Savannah Sacrifice Read Free Page B

don’t need anyone else getting into trouble trying to help me. I’m tired of everyone around me getting hurt. I’m not willing to put you at risk either.”
    “Look, Starling, I’m here to keep you safe. That means if you need something, I’m in.”
    “I just need to get into the bank, get the books, and get a handle on the spirits. Then everything will be okay. I don’t need you.”
    “You’re not going alone.”
    “You may get hurt. I told you, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt for me.”
    “Then tell yourself I’m putting myself at risk for the Sisterhood.”
    There was an inexplicable pain in her chest at his flippant response. “Fine.”
    “It’s a damn good thing you’re a nymph,” he said, ignoring her shortness. “Or I would say you don’t have a chance in hell of getting into the bank vault.”
    “What does being a nymph have to do with getting in?”
    Jasper gave her a sideways glance. “Won’t you use all your, you know,
feminine wiles
?” He shifted uncomfortably and stood up from his position against the wall.
    She snorted with laughter. “Did you really just say feminine wiles? What are you, eighty?” She walked ahead, leading the way downstairs to the lobby.
    The thought of using her power for seduction made her skin crawl. Yes, it was something she could turn on and off, not some innate attraction, but with this power came problems. The only time she’d used her gift had been on a poor neighbor boy when they were fourteen. She hadn’t a clue what she was doing. She’d asked the kid to share his slice of pizza, and when he’d said “no,” a strange energy had passed over her body. The next thing she knew, he was handing her the entire box.
    He’d been hard to get rid of after that day. His affections led to his showing up at her door in the middle of the night, love letters, and playlists. He’d only stopped when his family finally moved away.
    She didn’t need any more stalkers. She already had more than her fair share of the dead kind.
    “Where’s this bank?”
    She pulled her smartphone from her purse and tapped a few buttons. “It looks like it’s only a few blocks from here.” She slid her phone back into her purse. She looked up and caught him staring at her with his earthy brown eyes. At their center was a ring of blue, so faint that if she hadn’t been in the right light, she would have missed the haunting, but sexy, mixture of colors. “I’ve been wondering, how old are you?”
    She couldn’t look away from the blue oasis in the desert of his eyes.
    “Twenty-three.”
    A burst of energy surged up from her stomach, but she tried to ignore the feeling. She couldn’t feel anything for this … shadow. “Seriously? Huh. I would have thought you were like, thirty.”
    “Thirty isn’t old, you little shit.”
    “I didn’t say it was. I just meant that you look older.” She finally managed to divert her gaze. “And we’re going to have to come up with some kind of backstory if you are going to keep tagging around with me.”
    “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but I’m hoping, if everything goes right, we are going to be in and out of the bank and then back to your dad and Harper on the ten o’clock flight.” Jasper opened the door leading to the parking lot and waited for Starling to pass through.
    She stole another glance at his enchanting eyes as she passed by. “Here’s hoping everything goes according to your plan.”

Chapter Three
    The entire bank smelled like industrial strength cleansers and bullshit. Over the last few years, since going to work for the International Legislative Organization of Nymphs who called themselves the Sisterhood, Jasper had gotten really good at identifying that pungent smell of people who lied for a living. Though admittedly, ever since Ariadne Papadakis had taken on the Sisterhood leadership role, life had been a little easier—at least when he’d had to deal with the leaders.
    Starling weaved