Still feels warm sometimes, like it remembers the damn soldering iron searing my skin.
I tighten my grip on the glass, the cold nowhere near enough to put out the burn crawling under my skin.
I drop the mockery, my voice low and hard. "And what about your little 'kill the vampires, save the trees' creed, sunshine? What changed? What made you grow a conscience? Guilt doesn't just bloom overnight."
She looks away. Her voice stays flat. "I told you. I was coerced. It felt wrong, even if it was done to… vampires."
"Oh,evenif it was done to vampires. Well, damn. That's almost touching." I let out a humorless laugh and shake my head. "What, couldn't sleep after watching one too many of us fry into ash like kindling? What a burden."
She swallows and frowns. "It's the method. We let the sun do it. Nature reclaiming what shouldn't exist."
I lean in, close enough to watch her pulse skip. "How poetic. So you get to keep your hands clean while nature does the dirty work?"
I pause, let it sting. "Funny, you didn't seem so coerced when you were grinding up against me in that club, whispering in my ear. I'm not buying your redemption arc, sweetheart. Not even on discount."
Asher straightens, arms crossed, that calm-thinker expression settling on his face like a chess player lining up the board. "Let me get this straight. Darius Hawthorn, the green tech billionaire, poster boy for sustainability, is actually a satyr running a black market blood-trafficking ring to fund his empire. And he's got a crew of supernaturals doing the dirty work—nymphs, leshy, what else?"
Sage nods, posture rigid. "Yes. Also fauns, a few púca, and at least one kamaitachi. All nature-bound species. Life-aligned."
I let out a long, low whistle. "You've got a whole damn enchanted zoo working under your eco-cult. What's next, a centaur with a clipboard?"
Asher ignores me and zeroes in. "Why you?" he asks, voice cool but direct. "If Darius already has loyal soldiers, why were you the bait?"
Ah. Nowthat'sa good question. I glance at Sage, eager to watch her squirm. She doesn't. But her breath hitches. Just enough to notice.
"Well," she says carefully, "nymphs have something calledallure. It makes others notice us. Feel drawn. Humans. Supernaturals. It's not a conscious thing, but it's strong. Only…" She hesitates. "Most nature-aligned beings have a natural revulsion to vampires. Like oil and water. So using them as bait doesn't really work if they can't stomach being close."
I cock a brow. "So what are you, then? A special little vampire groupie?"
Her eyes flash. Oh, there's that spark. She glares, biting back whatever venom she'd love to throw. "No," she snaps. "I just don't have the same reaction. I was a perfect candidate. That's all."
I lean back on the couch, swirling my drink. "Sounds like a talent. Or a kink."
She turns to Asher instead. "I'm a turned nymph," she says plainly. "Six years ago, I was human. I nearly died. Something happened in the woods… and nature turned me. I wasn't born like this, which is why I'm different. Why I don't recoil from vampires."
I snort. "Sounds like the opening to some bargain-bin fairy tale. Girl gets lost in the woods, kissed by a tree, wakes up with vines down her legs."
She shrugs. "Believe what you want. I didn't know anything back then. I spent years half-crazy, living on the streets. Then Darius's people found me. Trained me. Used me." She pauses. "And when I got the chance, I ran." Her voice flattens again. "You've got your answers. Can I go now?"
That pisses me off. I sit up, sharper now. "You didn't explain why you saved me."
I say it like it's a fact, butsavedis a stretch. She tossed the damn armband. It hit the floor near me. I had to dislocate my shoulder to reach it, while half my skin blistered like I'd been shoved into a kiln.
I've had close calls before. Plenty. Never like that.
She turns slowly, one brow rising. "I told you. It felt wrong. I'd had enough… What?" Her voice turns mocking, soft and deadly. "You want me to say I saw something special in you? That there's a heart of gold under all that sarcasm?"
Her smile is razor-thin.
I feel my jaw tighten.
Oh, sunshine. You really have no idea what kind of fire you're poking.
But of course, Captain Compassion steps in, blocking my comeback with all that calm, centered military presence he likes to project. "So you're on the run from Darius. He's sending people after you. All of that because of this special quality of yours?"
She shrugs, like it's not worth the breath. "That. And because I ran. He doesn't like disloyalty."
I lean back, arms crossed, tone lazy. "So your grand master plan to escape your criminal kingpin satyr stalker is… what? Just keep running until he forgets you exist? Seems like a short-lived strategy."
