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“Headed somewhere?”
“Yeah. I’m off to make potions for a client. She wants to cut her cheating ex’s balls off, but I suggested boils on his cock instead. Isn’t it a creative idea?”
If that wasn’t enough to turn off a man, she didn’t know what was. On cue, Michael panicked and made his hasty retreat, and she savored that moment of victory. She even danced on the dance floor for a little bit, letting the crowd take her to the side door. Someone handed her a drink. She winked at the friendly female, took a sip, and nodded in approval.
“Are you sure she declined the offer? It’s a very good one.”
“She didn’t even hear the offer.”
“What? Why?”
The conversation was hushed and happening somewhere on the other side of the wall—just outside the swinging door, where she had taken a pause with her drink. Belatedly, the voices sank in, one light and the other smooth and low. Both were familiar, and her brain clicked as it placed them. Ryan Lyra and—
“It’s not my business and it’s not my problem. We are better off.”
Henry Lyra.
“But she has a stellar record of solving issues, especially internal ones,” Ryan protested. “Ever since her sister Emerald left, Pearl is the one out on missions and coming back successful each time. I should know since I’m one of the regulars who greet her on the dock.”
“She probably had some help from outsiders.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Are we talking about the same person?” Henry challenged.
“Yes. The person I know is nice and fun.”
There was a long pause. “Did you sleep with her by any chance?”
“What?” Ryan exclaimed in astonishment. “No. I’m way younger than her.”
“Then it’s best if you stay away from her. The Pearl I know is irresponsible, flighty, and a headache to the rest of her family—just like her brother was. All those two have is a charm, which they use as a weapon to cover up for their shortcomings. If she was the one handling our issue, I’m sure it would fail spectacularly. She just doesn’t have it in her.”
She just doesn’t have it in her.
Just like her brother.
Funny, but her body reacted more to the insult to her brother than the insult to her. But both triggered, anyway, pushing her irritation to anger until her hands shook and she was on the verge of breaking her drinking glass. The two’s conversation went on, but for the life of her, she could no longer hear anything beyond the roaring in her ears. Just like that, it became imperative for Pearl to prove yet another asshole wrong.
And there was only one way to do it.
Chapter 2
“Can you repeat that for me?”
Henry stared at the ground, the communication device resting by his ear. The voice on the other end was crystal clear as it repeated what it said earlier.
“Pearl called me and apologized for the confusion. She said she got her schedule wrong and has time to handle your family task, after all.”
John sounded pleased about it. Henry couldn’t share the sentiment, particularly when his last meeting with her had been a display of her arrogance and a blatant disregard for hierarchy. Gunther had been right when he said it was a bad idea, but the Council had insisted on offering it to her first—and again, that was a hierarchy, one he had to respect.
“I thought you said you already had another candidate lined up,” Henry said slowly, trying to make sense of things. The crowded bar’s noise made it difficult to hear things, so he nudged some magic into his ears until the noise died away.
“I had a second option, but that option is not on par with her skills.”
“Which is?”
“Potions and hexes. The two things that your family needs.”
