Bounty Hunter (The Black Tulip Chronicles #1)

43. Vera

Chapter 43

Vera

I step inside my room and gently kick the silvery heels off, leaning back against the door. That’s when I hear footsteps in the hall. Ikar . I wrench open the door and step out to find his hand on the doornknob of his door.

I fling my arms around him in relief, and after a surprised moment, he slips his around my waist.

“Missed me?” he asks with teasing in his voice and a wry smile on his lips, but I can hear exhaustion in his voice.

I step back with a blush on my cheeks, which quickly cools when I take in his disheveled appearance. The beautiful navy clothing Mama Tina gave him is completely destroyed. The sleeve on his right side is half ripped away at the seam, two of the four buttons are missing, and there are tears and dirt everywhere. Blood soaks the collar of the once cream colored shirt he wears underneath, the culprits a cut on his cheek and two slices across his neck that appear to be healing. Looks like someone stopped for some healing potion, or it was offered by a much-too-approving Mama Tina .

“If you could quit acting like a criminal, it would be much easier to believe that you aren’t.” I fold my arms and step back.

“That’s why I fit in so well with your criminal family.” His eyebrow raises in half-joking accusation. “Makes me wonder what activities you’re involved in that I don’t know about yet.”

“You’ll have to stick around to find out.” There’s borderline too much want in my voice along with a hint of challenge. The late hour and whatever was in that fae drink tonight have loosened my tongue. Or it’s his lethal half-smile. I don’t know what to blame, but I feel another blush coming on at my forwardness. Time to get down to business before I say or do anything else that will further reveal feelings I’m not allowed to have. But based on his behavior tonight, I’m a hair’s width from backing out of my already questionable decision to leave the Tulips and work with him. Am I sure I can trust him? Or will he take off as soon as I’ve removed the cuff and leave me to become a bounty myself?

He leans a shoulder against the door frame, one hand in one of his suit pant pockets that’s still intact, relaxed and comfortable. Not only has he survived the fae fight, which is unheard of for humans, but he stands there looking like a model street fighter.

No, I’m not sure I can trust him. Too handsome, too capable, too smart, too everything. Trying to keep myself from grabbing the lapels of his jacket and yanking him toward me, I step back again, creating needed distance to switch this from a romantic midnight rendezvous to a professional contract acceptance.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” I reverse my distance decision and step closer, grabbing his hand with the wrist that’s cuffed, all the while hoping I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life.

He nods, curiosity in his eyes mingled with a bit of something warm I can’t think about right now.

I raise my chin, shoulders straight and strong, all business now. “I want to formally accept your contract.” I touch the cuff on his wrist, mutter the charm word, and it slithers off and returns to the tiny ball lying in my hand.

His brows raise in surprise, and a pleased grin pulls his lips into a smile that has me, once again, feeling everything but professional toward him. I can tell he pulls magic, getting reacquainted with it right there in the hall in front of me, in his own world for a few prolonged seconds. It seems too intimate a moment to share with him, since I’m the one who blocked it in the first place.

He looks at me hard. “You trust me, then? You no longer believe I’m a criminal?” He searches my eyes, and a bit of fear shoots through me. I can sense the immense power at his fingertips, magic pulling from around me.

But I nod firmly. “I trust you enough. We’ll sign the contract tomorrow.”

That hope in his eyes dims a little bit at my answer, but I refuse to lie to him.

“What changed your mind?” he asks, his voice low and rough.

The depth of his gaze has me looking away. My decision is too new, too fresh, and he can’t know the details anyway. I look down at the plush carpet beneath my bare feet and rub an invisible spot with my toe while I think about what to say instead.

I stick with the surface level of truth, shrugging. “Circumstances in my personal life have changed rather suddenly. I think it’s time for me to do something different. Truthfully, I’ve begun to doubt that you are a criminal. But after tonight—” My eyes narrow suspiciously.

“I’m not,” he says darkly.

“Great,” I say with exaggerated cheerfulness. “We’ve got a deal, then.”

I look up at him and practically challenge him to ask me more. I know my response was more than cryptic, one that will have him coming back for answers eventually, but for now, it will have to be enough.

After he looks at me for so long I begin to grow uncomfortable, he finally nods. “Tomorrow.”

The moment turns warm, the two of us standing there in the quiet hall in the middle of the night. Without the cuff—the physical barrier between us that labeled him my criminal— we are on equal grounds. My flight response engages, and I turn to escape to my room, not able to function properly with how distractingly handsome he is.

“Well, goodn?—”

I stop with my hand on the knob and then spin around. I need to know the outcome of the challenge. I’d been so distracted by the contract I hadn’t even thought about the consequences of their fight this evening. In the deep recesses of my mind, I wonder how it couldn’t have been Drade. I’ve never seen anyone beat him. Ever. But I’ve underestimated Ikar in the past, in pretty much every situation, and he’s proven himself every time.

Straight to the point, I blurt, “If Drade won the challenge, I have to match with him.”

His eyes turn intense, heat simmering beneath their surface as he steps away from the doorframe and comes closer. “And if I won? ”

My mouth goes dry, and I swallow. I try the logical approach. “Well, according to fae law…”

He brings his hands up and slowly slides them along my jaw, then into my hair, and we lean into each other, our lips a breath away.

A door handle clicks, and Mama Tina pokes her head out. “Are two bedrooms not enough?” she calls, tossing ice water on our moment.

Ikar immediately drops his hands and steps back to a respectable distance, turning slowly with one of those handsome smiles. “Our rooms are more than perfect. We were just saying goodnight.”

He gives a perfect, gentlemanly bow to Mama Tina, then to me, and enters his room, closing the door with a click behind him.

I attempt to toss a fiery glare at Mama Tina, but her door clicks shut right after his. It was probably for the best since we can’t have each other anyway.