It all made sense now—and it was all so twistedly, horribly wrong.
Beside me, Bria sucked in a surprised breath. I reached down, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it in warning. After a second, she squeezed back, realizing that I was asking her to hide her shock and her knowledge of who Deirdre really was.
Owen saved us both. He realized that something was wrong, stepped up, and held out his hand, making Deirdre shift her focus to him instead of wondering why Bria and I were both suddenly so slack-jawed.
“Owen Grayson,” he rumbled. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Shaw.”
Deirdre looked Owen up and down, then gave him a slow, exaggerated wink. “Well, aren’t you just a cold drink of water on a hot, hot day?” A sultry Southern drawl added even more charm to her fun, flirty voice.
She winked again, then shook his hand. “Actually, it’s Ms. Shaw, but call me Dee-Dee. All my friends do.”
Finn tucked his arm through Bria’s. “Dee-Dee, I want you to meet my lady love, Detective Bria Coolidge.”
Deirdre smiled at Bria, her expression warm and inviting. “Why, you’re even lovelier than Finnegan described. Charmed.”
“Yeah,” Bria replied in a dry tone. “Me too.”
Finally, Deirdre Shaw faced me.
Her shoulder-length blond hair had been styled into elegant pin curls, the soft, golden waves catching the light. Her eyes were a pale blue, bordering on gray, as though her gaze were filled with the elemental Ice she could control. Her porcelain skin was flawless, while her lips were a perfect red heart in her face. I didn’t know if she indulged in a strict regimen of Air elemental facials, like Jonah McAllister did, but she looked a decade younger than her fifty-some years. I had thought her lovely in all those old photos, but in person she was truly stunning.
Deirdre didn’t seem to go in for subtle, since her knee-length, flapper-style cocktail dress was a bloody scarlet and covered with sequins and crystals, as was the matching shawl draped around her arms. Her outfit was bold, flashy, and vibrant, the type of dress a gorgeous woman would wear to attract maximum attention and compliments. And Deirdre’s jewelry was also meant to impress. Ruby chandelier earrings framed her face, while a square ruby ring glinted on her right hand.
But her most interesting bauble was her rune necklace, that heart made of jagged icicles.
Or diamonds, in this case.
The heart pendant was as big as the palm of my hand, the diamonds in each individual icicle flashing and sparkling. Even among all the jewelry here tonight, I could easily pick out the diamonds’ proud, boisterous song as they continuously trilled about their own beauty. The gemstones alone must have cost a fortune. Add them to the exquisite silverstone setting and chain, and Deirdre Shaw easily had a million bucks of cold ice hanging around her neck.
Bria noticed the necklace too, and her face creased into a frown, as she tried again to remember where she had seen the rune before.
“Dee-Dee,” Finn said, “this is Gin Blanco. Gin, Dee-Dee.”
Deirdre looked me up and down the same way she had done with Owen and Bria, but she didn’t offer me some bawdy compliment. Instead, she simply held out her hand for me to shake, as if she knew that her charming words would be wasted on me.
I took her hand in mine. Her fingers were cool to the touch, but I expected that, given the chilly air that flooded the open, drafty lobby every time someone went in or out. What I didn’t expect was the Ice magic pulsing through her body, lying just beneath the surface of her skin. The cold, sudden shock of touching her was worse than plunging my hand into a bucket of ice water. It was a wonder my fingers didn’t turn blue from frostbite.
The truly troubling thing was that Deirdre wasn’t actively using her magic. If I could sense this much of her power just by touching her, I shuddered to think what she could do when she summoned up the full, frosty depths of it. She could easily Ice over the entire lobby with a single wave of her hand. Fletcher had said that Deirdre was strong in her magic, but I hadn’t expected this level of power. She was even more dangerous than I’d thought.
“Gin,” Deirdre said, smiling widely. “It’s so lovely to finally meet you, honey. I’ve heard so much about you.” She gave my hand a friendly little squeeze.
I squeezed back, although all I really wanted to do was yank my hand out of hers and try to rub some warmth and feeling back into my numb fingers.
“I just bet you have,” I drawled. “Although Finn hasn’t told me nearly enough about you. I’ll have to get him to rectify that, since the two of you have become such good friends these past few weeks.”