“Look, I need you here. You in or not?”
I frowned, sucking in my lower lip and catching Váli studying me openly. An element of regret stretched through me. I’d been enjoying my time with him, and I didn’t want to end it. “Define the intervention. If it’s another one of those sex toy parties, I’ll pass.”
Granted, I was only half-kidding. Some of those toys had been fascinating, but Kindle’s reaction had been freaking hilarious because she had been trying so hard to explain them. The splutter of coffee escaping Váli’s nose was worth the caveat though. I grinned, and his answering smile sent a thrill through me.
“Dahlia said she would come,” Quetta admitted. “Hope’s already here. But you know how it goes—they need some reality in their checks.”
I made a face, but Váli’s eyebrows climbed at the mention of Dahlia. Yes, our elusive new Keeper. “I’m surprised the boys let her out by herself.”
Quetta’s snort answered that question. She wasn’t at Sinner’s alone. Good to know. That meant I could bring a date, too. Well…a companion. I grinned at Váli.
“We’ll be there in a couple. Pour me a drink, yeah?”
I didn’t wait for her to answer, just hung up and stared across the table.
“So, busy?”
He snorted. “Where we going?”
“Dallas.” I hadn’t asked, but Quetta was always working. She loved Sinner’s, and I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of days she’d ever missed. I didn’t get the appeal day in and day out, but I didn’t have to work there either.
Rising, Váli held out a hand to me, and I smirked. It was very gallant. “I’d love to accompany you,” he said. “Gets me a sneak peek at your success story.”
Success story.
The weirdest sensation of heat flushed through me, and I rolled my eyes. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t do it for praise. Not that I wasn’t soaking it up a little, it was definitely nice to be noticed, but I’d done it for Dahlia…including lighting a fire under one stubborn Keeper’s ass.
“Oh.” Pressing a hand to his chest, I did my best to ignore the hard wall of muscle beneath his shirt. Vengeance was definitely built. He kind of had to be. “Fair warning, I might have used you as a threat.”
His eyebrows climbed. “Pardon?”
“Seth wouldn’t get his judgy head out of his ass, so I pointed out that I should have just given Dahlia’s chance to you—you know, introduced you instead of them.”
Eyes narrowed, Váli frowned. “To what end?”
“Well, she’s sweet and had a lot of crappy things happen to her, including a bastard of a man who abused her and would have murdered her…well, technically, he did.” I shook my head because I didn’t want to get too distracted with the tale, particularly with the storm clouds gathering in Váli’s eyes. “The boys did figure it out and she’s great with them, but I kind of used you as incentive, so…be warned. Seth can be a real ass.”
The air around us warmed, and a breeze carried the scent of fresh baking bread along with the laughter of small children. It was a little bit perfect, holding one of Váli’s hands in mine with my free hand against his chest. Something settled inside of me, a fragment of the peace I’d been seeking.
“Did you mean it?” Váli asked, and I had to drag my focus back to his question.
“That I used you as an incentive?”
“That you should have given her to me.” There was something tight about his voice.
Lips pursed, I debated all the answers I could give to that and then just went with the truth. “You would have been good for her, yes…” His frown deepened to a scowl. “But I’m greedy. I didn’t want to share my best friend.”
Instead of relieving him, his eyes darkened further.
Eyes rolling, I sighed. “Fine, no, I didn’t mean it. I really did use the threat to motivate him.”
That odd tug of regret hit me again.
“Still want to go with me?” I didn’t let go of his hand before I snagged and then finished the last of my espresso and signaled the waitress for the bill.
After paying, I looked up to find Váli studying me with a strange smile lighting his face. The warmth of his fingers tingled against my own.
“What?”
Shaking his head, he wrapped his free arm around me and tugged me against his side. “Nothing. I’m coming. This seems like too much fun to miss. I’ve never been to an intervention before.”
“Me neither. This should be interesting.” I laughed as we headed toward the side alley. Normally, I’d take point, but I fit neatly at his side and Váli moved with me. Once we were out of sight from the random passersby, he spun me around to face him, snaking an arm around my waist so fast, I fell against his chest with a soft ‘oof.’
“Let me.” He winked, then the world faded into swirls of deep misty violet and murky sanguine.
The noise from the bar steadily rose in volume before the heady rich colors faded. When they did, Váli was smirking down at me like he knew a secret I didn’t.
Well, that wasn’t going to do. Whatever he was thinking, it was only a matter of time before I figured it out.
“Don’t narrow your eyes at me, Karma.” His smirk widened into an amorous smile as his fingers dug into my waist in a rhythmic motion. Heat slithered from the bottom of my stomach to my aching core, and my eyelids fluttered for the briefest moment before I pushed away.
What was this? What was he doing? We were friends. We flirted, but he’d never actually meant it. His growing erection against my stomach was a pretty sure sign that he meant it this time.
Clearing my throat, I croaked, “Let’s go. People are waiting for me.”
Chuckling under his breath, he swooped out an arm toward the main room of the bar. Of course, he’d brought us to the back hallway, which was the typical landing spot for Keepers. At first, I hadn’t even noticed because he was all I could see.
Then Quetta nearly ran into me as she dashed down the hallway.
“Where are you running to?” She literally never ran. Anywhere.
“Sorry, I have an errand to run! I’ll be right back!” She reached the dead end, then in a quiet burst of radiant light, she was gone.
“This isn’t how I thought interventions would go.” Váli scratched his chin.
“Yeah, me neither.” I headed straight for the bar, only to see Cipher manning the damn thing. I mean, it was his bar, but he never tended bar. Taking a sharp veer to my left, I headed toward Dahlia and her three mates at a high top by the wall. Dahlia was a peach, and she’d help me pass the time until Quetta returned.
“Karmen!” Dahlia squealed as she hopped off of her stool and tottered over on unsteady feet.
“Hello, darling.” I gave her a tight hug. “I see they’ve been plying you with good stuff.” Two empty pitchers sat on the table, and a few droplets of luminescent golden liquid sat at the bottom and clung to the rim.
“I love that stuff. Much better than vodka when I was human. Much better. You know what I mean?” She leaned forward and gave me big eyes with a matching crooked grin.