She glanced at Hart. “What key? Who is this guy?”
“Your sister never mentioned him?”
“No.” And it hurt. “Who is he?”
“The Raven Lord. A ruthless son of a bitch.”
“The what now?”
One edge of his mouth kicked up.
“What exactly is the Raven Lord? What would my sister be doing with some crackpot who makes up titles for himself?”
“You might not want to call him that.”
“What, Raven Lord?”
“Crackpot.”
“Whatever. Is this a friend of yours?” Hart shook his head, but he looked amused. Kayla couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. She tried to veer back to the topic. “You think this guy had something to do with my sister’s death?”
Hart began to stuff the clothes back in the bag and didn’t look at her. “Lady, I think you should accept your sister died of a drug overdose and leave it at that.”
“As a nurse, I can tell you she didn’t. Do I look like a chump?”
He thrust the bag at her, and they both held on for a moment. The pupils of his strange eyes were encircled by a thin band of violet. His gaze raked her body, head to toe and back again, taking extra time to visually fondle her chest. She resisted the urge to cover herself, proud she didn’t back down. But when he took a step forward, she couldn’t help a hasty step back. Her shoulders knocked against the cold metal wall.
“Naw.” He leered, towering over her. “You look smart. Are you smart, babe? ’Cause nothing you do can bring her back.” The half smile dropped like a mask. His pupils dilated until his eyes shone, two pools of violet-black, otherworldly and somehow inhuman. He bent down to whisper in her ear, breath hot on her sensitive neck. “Take some advice.” His lips brushed her ear. “The smartest thing you can do?”
She smelled musk and pine, thought of dark forests and the wild hunt. A shiver that had nothing to do with fear raced down her spine.
“Run.”
About the Author
A native Seattleite, Kira Brady spent her childhood hiking the rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest and drying out by the fire with a good book and a mug of something hot. She graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and majored in environmental studies and political science. At Penn she met her real-life Prince Charming, married him her senior year, and dragged him back to the sunless Pacific Northwest. Kira earned a passion for the historic, haunted places of Seattle as an urban-planning graduate student before taking the plunge to follow her writing dream. Now she writes about the depraved cities of her imagination, where wraiths and shape-shifters stalk the twisted landscape of her native city and love redeems even the darkest heart. When not writing, she can be found drinking inordinately large mugs of Assam tea, knitting wool socks, and raising a wee heroine-in-training. Readers can visit Kira online at
www.kirabrady.com
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KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2012 by Kira Brady
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-1-4201-3137-6
First Electronic Edition: July 2012
Published in the United States of America