“Who’s your friend, Karmen?” Váli said right behind me. Leaning his chin on my shoulder, his stubble pressed through the thin fabric of my shirt. If I looked, I knew I’d see the evidence of the gesture left behind. Why was that so intimate?
Swatting behind me to get some room, I answered, “My good friend Dahlia. Dahlia, meet my old friend, Vengeance.”
He reached out to shake her hand. The moment her hand would have touched his, Seth appeared behind Dahlia, pulling her back with an arm around her waist.
“Váli,” Seth said coldly.
“Seth.” Váli grinned, not at all perturbed. At least I’d given him warning. If I hadn’t, he was such a hothead, who knew how this would have played out.
Tarus and Zhan appeared on either side of Seth, each placing a hand on Dahlia. They were perfectly pleasant though, so Seth hadn’t shared that little tidbit of information with them.
“Come on, Karmen, sit down and have a drink.” Dahlia started walking Seth backward.
Váli started to follow, but I caught him by the back of his shirt. “I’d love to, but where’s Kindle?”
Pausing, Dahlia gave me a curious look. “I haven’t seen her. Why?”
Eyes narrowed, I started after her but also swept the bar with a look. Yes, I avoided the actual bar because of the obvious, but the other patrons weren’t hard to sort out. It wasn’t exactly crowded. Hope was here. She and Time were arguing over something while she stabbed the air with a french fry in his direction.
Yeah, not a conversation I wanted any part of.
No Kindle.
No Quetta.
“Karmen?” Dahlia pulled my attention back to her, and I schooled my features to wash away any irritation. “Were you looking for Kindle?”
“Must have gotten our signals crossed,” I said with a shrug, the rough prickle of Váli’s eyes boring into me lighting up my skin. With him here, there was no way I imagined the call. Not that I needed the reassurance. Quetta’s summons coupled with her swift exit and Cipher’s presence behind the bar?
I almost wished I could say I hadn’t seen that coming. Quetta was my best friend, but Cipher had dirt on everyone and a way of making them jump to his tune without them even realizing it. Irritation fluttering through me. I claimed one of the chairs as Seth settled Dahlia into one opposite me. His gaze never left Váli though, and when Vengeance leaned against my chair and slid an arm along the back of it, he smirked.
“It’s not every day I meet such a beautiful Keeper,” he said to Dahlia, deliberately ignoring her mates, and I suppressed the roll of my eyes.
She grinned. “So I’ve heard, many, many times.” There wasn’t an ounce of meanness in her tone, just so utterly matter-of-fact. “I swear, I’m not that special.”
“Oh yes, you are,” Tarus disagreed, with Seth and Zhan piling on. Oh, I was going to drown in all the love pheromones. Yes, I secretly thought it was kind of sweet, but I had a reputation and it served me well, so I just rolled my eyes.
Laughing, she brushed her fingers down Tarus’ cheek. “You’re biased, but I love you anyway. Would you go get us another pitcher and some extra glasses? I don’t see Quetta over there…”
“No need, beautiful.” The buttery smooth tones coiled around me like the snares of a trap as a fresh pitcher of Nectar arrived at the table, delivered by none other than Cipher. He favored Dahlia with a heart-stopping grin, and Zhan’s glare took on a life of its own. “I’m happy to bring you anything you desire.”
Then, as if an afterthought, Cipher glanced at me.
“Karmen.”
I debated it. I really did. I could be polite. I could be reasonable. But you know what? Fuck him. I gave him a blank, bland smile. He wanted to set a trap for me?
Ha.
Did he forget who I was?
“Barkeep.”
The dismissiveness did what little else could do—it irked him. I poured myself and Váli a drink while returning my attention to Dahlia and ignoring him.
Huh…maybe Sin deserved a little karma after all this time, and I did have Váli on my side. I slid him a look and found his attention on Cipher instead of me. His eyes were distinctly hard and unfriendly until he dipped a glance at me.
We always did work well together.
I raised my brows.
We didn’t need words.
His slow smile promised he was in, and a shiver of anticipation danced up my spine.
Game.
On.
Chapter 4
Karma never forgets an address and never loses a chess match, bitches. - Karmen
Váli
There was something really satisfying about orchestrating a genius plan to get exactly what you want. Váli had been planning this particular one for centuries, just waiting for the right opportunity to lay out all his cards. That he got to jerk on Cipher’s chain while he was at it?
Fucking. Bonus.
Bish was an extra that he hadn’t anticipated. Who would have thought he’d have such a hate on for Karmen? Seriously, so what? She’d played matchmaker and didn’t pick him as the knight in shining armor?
He just needed to get laid.
Scowling at Cipher, who happened to bring over an unsolicited pitcher of Nectar, Váli made his feelings known in an icy glare. As if any of the Keepers, save the newbie, wouldn’t know this was out of the ordinary. Cipher might be the owner and namesake of Sinner’s, but he never actually worked. That wasn’t one of his attributes, after all.
Oh, he was going to be a problem that Váli was really going to enjoy fixing.
Karmen poured him a glass of Nectar, completely ignoring Cipher. It was petty, but he winked at Sin, who ground his teeth and stalked off toward the bar.
Váli should have known the Keeper was behind Karmen’s mysterious call to Sinner’s. And Quetta hated Váli, so she definitely wouldn’t do him any favors. Crazy bitch. And not Karmen’s feisty and sexy as hell type of bitch, either.
“You know Cipher?” Dahlia asked with too much naïveté.
Everyone in the Keeper world knew of Cipher and Karmen once upon a time. And it was Váli’s goal to make sure every time Karmen’s name was uttered in the next eternity, it would be tied to his.
“Oh, darling. Let’s just say he was the one I should have dropped at the curb centuries and centuries ago.” Karmen waved a hand as she sipped her drink. “I should have known the Keeper of Sin wasn’t good boyfriend material.”
“Sin? Oh my god, he didn’t cheat on you, did he?” Dahlia looked downright sick at the thought.
Váli slipped a hand under Karmen’s hair to stroke her nape as he listened to her conversation. The small shiver that racked her body encouraged him to press a little closer to her side. She wasn’t as unaffected as she had made him believe all those years ago. Cipher glared daggers at him as he slung dish rags behind the bar, and Váli smirked like the asshole he was.
When he turned around, Seth was still giving him the death stare. Come on, any idiot with two brain cells to rub together would see he was all about Karmen. Who cared what might have happened in the past? Only in this case, nothing had.