"Thanks for breaking my fall," I whispered not sure if he would hear it over the fire crew we'd called to be on standby as they rushed to stop the fire from spreading while we had waited for CSI to move from it.
He laughed, the sound pressing against my chest where our bodies were fused closely together. "Anytime you want to be on top, just let me know," he said wiggling his eyebrows which was entirely out of character and made him boyishly handsome.
"Pervert, a building just exploded. We should be acting professional," I mumbled already detangling myself from his limbs.
"True and you were right, which means I need to call a Vampire and find out what he knows."
"If nothing else, they know the person who is creating the bombs and it could get us a lead on these sick whack-jobs."
Twenty five
The next afternoon, I helped Larissa prepare her outfit for the Samhain celebration at the Guild. She had picked out a yellow corn silk dress that had an imperial waistline and would make her green eyes pop. She always looked good, no matter what color she wore. Her perfection and her smile were contagious.
"Syn, I wish you would reconsider and come with us tonight instead of going with him. Who cares about the stupid contract? I just wish he would commit to releasing you back to Alden after we figure out who's trying to kill his fiancé."
"What if he doesn’t, what if this was all just an elaborate scheme that we played into? The picture at the crime scene was the same one at the other that you showed me. All of the victims in the files match her description from the tabloids."
"That’s a whole lot of what if's Syn, without any hard evidence."
I sighed dejectedly, she was right. I needed proof, something that was substantial enough to make people understand that something about these murders had to deal directly with Arianna. It could be as simple as the killer had an infatuation with her, but what didn’t make sense was, the fact that the Fairy had been killed, or where a woman would fit in to it, other than some creep being infatuated with the Light Heir.
Speaking of fairies, Malinda walked in with a stack of shopping bags. She smiled as Larissa and I jumped up to help her from where we had been sitting on the bed talking. "Oh thanks! Ryder sent me, told me to tell you he secured an outfit he would like you to wear tonight," Malinda said grinning from ear to beautiful ear.
I bit my lip as Larissa's eyes swung to me questioningly. I knew what she was thinking, hell I was thinking it! He'd bought me an outfit and there were bags filled with shoes and other things as well. "It's not a date!" I blurted causing both women to turn around with beautiful matching smiles. "It's not," I grumbled.
Malinda tipped her head and examined me. She crinkled her nose at my sweat pants and tank top. I waited watching her mind work, yea good luck making me look beautiful—tomboy I could do, deadly assassin, in the freaking bag, but beautiful arm candy? I almost laughed at the thought.
"Ever considered cutting your hair into an actual style?" Malinda said as Larissa snorted from beside me. I tossed her a cool leveled glare.
"What's wrong with the style I have?" I asked feeling self-conscious.
"Nothing, but I don’t think it has been cut in years…and I can see from here it is a few different lengths. I am very good at cutting." Malinda said softly.
"Yeah, so am I," I retorted meaning something else entirely.
"Can I trim it a little? I promise not to touch your bad girl image," Malinda said with a mischievous smile.
I was about to put my foot down when Larissa caught my eye, she looked excited about this and the fact that I was doing something really girly. "Fine," I said before I could think it over too much.
~~~~~~~~~~*
It took Malinda a few hours of primping, waxing and some very painful plucking before she had me stand in front of the mirror she had brought into the room. Larissa stood primped up perfectly herself, but I had done a full transformation.
I had straight hair that had been curled to frame my face. Malinda had put on a light blue eye shadow that made my eyes strikingly electric blue. She'd applied a light blush to my cheeks which gave my face definition and a touch of softness that was usually hidden by the tough exterior I hid behind. My lips had been glossed but she'd left them alone otherwise stating only that they were already perfect.
The dress Ryder had secured was an expensive designer work of art. It came to mid-thigh, leaving my legs and most of my thighs exposed. It had a sweetheart neckline and was sleeveless other than the two straps that flowed over my shoulders and crisscrossed around the back to meet the only other strap that held the back of the dress together. They also kept the dropped V-line back from showing off my rear.