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Unfortunately, he was telling the truth about one thing. He was a much stronger magic worker than I could ever hope to be, partly because he didn’t care if he cut corners or performed rituals that severely affected his karma.
And then there was the dirty little secret he’d been hiding from his followers and acolytes, something none of them had apparently picked up on but which I’d sensed the moment I met him.
Part of the reason he was so strong was that he used dark spells to tap into the powers of the people he kept around him. As far as I could tell, none of them had been able to sense what he was up to, but I’d felt it right away when we first crossed paths, had almost been able to see the energy moving from them into his body.
It was an incredible perversion of the craft, but I knew Lucien didn’t give a damn about that. No, all he wanted was to draw more people to him, to surround himself with those who could feed the spells he created to keep his rich and powerful clientele happy. And if you got in the way of those spells, or did anything that might make someone think he wasn’t quite on the up and up, then he had absolutely no compunction about squashing you like a bug.
I wasn’t about to tell him that I’d learned what he was hiding, of course. The man was dangerous enough on his own; I didn’t want to think how he’d react if he knew I’d discovered what he was up to.
Time to try a different tack. “I’d think you’d want to be rid of me, considering the way I poached that one client of yours.”
Of course, I hadn’t really poached her — she’d come to me of her own volition — but I figured I wasn’t above buttering up Lucien Dumond if it meant I could get him out of my life that much quicker.
His lips thinned almost to nonexistence. “Oh, but you cut her loose, so I suppose that transgression can be forgiven.” A pause, and then the annoyance vanished from his face, and he smiled again, this time the open, friendly smile he probably used on his clients. For all I knew, it worked. The man wasn’t attractive in a conventional way, but he did have a certain perverse charm. “And Selena, I never wanted to get rid of you. I wanted you to work with me…tobewith me.”
Personally, I would rather have gone to bed with a rattlesnake, but I knew I couldn’t let my disgust show. I didn’t know how I was going to get rid of him, and yet I all too clearly understood that informing him I would never be with him in the way he wanted was a recipe for disaster. Men like Lucien Dumond didn’t like being told no.
“I’m not really a fan of being part of a harem,” I said lightly. “Doesn’t work with my lifestyle.”
He shrugged. “I can get rid of all of them,” he replied. A snap of his fingers, followed by, “Just like that.”
“How very self-sacrificing,” I said.
Once again, his eyes narrowed. “You’re worth more than all of them put together. But if you combined your powers with mine…we could move worlds.”
Was that a leer on his face? Judging by the way his gaze moved downward to take in the slight hint of cleavage my embroidered shirt revealed, I had to guess it probably was. Disgust curdled in my stomach, but once again, I told myself I had to play it cool.
“I’m not really interested in moving worlds,” I told him, then stepped over to a display of crystal and gemstone spheres in various shapes and sizes and colors. After adjusting one minutely, I looked over my shoulder. He hadn’t moved, but instead watched me with those gimlet eyes. “To be perfectly honest, I’d been thinking about getting out of L.A. for a while. This opportunity came up, so I took it. Maybe I should have let you know, but I didn’t think it would be that big a deal.”
“It is a big deal,” he said. “A very big deal.”
Great. Clearly, Lucien wasn’t going to take any of my excuses as a reason to leave me alone. I found myself wishing that the store had one of those panic buttons under the counter, the kind they pushed at the bank to summon the cops when a robbery was in progress. Even if I’d had one, though, it wouldn’t have summoned Calvin Standingbear, since he wasn’t a member of the Globe P.D.
Too bad. It would have been amusing to watch Calvin pound Lucien into the ground like a tent stake.
Not that he would have gotten that far, I realized soberly. Calvin probably had a good five inches and twenty pounds on Lucien, but he didn’t have magic at his disposal, which made all the difference. Lucien could have drawn enough of Calvin’s life force to make himself stronger and his opponent weaker, and Calvin would never be able to figure out why he hadn’t been able to best someone he should have physically outmatched.
“Look,” I replied, trying not to sound too desperate, “it’s been a long day, and I’m tired. Why don’t we meet for breakfast tomorrow and discuss this further then?”
For a moment, he didn’t reply, only continued to survey me out of those narrowed eyes, as if he was trying to determine what kind of game I was playing. And really, I wasn’t playing anything. I knew we’d only keep going back and forth over the same ground, and I was tired. Not that I thought meeting for breakfast would change anything, but, if nothing else, it would give me more time to think and formulate a plan.
Since the silence was growing uncomfortable, I added, “You are staying somewhere around here, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he said shortly. “Athene and I got an Airbnb here in town.”
Athene Kappas was Lucien’s right-hand woman. I’d never been able to tell whether their relationship was sexual in nature or not, but she handled all his business and always appeared at his side. For all I knew, he’d made her be his chauffeur on this little Arizona road trip. I wouldn’t put it past him.
In a way, I had to laugh at the gall of a man who would drive all the way from L.A. to Globe to importune me into being his partner while dragging his possible-paramour along for the ride. It seemed so inimitably Lucien.
But I only smiled sweetly and said, “Well, bring her along. I’m sure all three of us will have a lot to discuss.”
He didn’t take the bait, though. “No, I think it’s better if you and I meet alone. Where?”
“The Flatiron,” I said, naming a café where I’d had a couple of decent breakfasts since coming to town. “It’s over on Highway 60.”
“I’ll find it,” he replied. “Ten o’clock tomorrow.”
“Ten o’clock,” I repeated, glad that he hadn’t suggested a time at the crack of dawn. But then, that sort of meeting would have been even more inconvenient for him than it would have been for me. I’d gotten the impression that the man was a complete night owl.
