Page 132 of Throwing Shade
“That and you brought about the death of my current subcontractor.” Tatiana bit into her croissant.
A glop of jam fell off my knife onto my plate. “Max?”
Tatiana nodded, her mouth full.
Laurent opened his mouth, but I put my hand on his thigh. “One could argue,” I said, “that the responsibility lies with you, seeing as you sent him to me.”
Tatiana swallowed and chuckled. “Mea culpa?”
“There’s also the fact that I’m not interested.” I held up the croissant in cheers. “Though I do appreciate you introducing me to these amazing treats.”
“I suppose if you aren’t going to use your magic anymore, then it would be easy enough to put this episode behind you.” Tatiana wiped her mouth with a linen napkin.
“I’m not running away and hiding again.”
“Oh, nothing like that. I could ensure that the people who saw your powers don’t discuss it, and convince Zev to stay mum about the Banim Shovavim in town.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Read the fine print,” Laurent muttered.
Tatiana lightly smacked his hand. “I would indeed do that for you. No strings attached.”
Delilah vibrated under the soles of my feet. I’d cut her away once and had withered. Now, I’d gotten a second chance to bloom. Did I really want to rip that opportunity out at the roots? Years of dull law books and silence stretched out ahead of me, the excitement and passion I’d rekindled dying away until, with a sputter, there was nothing left.
“And if I keep using my magic?” I said.
“Then you come work for me.”
“Impossible. I won’t engage in illegal or unethical behavior,” I said, my relief at not being thrown into a moral quandary tempered by feeling I was peering through the fence at the rides at the fair, watching everyone else have fun.
“Doing what’s right often involves breaking the rules,” she said.
“You’d know,” Laurent said.
Tatiana wagged a finger at him. “Don’t be a hypocrite, Lolo. You kill people on a regular basis.”
He set his cup down on the saucer hard enough to rattle it. “The host is already dead.”
“You think that would matter in a Sapien court of law? All they’d see was a serial killer.”
I massaged my temples. “Give me a minute.”
“I’d pay you,” Tatiana said. “Whatever you’re making, I’ll match it.”
“It’s not about money.” It was kind of about money because I had bills to pay and a child to support.
“It’s about Sadie and keeping both of you safe, am I right?” she said. “Especially since your parents’ murder.”
I spilled my coffee, quickly grabbing my napkin to blot up the liquid. Laurent tried to take the cloth from me, but I pushed him away and dropped the soggy fabric on the table, my fists clenched. “Did you kill my parents?”
“No.” There was no guile in her expression. “You think you’ve been hidden all these years?” Tatiana shook her head. “I guarantee you haven’t been. It didn’t matter that you were raised in a Sapien household or took your cousin’s last name—”
“More people telling you things?” I said, bitterly.
“Name changes are a matter of public record and I know how the dark side of the Ohrist world works. The only thing that kept you safe all these years was the fact that whomever went after your parents believed you were a blank.”
Goosebumps broke out over my skin and I hugged myself. “A blank?”
