So I kept my eyes on my own face and not hers. But in my peripheral vision, I could see the magic glimmering in her eyes. Unlike Jake McAllister, Mab’s eyes didn’t turn red when she reached for her Fire magic. If anything, they got darker, blacker, until they seemed to suck the light out of the room. Mab was also one of those elementals who leaked power. Well, more like radiated in her case. I could feel her Fire magic pouring off her. It pricked at my skin like a thousand hot, tiny needles.

“What’s that on your dress?” Mab asked. “Those spots?”

I capped my lipstick and slid it back into my purse.

My fingers brushed the hilt of my silverstone knife, but I didn’t reach for it. Killing a punk like Jake McAllister was one thing. He was reckless, stupid, sloppy. But Mab Monroe was the most dangerous woman in Ashland. I had no doubt she could fry me alive with her magic before I even got the weapon out of my purse.

So I closed the tiny bag, turned to face her, and widened my smile. “Well, you see, that’s why I came in here in the first place. The gentleman I was with got a little too… excited about things. A real early bird, if you know what I mean.”

I let out a laugh. Mab didn’t join in.

“Anyway, I came in here to mop up some of the damage, before I made the rounds to see if any other gentlemen were interested in my services this evening.”

Mab’s black eyes never left mine. “And who might this gentleman be? This… early bird?”

I forced out another laugh. “Oh, sugar, I didn’t ask his name. That was at the top of your list of rules.”

She was silent for a few seconds, thinking about my answer. “And what might your name be?”

“Why, Candy, of course, because I’m supersweet.”

Disgust flashed across Mab’s face. Evidently, she didn’t like hookers with cheesy names. But her reaction gave me an idea as to how I could escape this inquisition.

I wet my lips and stepped forward. For a moment, I toyed with the heart-and-arrow rune on my velvet choker, drawing Mab’s attention to it. Her eyes flicked to the rune, then back up to mine. I stepped forward and reached for a piece of her hair that had fallen forward over her shoulder.

I immediately regretted the move, because holding onto to Mab’s hair felt like rubbing a lit match between my fingers. I half-expected my skin to start blistering from the sensation.

Still, I gave no sign I could sense her elemental magic.