Sin & Spirit (Demigods of San Francisco Book 4) Read online

  I paused. “I thought the last one worked for the pope? And wasn’t he middle-aged when he died? Which was fifty years or so ago.”

  “He did, and yeah, that’s right. Why is that confused look on your face?”

  “Well…” I straightened up. “Why would a Demigod’s son work for the pope, who is non-magical and believes in the Catholic God instead of the legendary magical gods of myth? And I thought Demigod Aaron was mortal. Why does he look so young if his middle-aged son died fifty years ago?”

  “Oh, I see.” She nodded. “You’re living with your head in the sand, as normal.”

  I frowned at her and moved to the filing cabinet. Only half of one drawer was mine, and I’d had to displace info on cat shelters to clear it out. I didn’t want to know what was in the rest of the cabinets.

  “Aaron didn’t know about him until after Demigod Zander killed him and traced his lineage. DNA testing—it’s informative. Anyway, unlike you, that dude didn’t evade the magical testing machine, which led to routine training. The pope, who has as many spies as a Demigod, heard about the kid first, brought him onto the payroll, erased his previous records, and probably brainwashed him somehow. He took the guy’s training in a different direction, and voila, he had an incredibly efficient, high-level assassin.”

  “But how did the pope get him training? Obviously not through the Hades Demigods if they didn’t know about him.”

  “That’s the million-dollar question. I don’t know. He clearly knew the right sort of people, unlike Kieran. And in answer to your question, Demigod Aaron is mortal, which you should know means he still lives for, like, five hundred years or whatever. That dude is still in his prime baby-making years, which leads me to why he might have paid you a visit. He might think you’re his. He’s got a history of illegitimate children, after all.”

  “Illegitimate children? How about he’s got a history of walking away from his responsibilities and should be castrated.”

  “Wow. Yeah, sure, I’d be down to help with that. I’ve never liked that jackass. He hit on me once. That was a big nope. He’s a pig and looks like a little troll with a fat gut. On the other hand, he’s a Demigod, and powering up children isn’t always a bad thing. Some of his…dropped responsibilities have gone on to do great things, even if they did end up with daddy issues. Regardless, he must know by now that he and Magnus were at the same San Francisco summit twenty-five or so years ago. The timing is close enough to raise eyebrows. I mean, obviously, right? That’s where Magnus must’ve met your mom. She was on record as working that summit.”

  I turned away from the file cabinet slowly. “What’s this now? My mom is on record?”

  Bria gave me a flat stare. “You work in the government building and you haven’t snooped into your mom’s past?” After a silent pause, she shook her head. “You are, quite possibly, the least curious person I have ever met in my whole life.”

  It hadn’t even occurred to me. I had no idea why, other than I couldn’t imagine her with a life other than the one I had lived with her. “What was her magic? She never actually told me.”

  “Level—”

  A knock at the open door cut Bria off. Red stood in the doorway, all six feet, two inches of her. Her flaming red hair fanned out from her head and a splash of freckles covered her nose and cheeks.

  She was one of Kieran’s assistants, although she did less assisting and more scaring people away from his office. The joke was that she was Medusa’s heir, only she didn’t turn people to stone, she made them wet themselves before buggering off. I didn’t know anything about her magic, but she did a damn fine job of shooing away all the drooling pretty ladies who wanted to take my place in Kieran’s bed.

  “Miss Price, the Demigod requests your presence,” she said, more formal than normal.

  “Oh shoot.” I plucked out the nearest file—a prop to sell my utter busyness. I knew Kieran’s game. This was another attempt to convince me to govern with him. I preferred my anonymity and the few small projects I’d kickstarted. “I have a charity meeting in…like…nowish.” Which was true enough. “That’s the only reason I’m here. At the government building, I mean.”

  “That explains the strange dress, yes,” Red said, and I couldn’t help a glance down at myself. It was plain, but I didn’t think it was strange… “The charity for medical aid to help the magical needy was rubber-stamped by the Demigod himself this morning.” She stared at me for a silent beat. “That means he approved it.”

  “Yikes. Someone came down with a case of the assholes this morning,” Bria muttered, walking over to look out the fake window.

  “With his name on the project, all the red tape you had undoubtedly hoped would take up a lot of your time will be torn away,” Red said. “Which means you have plenty of newfound time to see him. Now.”

  My heart swelled at Kieran’s unblinking support of my endeavors. I’d thought all magical people living in the magical zones got medical, but it turned out a lot of Demigods didn’t notice the weaker or struggling magical people in their territory, thinking of them little better than Chesters. Valens had supported the “only the strong will survive” system. Not Kieran. He was using his position to help those in need. It made me proud to be on his team.

  It also annoyed the crap out of me, because the timing wasn’t ideal. He could’ve had a note sent to me before I picked out this—clearly ill-chosen—dress. But if he’d sent a note, I wouldn’t have come. Instead, he’d rubber-stamped the charity. I could still refuse his summons, sure, but given what he’d done to help me (and others), I would feel like a jerk walking away. Which he knew.

  As if hearing my thoughts, Bria nodded. “He’s good.”

  Red stretched her lips wide to show her teeth, a comical and slightly horrible rendition of a smile. “I have something for you to change into. If you’ll come with me?”

  “But wait…” I looked around wildly for a reason I couldn’t possibly go.

  I knew the guy wanted to share his leadership with me, which was super cute and rare for a Demigod, but really, I was a poor girl at heart. What the hell did I know about business or leading a territory? I had to have a couple of teenagers help me lead my life.

  All of which I’d tried to tell him before he dragged me into the last meeting. That had been a shitshow. Something about the laundry system in the building. I hadn’t even known there was a laundry system in the government building, let alone why. Then they’d started talking about quadrants, another thing I didn’t know anything about, and I was done. I’d excused myself to the bathroom and run off.

  The tabloid picture of me sprinting across the parking lot, holding my red pumps, had not been my finest moment.

  “I’d like to do the paperwork,” I hedged, dancing my fingers across files that weren’t mine. “Also, I might need to do something in the way of a charity for homeless animals, because the lack of shelters in this city is discouraging, even in the non-magical zone.”

  “The paperwork is in progress and…” Red hesitated. She was very rarely thrown for a loop, but I could get to anybody. I took it as a point of pride. “I’m sure you can circle back to the homeless animal issue, though we don’t have many furry stray pets in the magical area.”

  “But…” I tapped a file folder. “We don’t?”

  “No. Various magical creatures hunt stray pets for sport. It keeps our streets stray-free. If you knew anything about your home—the magical area, I mean—you’d know that.”

  “A case of the assholes with a hint of dickface,” Bria said, running a finger across my desk.

  I grimaced at Red. That was…gross.

  “Now, if you’ll come with me?” Red turned sideways, gesturing for me to get moving. She wasn’t a lady with a lot of patience.

  Bria crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t offer me any help.

  “Any excuse you could possibly come up with has a rebuttal, Miss Price, I guarantee it,” Red said. “Please, save us both the trouble and co
me with me. Demigod Kieran and his guest are waiting for you. I have a dress I think you’ll really like.”

  “Should I keep the car running for when you escape?” Bria asked. She was joking, so I didn’t give her the affirmative on the tip of my tongue.

  “Demigod Kieran would like you to come, too,” Red told Bria.

  Bria’s smile dripped off her face. “Ah, crap, really? What did I do to deserve this?”

  I laughed at Bria, my tension easing a little. Kieran would know better than to bring Bria into a professional meeting—she couldn’t be trusted to stay civil, especially when dumb or redundant questions were asked—which meant I had some hope of lasting the whole thing.

  “Come on.” Red nodded, and we glumly followed her to Kieran’s huge office upstairs, the one he’d taken over after Valens’s things were moved out. A bathroom was tucked away in the corner, and on the door hung a gorgeous cream silk dress that looked much too fine for the likes of me. Even the new likes of me, with the Demigod’s mark and the upgraded social status. I’d probably stain it before I even left the office. “Why don’t you hop into that and we’ll head out. Bria—”

  “Nah.” Bria waved Red away, standing near the door. “I’m good.”

  “This is a meeting with two Demigods. Don’t make me hook a leash to that collar and drag you to the dressing room.”

  Bria laughed, delighted. “You’re tall, you’re strong, hell, you’re even mean, but there is no way you are going to drag me anywhere, let alone dress me up like a show pony. I go like this, or I don’t go. Pretty simple.”

  “Demigod Kieran might fire you.”

  “He’s more than welcome to. It won’t get rid of me, and he knows it.”

  “And what if I kick you around this office and dress the bloody mess that results?”

  “Dress yourself however you want. And if that bloody mess you’re talking about doesn’t stay in the world of the living, I’ll knock your spirit back into it, dress you up like a circus clown to go with your hair, and let you dance around the office. How’d that be?”

  I rolled my eyes at their standoff, flitted into the bathroom, and quickly donned the fabulous dress. I had no doubt Kieran had picked this out. He loved simple elegance—he said it allowed my natural beauty to shine.

  Heat pricked the back of my eyes as I checked my plain face in the mirror—I probably should’ve put on a little more makeup this morning. I only had a light dusting. And my hair was already wild. Freaking beauty standards—I didn’t know how to fit in, let alone compete, with the elegant elite. They all seemed so suave and manicured. I didn’t know how they did it.

  Outsourcing.

  I gritted my teeth and let myself out of the bathroom. Kieran made sure I didn’t want for anything, but still, a beauty team was a little much.

  Bria had not changed by the time I got out. Red’s flat expression said she would like to force the issue but valued her job too highly to have a throw-down with another member of Kieran’s staff.

  “Ready,” I said.

  Red stared at Bria a little longer before walking over to Kieran’s large desk. She picked up two long, nearly flat black boxes and brought them to a little table at the back of the room. With the largest box in hand, she turned to scowl at me. Only when I crossed the room to stand in front of her did she lift the cover, revealing the largest, most beautiful gemstone necklace I’d ever seen. Two draped layers of sapphires and diamonds, set off with little black opals. Light sparkled across it like the sun across the water.

  “Dating a Demigod is usually the worst idea imaginable, but sometimes it does have perks,” Bria said quietly, looking on.

  “Now that I can agree with,” Red murmured.

  I turned so Red could fasten the necklace around my neck. The weight took my breath away.

  “This is too much,” I struggled to say.

  Red held up a mirror so I could get a look. Now I wished I’d had a few more fucks to give this morning, because a little more effort on my face and hair was needed to live up to the expectation of a necklace this fine.

  “It represents our combined magic in the soul connection, doesn’t it?” I said softly, the heat prickling my eyes earlier now overflowing into a tear.

  Bria whistled, coming to look. “It must. He’s one of the more romantic Demigods I’ve seen. He probably got it from his mother. Lord knows he didn’t get it from Valens. That’s a beauty.”

  Red handed off the mirror to Bria so she could pick up the smaller package. A bracelet to match the necklace.

  “He thought this would set off the look,” Red said, fastening it to my wrist.

  I blew out a breath and fanned my face to dry the tears. “I’ve never owned— I never, in a million years, thought I could ever own anything like this. That I would dress like this. That I would be standing here, with someone helping me put on thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry—”

  “Hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Bria cut in.

  “This is a big dream. The biggest dream. And I didn’t even have to marry a turd and sacrifice my happiness for this. I didn’t have to gold-dig. I fell in love naturally—”

  “Debatable.”

  “—and still ended up in a fairytale.”

  Red and Bria both chuckled, and Red dropped the mirror.

  “What?” I asked, wiping another tear away.

  Red shook her head and headed to the bathroom, probably to take the mirror back.

  “Time to get your head on straight, Alexis,” Bria said. “This isn’t a fairytale. This is the lull before the storm. We need to finish up your training so that by the time Kieran is thrown into the snake pit of Demigods, you’re able to get his back. He loves you, true, and these gifts are undoubtedly from his heart, but he’s also strapping you with armor. This necklace and dress will show what he’s worth. What you’re worth. A Demigod’s wealth is an extension of their power, and they buy expensive things so everyone knows they can. Kieran lives a life of prestige, sure, but his kind are constantly at war. Constantly. You’d best wrap your head around that sooner rather than later. This is a great moment, and definitely savor it, but you need to remember you’re not safe anywhere. This necklace ultimately won’t help that. Don’t let it distract you from what will happen next.”

  I swallowed. “What’s happening next?”

  “You’re meeting a stranger Demigod that will undoubtedly be sizing you up. Time to play your part.”

  3

  Kieran

  The Demigod of Ontario sat opposite Kieran at the large conference table with six of her staff members fanned out around her, all seated. Kieran’s Six were fanned around the room, standing. Nancy had claimed what she probably thought was the head of the table, leaving Kieran at the “foot.” Her position spoke volumes. When one Demigod visited another in his or her domain, the visitor was essentially declaring themselves lesser. A Demigod of equal or greater power would have suggested a neutral location. However, Nancy’s place at the table told a different story.

  He suspected she’d requested this meeting on someone else’s behalf. She’d been told to suss things out. She was clearly inferior to her benefactor, but her choice of seating was her way of telling Kieran she did not feel inferior to him.

  She and her benefactor had likely believed all this would go over his head, given his age and relative lack of experience. They hadn’t given Valens enough credit for training his son.

  So who was her benefactor?

  Kieran reviewed her known alliances in the nearly silent room while they waited for Lexi to arrive. Nancy had made it quite clear she had no interest in idle chitchat, which had further driven home her pompous self-regard. But it was impossible to home in on any one ally. Being a mid-lister in the magical political world, above stronger level fives but nearly at the bottom of the Demigod hierarchy, she’d bowed and bent her way to obscurity in the Magical Summits, never standing firm on any issue. Never giving alliances a chance to blossom and fruit. Her vote, at th
is point, could be bought by the highest bidder. Heavens knew, with the way she was mishandling Ontario, she needed it. Anyone could be her benefactor. Anyone at all.

  The person who had sent her surely knew that. Kieran was potentially dealing with a powerhouse, which could be any of the three active Demigods of Hades. Magnus might know Alexis was his just as easily as Aaron might think she was his. The third, Lydia, knew she hadn’t sired her, but that wouldn’t stop her from making a play to get someone so powerful in her Demigod line. Kieran needed to find out who it was, and where their interests lay.

  The door swung open, admitting Red with the grim look she was known for. A warrior in assistant’s clothing. That fact would likely be lost on Nancy.

  “Miss Price, sir,” she said, stepping aside.

  Alexis glided into the room with slightly mussed hair. The cream dress he’d chosen for her swirled elegantly around her legs and plunged low at the neck, showcasing her perfect breasts and the sparkling diamond and sapphire necklace that dipped between them. The matching bracelet encircled her dainty wrist. He’d had the jewelry made to denote both of their magics, and he wished he could’ve watched her open the boxes. But he couldn’t have given them to her this morning or she would’ve known he’d reorganized her schedule to make sure she attended this meeting.

  The mark he’d given her—announcing her as his chosen partner—enhanced her natural loveliness until she just about glowed from within.

  He stood, speechless. Everyone else but Nancy stood with him, and he barely contained his surprise. This was an acknowledgement of status. Nancy clearly thought Alexis was more important than the staff she’d brought, all experienced level fives, and had prepped them beforehand.

  A suspicion began to take form.

  “Alexis, welcome,” Kieran managed, stepping away from his seat and holding out his hand.