His calves hit his bed and he almost fell. “I, I don’t really feel very comf—”

Her hand came up to his chest, and then she slammed it into him. He was falling back as her other hand came up from behind her dress in a glimmering metallic arc.

By the time his back hit the bed, she was straddling him, her knees pinning his arms to his sides, one hand grabbing his hair, the other pressing the knife to his neck.

“Comfortable?” she asked, finishing his sentence. She wasn’t kidding with the knife; it was pressed against the side of his neck just at the point where a little pressure would break the skin, and it was poised over an artery. As his lungs filled with gasps of air, he had to try not to move his neck.

“Ah, shit,” he said. “You’re Hu Gibbet’s apprentice, Vi. Viridiana, Vi, how’d I miss it?”

She smiled joylessly. “Who’re you working for? The prince was my deader.”

“Seriously. How embarrassing. To be taken in by another wetboy. Hmm. Or are you a wetgirl?”

“Not the way you’re hoping.” She ground her hips against him and he blushed.

She pinched his cheek. “You aren’t too ugly, you know. It’ll be a shame to kill you.”

“The shame’s all mine, I assure you.”

“Don’t feel bad,” she said. “Part of my Talent is a glamour. It’s to your credit you weren’t actually drooling.”

“You mean those are an illus—”

“Move your hands and die,” she said. “The body’s real, thanks.”

“I should say thank you, but this knife at my throat is muting my appreciation some.”

“If you’re trying to charm your way out of this, you need practice. Who’re you working for?”

“You’re working for the king,” Kylar said. “Aren’t you?”

“Backbone,” she said. “I like that.”

“Wetting myself would be awfully messy for both of us,” Kylar said. She chuckled and he smiled as charmingly as he could. “Was that better?”

“Better. I’ll give you one for effort. I took this job from the king. He was a little peeved that you killed his son. So I take his money, but I take my orders from Roth. Last chance now,” she pressed the knife a little further into his skin and he had to lean his head as far to the side as he could to keep it from cutting him.

“Maybe you can appreciate my dilemma,” Kylar said, straining his neck. “If I don’t answer, you’ll kill me painfully but it will take a while. If I do answer, you’ll kill me quickly but soon.”