The two dwarves beamed at me. Mosley moved away to talk to some other folks, but Mallory looked past me as though she was searching for someone.

  “You didn’t bring a date?” she asked in a hopeful voice.

  Somehow I managed to keep from rolling my eyes. “No, I didn’t bring a date.”

  “Well, that’s too bad.” Her shoulders drooped in disappointment, although she perked right back up again. “But it’s not too late for you to rustle up a date. The party will go to at least midnight, maybe longer if I have my way.”

  This time, I did roll my eyes. “I’m perfectly fine flying solo tonight. Besides, it’s not like I can just wander around the resort, grab some random guest, and ask them to be my date.”

  A guilty look flickered across Mallory’s face. “Well, actually, that might be easier than you think.”

  Before I could puzzle out her weird words, I spotted Silvio Sanchez waving at me in a clear please come here gesture.

  I nodded at him and looked at Mallory again. “Regardless of my lack of a date, you should mingle with your guests. Go, enjoy your party. We’ll catch up again later.”

  Mallory’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but she headed toward Mosley and joined his conversation with a group of people. As soon as she was distracted, I hurried over to Silvio.

  The vampire was dressed in a classic black tuxedo, as was the forty-something man standing beside him. The second man was much taller and broader, with brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. Like Clyde O’Neal, this man had a mix of giant and dwarven blood running through his veins that made him extremely tough, strong, and dangerous.

  Liam Carter grinned at me. “Great party, Lorelei.”

  Liam, another one of our mutual friends, was known throughout Ashland for providing protection services to everyone from wealthy citizens to police witnesses to criminals battling other criminals. I’d considered hiring Liam to watch over Mallory and Mosley in case Clyde O’Neal decided to target them instead of me, but I still wanted to handle Clyde myself, so I hadn’t approached Liam—yet.

  Besides, Liam was still recovering from being beaten almost to death by Emery Slater a few weeks ago. Jo-Jo Deveraux had used her Air magic to heal Liam’s physical injuries, but I knew from personal experience that you didn’t so easily recover from that sort of emotional trauma, and I didn’t want to add anything else to his plate right now unless absolutely necessary.

  I smiled back at him. “Thanks, but this was all Mallory. You should go tell her. My grandmother adores compliments.”

  “I’ll do that.” Liam touched Silvio’s elbow. “And get us some drinks while I’m gone?”

  Silvio nodded, and Liam disappeared into the crowd. The vampire watched him go, a dreamy expression on his face.

  “I take it things are going well with Liam?” I asked.

  “So far, so good.” Silvio looked at me. “I know this is a party, but I have some news you might be interested in.”

  “Let me guess. Gin is home early and going to crash the party with dozens of enemies in tow.”

  Silvio laughed at my joke, but his face quickly turned serious. “Nothing as bad as that. Although I did finally learn the identity of your mystery man.”

  He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, tapped on it a few times, and showed me the device. The dead guy’s face filled the screen, and he was smirking in a driver’s license photo.

  “Actually, Xavier found out who he was,” Silvio continued. “Someone left your mystery man buried under some trash bags in an alley over in Southtown. A couple of sanitation workers found him earlier today. Xavier ran his prints and sent the info to me.”

  “Who is he?” I asked.

  “Walter Butler. He originally hails from Blue Marsh, and he has a rap sheet a mile long. Assault, armed robbery, and the like. But for the last few years, Walter has been hiring himself out as a hit man. He’s suspected of being involved in almost a dozen murders for hire.”

  I frowned. “You think someone sent Walter to kill me?”

  Silvio shrugged. “The thought had crossed my mind, especially given your recent troubles with Clyde O’Neal.”

  “Did the hit man work for Clyde?”

  Silvio shrugged again. “Not that I can tell, but I haven’t dug up that much information on him yet. I put out feelers to my usual contacts, so I should know more soon…”

  He kept talking, but a flash of movement caught my eye, and I looked past him. Someone had darted past the open ballroom doors, a black blur that had gone by almost too fast for me to follow.

  Suspicion filled me. I only knew one person who was that fast on their feet, so I reached out with my metal magic. It was hard to tell, given the conversation and music filling the ballroom, but I could have sworn that telltale hum erupted in my ears.

  “…let you know as soon as I find out more—”

  “Thanks for the info, Silvio.” I cut him off. “I really appreciate it, but I need to check on something. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Before he could say anything else, I strode past him and hurried out the open doors. To my left, several folks were talking and drinking, but when I turned to my right, I once again saw that black blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. More suspicion filled me, and I headed in that direction.

  I smiled and nodded at everyone I passed, but I quickly left the crowded main hallway behind and stepped into an empty corridor. No one was moving through this area, and the only sound was the faint scuff of my heels against the carpet. Still, I kept moving forward, following that strange hum in my ears, wondering if I was just imagining the sensation—

  A door to my right opened. I whirled in that direction, but before I could react, a hand darted out and dragged me forward, pulling me into another room. I stumbled, and my purse slipped through my fingers and dropped to the floor. That hand tightened around my wrist, spinning me around. I slammed up against someone’s chest, and a second hand settled on my waist, steadying me.

  I lurched back. My head snapped up, and my own hands curled into fists, ready to punch whoever had grabbed me—

  Hugh Tucker.

  For the third time in the last few days, I froze at the sight of the vampire.

  Like every other man here tonight, Tucker was dressed in a tuxedo, but he wore it far better than most. The black jacket outlined his shoulders, hinting at the lean muscles underneath, while the white shirt brought out his tan skin, along with his black hair, eyes, and goatee. My surprise vanished, although my heart kept hammering, picking up speed with each passing second.

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded, slowly loosening my fists. “And why did you grab me like that?”

  “Apologies,” Tucker replied. “But it seemed like the best, easiest, and quickest way to get you out of the hallway.”

  His gaze roamed over me, and appreciation sparked in his eyes. “You look lovely.”

  I smoothed my hands down the front of my dress. His gaze tracked the movement, and a hungry look filled his face, as though he wanted to follow the motion with his own hands.

  Heat shot through my body at the thought of him touching me, but I dropped my hands to my sides and glanced around. White tile, large stalls, a long counter studded with silver sinks and topped by a mirror with frosted edges.

  I frowned. “Why did you yank me into a bathroom?”

  “The room doesn’t matter. I just wanted to get you out of sight.”

  “Why?”

  Tucker fell silent, his lips pressing into a thin line.

  I waited, but when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to respond, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re always so mysteriously quiet whenever someone asks you a direct question. It’s one of your worst traits. If you aren’t going to answer me, then I’m leaving.”

  I started to head toward the door, but he stepped in front of me, blocking the exit.

  “I can’t let you return to the party.”

  “Why not?” Suspicion filled me. “What’s going on?”

  “Exactly what I told you would happen,” Tucker replied. “Clyde O’Neal does not appreciate your continued refusal to sell him your shipping yard.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Clyde is here? At the party?”

  “Yes, and he’s looking for you. He wants to…further discuss the situation.”

  I snorted. “You mean he’s here to kidnap and kill me and take my shipping yard by force.”

  “Something like that. Hence my escorting you in here.” He pointed to a door in the wall on the opposite side of the room. “If you hurry, you can slip out that way, retrieve your car, and leave before Clyde realizes you’re gone.”

  I lifted my chin. “I am not running away from Clyde O’Neal or anyone else.”

  Tucker glowered at me. “There you go again, being annoying and frustrating.”

  Anger shot through me, and I slapped my hands on my hips. “More annoying and frustrating than you luring me away from the ballroom and dragging me in here?”

  He frowned. “I didn’t lure you away. I was doing a discreet sweep of the area, but somehow you spotted me anyway. How did you do that? Because I excel at not being seen.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him about my metal magic, about this oddly pleasing hum I sensed whenever he was around, but I clamped my lips shut. Tucker wasn’t telling me everything, so why should I reveal anything about myself or my power to him in return?

  He arched an eyebrow. “Now who’s being so mysteriously quiet when asked a direct question?”

  I stiffened at him throwing my own words back in my face. “I’m not leaving. I’ll deal with Clyde myself, before he does something stupid and ruins Mallory and Mosley’s party.”

  I started toward the door, but once again Tucker blocked my path. I tried to skirt around him, but he was faster, and he countered every move I made. Anger and annoyance bubbled up in my chest like a geyser about to erupt, so I changed tactics and went at him straight on.

  Tucker stepped back, but he still didn’t get out of my way. I kept charging forward, and he kept moving back, the two of us once again doing a weird sort of dance. But this one ended as quickly as it began, and a few seconds later, Tucker’s back was pressed up against the bathroom door, the same door I needed to go through to return to the party.

  He smirked at me, knowing that I didn’t have the strength to physically move him away from the door. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

  “Fine,” I muttered. “Be a stubborn child. I’ll just go out the other door and circle back around to the ballroom that way.”

  I whirled around to storm toward the other exit. I had only taken a few steps forward when his voice sounded behind me.

  “Lorelei. Stop. Please.”

  That soft, almost whispered please made me pause and look over my shoulder. Tucker had stepped away from the door, although his hands were now clenched into fists by his sides. I wasn’t sure what he was asking. I don’t think he knew either. But for a change, one raw emotion after another flashed across his face—interest, desire, longing. All the hot, annoying, frustrating things I felt whenever I was around him.

  That vibration in my ears, my body, my heart hummed even louder and stronger, but it wasn’t my metal magic. Not really. No, this was just my own intense attraction to Hugh Tucker.

  And for once in my life, I decided to give in to temptation, to do something fun and reckless and stupid. I spun around and strode toward him, closing the distance between us again.

  Tucker opened his mouth, but I cut him off.

  “No more talking,” I growled.

  Then I dug my fingers into his tuxedo jacket, yanked him forward, and pressed my lips to his.

  Chapter Seven

  Over the past few weeks, I’d thought quite a lot about what kissing Hugh Tucker would be like. Whether it would be sweet and soft or hot and hard. Whether he would hold me close or keep his distance. Whether he would touch me the way I longed to touch him or keep his hands to himself. And especially whether he would feel, want, and desire as much as I did whenever I looked at him.

  The actual kiss itself was a combination of all those things—and then some.

  The first touch of my mouth against his was gentle enough, although that small, relatively innocent contact ignited a fire deep inside me. Suddenly, everything felt a little clearer, a little sharper, a little more intense, from the press of my lips against his to the solid plane of his chest under my fingertips to the heat of his body warming my own.

  Unable to resist that hypnotic pull, I stepped even closer to him, seeing how well my curves fit against the harder, sharper angles of his body. The answer? Quite nicely.

  I wanted to mold my body to his, to feel every single inch of him pressing up against me, but I forced myself to remove my lips from his and release his jacket. I had no idea how he would respond, now that I had finally acted on this unspoken, undefined thing simmering between us. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way. Maybe flirting with me had just been a game, a way for him to pass the time while he was recuperating from his injuries. Maybe this was all in my head.

  I started to step back, to put some more distance between us, but Tucker reached out and gently clasped my hands in his. Those starry silver flecks shimmered in his black eyes, but they soon vanished, swept away by the hunger that filled his face.

  “Lorelei.” He whispered my name, his voice lower and rougher than before, a faint question in his tone, as though he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to pull me closer or push me away.

  Well, I knew what I wanted, so I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his again. Tucker growled, grabbed my hips, and yanked me toward him, deepening the kiss.

  I opened my mouth, and his tongue darted out to meet mine. With every press and stroke of our lips and tongues, that fire inside me burned a little brighter and hotter, even as that pleasurable hum spread through my entire body, like a smug, satisfied purr rumbling through a cat’s belly.

  I wound my arms around his neck and plastered my body against his. Tucker’s hands squeezed my hips, then snaked up my back. The two of us were glued together from lips to hips to thighs, and yet it still wasn’t enough.

  Our lips and tongues found each other again and again, every kiss a little longer and more intense than the one before it.

  Everything else vanished. The empty bathroom. The cool tile surrounding us. The faint murmur of the party music in the distance. All that mattered was my lips and hands on Tucker, and his on me, and the desire exploding between us like fireworks spraying color across a midnight sky…

  A door creaked open somewhere behind me, but I ignored it and nuzzled my nose into Tucker’s neck, breathing in his cologne the way I had wanted to for days now—

  “Oh, my,” a voice drawled. “I hate to interrupt such a private moment.”

  Startled, I spun around, even though Tucker was still holding me in his arms. I hadn’t imagined that door creaking open, and someone had entered the bathroom from the opposite side.

  Clyde O’Neal.

  Just like Tucker, Clyde was dressed in a black tuxedo, although it didn’t look nearly as good on him as it did on the vampire. Even worse, he wasn’t alone. Three other men, all giants wearing dark gray suits, had also stepped into the bathroom and were leering at me.

  My hands balled into tight fists, and I broke away from Tucker and faced Clyde and his goons. “I heard you were looking for me.”

  Clyde’s brown gaze moved past me and landed on Tucker. “Yes, I was. And Hugh found you for me, just like he promised he would.”

  My gaze swung around to the vampire, who moved forward, as though he was going to stand with me…

  Tucker smoothly skirted to the side, putting some distance between us. Cool air filled in the space where his body had been pressed up against mine, although it did nothing to douse the red-hot embarrassment burning in my cheeks.

  “I told you she was around here somewhere,” he murmured.

  The words weren’t unexpected, but they flew over me like a swarm of yellow jackets stinging my heart over and over again. I’d thought—hoped—that Tucker was genuinely attracted to me, that he was truly, fully on my side, but it seemed as though I was wrong about that.

  “Yes, you did,” Clyde replied. “I had no idea you were planning a little treat for yourself before we got down to business, but I do admire a man who can multitask.”

  He leered at me, just like the three giants were still doing. The embarrassment burning in my cheeks and the rest of my body abruptly chilled, morphing into razors of icy rage. I seized on to the emotion, using that cold, sharp pain to ground myself.

  “Now what?” I asked in a snide voice. “Going to try to buy my shipping yard again?”

  “Nah,” Clyde replied. “I’m done asking nicely. You’re too stupid and stubborn to cash out and walk away, so I’m just going to take what I want. The way I should have all along.”

  He raised his hand, and the gun in his fingers glinted under the soft lights. Clyde grinned, thinking he was in complete control of the situation, but the weapon didn’t overly concern me. I could always use my metal magic to wrench the gun out of his hand before he could shoot me with it.

  After that, well, I wasn’t quite sure what would happen, but I wasn’t scared. Like I’d told Tucker on the street the other day, I’d only ever been afraid of two people in my entire life. My father and my brother weren’t around to terrorize me anymore, and I would be happy to add Clyde O’Neal and his men to the list of my dead enemies.

  Clyde waggled the gun at me. “Let’s take a walk.”

  To my surprise, Tucker held his arm out to me. “Ms. Parker, if you will be so kind as to let me escort you,” he murmured in a cool, polite voice, as if we hadn’t been making out just a few minutes ago.

  I threaded my arm through his, then gave him a smile that was all teeth. “Why, Mr. Tucker, I would be delighted as always.”

  He winced at my harsh, accusing tone, but he didn’t say anything as he led me across the bathroom and out the opposite door, with Clyde and his three giants following along behind us.