’t a drab, grungy cell in a dungeon belonging to an angry dragon. Mateo’s basement was far from that. If anything, it reminded me of a secret agent hideout. It was split into two rooms, and I was currently in the office area.
There were several large screens set above his desk, and on them were playing a bunch of video feeds, one of which belonged to my neighbor. It did indeed catch sight of the front door of my home. Another was trained on the traffic light at the end of my street. Several others showed the inside of a museum. There were also shelves full of weird gizmos and gadgets, some receiver thing with like a billion dials, and a cot, on which I was currently sitting.
The other room looked like a super high-tech gym where he could train. There was one-man hot tub in the corner that looked particularly enticing. It must be for when he was sore from wrestling artifact thieves. There was also a futuristic pod that I hadn’t yet figured out the use of, and a bunch of advanced diagnostic equipment. It was hard to believe we were underneath a charming Victorian in a quiet neighborhood. I almost expected a magical version of Q to show up and hand him more magic in a can.
