“Stay.” The polite request carried an implicit order, which he obeyed. Okay, not totally idiotic. “We need to talk.”
Another point in the idiot column. Not for him, a point formethis time. Talk? Poor choice of words. This guy excelled at that.
“People don’t come here to talk,” he said. “Well, come here to Bliss, not rightherehere. This may be the most pathetic treasure room I’ve ever seen, and wow, is that an accounting ledger? Ugh, I never needed to see the sex club’s financial records. Really ruins the fantasy, you know?”
One supposed treasure hiding in plain sight among paperwork and bar supplies was much smarter than a glorified treasure room with all the valuables conveniently in one place. But I supposed the latter was what all thieves dreamed about.
“Let’s start with a few questions,” I suggested.
Rob backed up hastily and banged into the desk behind him. He cursed and then had the good sense to look sheepish when he realized my eyes stayed the same and I wasn’t using my powers for this conversation.
Unlike the inexperienced incubus who originally caught Rob, I relied on more than just my gifts. There were no substitutes for observation and intuition, and our powers were not always appropriate and could produce unreliable information.
Rob relaxed and hopped up to sit on the desk. “Sure, ask away. I’m a friendly guy.”
He made a face and pulled the accounting ledger he inadvertently sat on out from under him and tossed it away like he had no cares in the world.
Was he even a mage? Tossing the ledger reminded me of classic misdirection like a magician’s trick. Trying to distract watching eyes on the left while he did some sleight of hand on the right. He wasn’t even a very good magician, not enough to fool me.
"Why are you really here?" I began with.
"Sex!” he shouted, glad for the easy lie.
"How’d you end up back here?"
"Sex?" The half answer, half question seemed much less convincing this time.
"Have you been to a place like this before?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
Evasiveness came second nature to him, so I tried a different approach.
"Ah. Definitely your first time. You reek like a nervous virgin."
"Hey!” He puffed out his chest like a preening bird. “Whether this is the first sex demon club that hasn’t laughed in my face or not, I ain’t new to the supernatural world, and virgin? Not even close.”
“Is that so? You even know your way around a pair of handcuffs?"
He had pocketed them when throwing the ledger and trying to distract me. Rob winced, then rolled with being caught. “Sure do.” The cuffs appeared with a wave of his hand, and he flung them out towards me, brandishing them like a weapon.
The other end of the cuffs swung limply towards me, then back, thudding against Rob’s chest. …Was something supposed to happen?
"What did you think that was going to accomplish? Do you have so little magic of your own?"
“Everybody goes through a dry spell now and then!” His eyes grudgingly glanced down my body. “Well, most people.”
"What kind of magic do you practice?"
"Little bit of everything,” he answered with a shrug. “I dabble. I’m a dabbler. Don’t like to be tied down."
A common mage then. No greater calling and unable to accomplish much on his own. Looking at me stirred a persistent, low-simmering arousal in him, which helped me read him better. His magic felt dim, much weaker than his wild, chaotic presence. And where was the particular energy I’d been tracking?
One thing was certain. This guy didn’t give up easily. He wasstilltrying to hide the cuffs on his person without me noticing.
"Do you seriously still believe you can get out of here with those cuffs?" I questioned.
He wore tight black clothes, not really the style for Bliss, his attire somewhere between ‘clubbing fashion’ and ‘impractical cat burglar.’ Rob slammed the cuffs down on the desk, ducking his head with a bit of embarrassment this time. “Whatever. They weren’t really fitting into my back pocket anyway.”
