His grin grew. “I wanted to wait until we were alone. The truth is that I have come up with an option of my own.” He caught my look of confusion and laughed. “Yes, I know, my previous efforts in that regard were under-whelming, and I’ll admit that I still lack your particular brand of creativity in such matters, but I believe I may redeem myself with this one.” His eyes sparked with a wicked grin. “This time, I had help. Namely the Cinsel Büyücülük.”

“The Cinsel Büyücülük? Isn’t that a sex—” I dropped his hand and backpedaled. “Damn, Lucas. I’m so sorry. I would love to, but…” I waved at the computer screen.

“My in-box is overflowing. How about a rain check?”

He gave a slow nod. “I understand.”

I smiled. “Thanks. You’re so sweet.” I turned to the computer. “How about I get a few of these done, then I’ll make us some tea and—”

A hand flew around my throat, fingers digging in so hard I gasped.

“Move and I will crush your windpipe,” Lucas murmured behind me, his voice low, tone conversational.

“You have two minutes to tell me what I want to know, starting with: Where is my wife?”

Chapter 47

47

I GRABBED AT LUCAS’S HAND, AND TRIED TO PRY IT free, but it wouldn’t budge.

“What is wrong with you today, Cortez?” I gasped.

An edge crept into his voice. “Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t call—? Lucas? It’s me.”

His grip tightened.

“Lucas?” I twisted, injecting fear into my voice. “Lucas, please. You’re scaring me.”

“Don’t.”

“Lucas? It’s me—”

“Don’t!” He leaned over my back. “You are not Paige, and the more you try to deny that, the more angry I’m going to become. Now, who are you?”

Damn it! I’d been here less than ten minutes, and I’d already screwed up. I thought of Jaime’s hotel room, when Kristof had seen through the Nix’s glamour spell without a moment’s hesitation. He’d known she wasn’t me. So how the hell had I thought I could fool Lucas about Paige?

I had two options—keep pushing and hope he backed off, or come clean. The success of the first depended on how gullible Lucas was…which made the decision pretty darned easy.

“Eve. Eve Levine. Savannah’s—”

“I know who Eve Levine is.”

“Right, we met. Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, maybe. God, you were just a kid. You had balls, though, coming to take those grimoires away from me. I admired that. Didn’t keep me from kicking your ass, but I admired it.”

His hand stayed locked around my throat.

“Er, you do remember that, right?” I said.

“Yes.”

“But you don’t think I’m really Eve—”

“No, I never questioned that. Now, where is Paige?”