I’m now the editor at True News, which would be far more impressive if I hadn’t been promoted during a downsizing, when they’d decided I could handle the position while still being lead reporter. I returned my attention to the article, written by an intern who apparently had managed to get through college without learning the difference between “there,” “their,” and “they’re.” I had only myself to blame, given that I’d hired him. Nita had a werewolf and a chaos half-demon for parents-one couldn’t expect her to sit quietly for long. I’d pointed out that I’d drunk decaf all through my pregnancy with Nita, whereupon she’d made some snide comment about my daughter’s high activity levels. A week ago, she had informed me-complete with Web links-that even decaf contained caffeine and I was endangering the life of my unborn child. But I believe we can persuade him to take one last job.”Īs I edited the piece on chupacabra sightings, I sipped my decaf coffee and ignored the disapproving looks from the sales director. “So he has not truly retired?”Īvery smiled. I have tried myself and have not even been able to arrange a meeting with him.”īirkan tapped the folder. As he read the first page, his brows shot up. She reached into her briefcase and passed him a file folder. One whose reputation surpasses even my own.” “True, but I’ve come into some information that will make it much easier. “Yet you believe you can obtain it? While you have a sterling reputation, I am told it is impossible, even for a master thief.” “That would be an insult to the quality of your collection.” “I wouldn’t offer it to you if it was,” she said. “I will admit,” Birkan continued, “when you first contacted me, I thought it was a joke. And, she presumed, so he could show off his estate-a don’t-fuck-with-me display of his wealth and power in the supernatural community. According to her sources, he said the same thing to every potential new business associate, to make them feel both honored and obliged to live up to his expectations.

But I made a rare exception, based on your excellent professional reputation.”

You are a stranger to me and I do not usually invite strangers here. Idle chatter really wasn’t her thing, but Birkan was the kind of man who’d dismiss her as a crass American if she got right down to business.įinally, he broached the subject himself, swirling his wine before saying, ever so casually, “I took a chance inviting you to my home, Ms. How much money did one need to own a house in the Swiss Alps? Enough that she was quickly recalculating the price of the goods she was about to offer Birkan.īirkan came out the French door and handed her a glass of wine and then set a plate of cheeses on the patio table. Sharon Avery settled her large frame into a chair on Fredrick Birkan’s rooftop deck and gazed down the mountainside at Lake Geneva.

Otherworld Secrets by Kelley Armstrong