Grim was the only one who cared if I lived, even if it was to use me as bait. And suddenly, more than anything, I wanted him to need me.
My voice was hoarse when I spoke. “Are you telling me people who win the popularity contest don’t get an automatic pass-go card?”
He stepped in closer, his thumb lightly brushing my chin now. “I’m saying I am an excellent judge of soul andyouhave lived in such close alignment with yours that you don’t know how to do or be anything else.”
My vision blurred, but I continued to meet his gaze. Grim dripped his head, lips nearing mine. His fingers skimmed along my jawline as they slipped into my hair at the base of my skull, causing hot tingles to race up and down my spine.
Despite not needing to breathe, I became lightheaded, practically vibrating with need. My hand flattened against the table, bracing for what I knew would come. My eyes drifted closed.
The lights flicked on, chasing away our intimacy with a harsh brightness. Grim and I jumped apart.
Timothy stood there, an eyebrow raised as he examined the two of us. He’d come in a separate car, having to handle something first before joining us. After a moment of tense silence, he asked, “Find anything that would lead us to the master?”
“My laptop,” I blurted out. I turned and went to my bed. Lifting the far edge of my mattress, I pulled out an old, refurbished computer.
Opening it up, it didn’t take long to boot. I didn’t remember my password, but my fingers flew with muscle memory, typing it in automatically.
The first thing to pop up was a mug shot of a man. There was a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as if he kept a secret that he never planned to share with anyone. Thin blond hair, light eyes, and a trimmed beard. He looked average, unremarkable, yet setting eyes on him made my skin crawl.
Grim placed his hand on my lower back to alert me of his presence as he leaned in. “Landon Crane. Says he was arrested for an outstanding number of parking tickets. He missed his court date two months ago, and no one has been able to get a hold of him. They thought he was on the run.”
My body went as cold as when I’d woken up in that freezer. I focused on the heat of Grim’s hand as I dug my knuckles into the table on either side of my laptop. “It was supposed to be easy money. I found him on a dating site and set up a date. I’d done it a couple times at this Italian restaurant. I’d get the skips to leave with me before dinner showed up. I’d give them the idea I was hot and heavy to put out. Most of them fell for it, but not this guy,” I said, shaking my head.
“Why didn’t you arrest the marks the moment you found them?” Timothy asked, his tablet away for once.
“Not only was it better to have a drink and let their defenses down, I liked the restaurant owners. They knew what I was doing and the waitstaff knew to not even put in the food orders. I didn’t want their place to get trashed. I usually got the skips to follow me out through the back where I could cuff them in the alley without causing a fuss.”
Grim’s fingers skimmed my bare back with reassuring pressure, out of Timothy’s eyeline. “What happened?”
“I tried to get to the restaurant fifteen minutes earlier than my date, but Crane was already there.” I remembered my instincts being on high alert, though I couldn’t pinpoint why. Crane seemed friendly and relaxed. He was a middle class, white-collar worker from some tech company. The most interesting things about him were he enjoyed gadgets from Brookstone and went to ball games when he had the time.
“When I suggested we take the party somewhere else, he said he liked things to go slow. I could tell he wouldn’t budge, so we chatted a while.”
Grim’s hand stilled. “What about?”
I wished he would continue his light massage but didn’t say anything about it. “Not much. I told him my cover story, how I was an Uber driver in between jobs. Gives men a chance to tell you what they think you should do, and you learn a lot about them real quick. He didn’t. I got the sense he knew I was lying. Instead, we drank wine and talked about…” I searched my memory. “Fires and ice, maybe something about global warming. It’s fuzzy.”
Timothy shook his head as if he tried to find any significance in that and failed.
“What then?” Grim prodded, stroking my back again.
“Nothing.” I shrugged. “I don’t remember anything after that. I woke up a cold block in a corpse drawer.”
Timothy and Grim exchanged a look. “This man is either our master or connected to him,” Timothy said. Then gesturing toward my laptop, he asked, “May I?”
Nodding, I backed up while he used his tablet to snapshot all pertinent information. My back pressed against Grim, his hands holding my arms. He didn’t touch me like he had when we first met. A piece of meat he needed to make sure didn’t make a getaway. It was more as if he were trying to steady me, reassure me he was there. I turned my head and looked up into his eyes.
His amber depths seemed to hold apprehension and regret. As if he was also aware my usefulness was almost fulfilled, and he knew our time would soon come to an end.
I told myself I was projecting. I was the one who didn’t want to die. I was the one who wanted to lean up and kiss those lips again. I wondered if he’d give me one last kiss, or hey, maybe a roll in the sack before he killed me. His hands dropped away, leaving my skin cold as he took a step back.
Then I remembered he was Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead. I still hadn’t had time to absorb what all that meant. But I did suspect gods didn’t offer parting bangs to vampires on the chopping block.
Timothy spoke while he worked on my laptop. “I may have some resources, or perhaps Ms. West would help me see about further looking into this man’s identity.”
I ripped my gaze away from Grim to look at Timothy as I said, “Leave Miranda out of it. I know she wants to help, but she’s in over her head and I don’t want her or her kid to get hurt.”
“Agreed.” Grim walked across the apartment to look out the window.
