Liquid Lies Read online

  A chill raced over her. The air around them screamed in alarm.

  Yoshi grinned, slick and crooked. “And I’ll take you, too, Gwen.”

  The goon behind him whipped out a gun—metal flashing like fire, barrel aimed straight at her. Think, Gwen. Think. How can you turn this asshole’s hubris to our benefit?

  She took too long. Griffin burst like a kraken from Vaillancourt Fountain.

  Water gushed upward from the low pool, assuming the strong, lean shape of Griffin’s human body. Translucent waves flowed over the valleys of his stomach muscles. White froth cascaded over his square jaw and the hard cut of his arms. His torso darkened, solidified. Water droplets skittered across his skin, soaking in. From the waist down he remained a brilliant, shimmering waterfall balancing on the fountain’s bubbling surface. Frighteningly beautiful, unmovable as rock.

  One of Griffin’s arms went liquid and shot out, fast as a bullet, to wrap around the stunned bodyguard and yank him forward into the fountain. Griffin’s watery legs flowed over the Japanese goon, holding him under the surface. His chest and shoulders heaved with channeled fury.

  Gwen transformed her own arm into a liquid whip and snapped it at the Mendacia box sagging in Yoshi’s fingers. Reversing the suction, she peeled it from his grasp and flung it back into her own hands. As her arm returned to solid, she felt the familiar, cool tingle of ebbing waters.

  LIQUID

  LIES

  HANNA MARTINE

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  LIQUID LIES

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / July 2012

  Copyright © 2012 by Hanna Martine.

  Excerpt from A Taste of Ice by Hanna Martine copyright © 2013 by Hanna Martine.

  Cover photo by Claudio Marinesco.

  Cover design by Rita Frangie.

  Interior text design by Tiffany Estreicher.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-56900-9

  BERKLEY SENSATION®

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY SENSATION® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  ALWAYS LEARNING

  PEARSON

  For Mom, who would have been so proud.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would like to thank the wonderful people who helped make the dream of my debut novel become a reality.

  Early on, the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror was instrumental in teaching me how to give and receive critiques. Among those who read the earliest first chapters—and whose comments would eventually steer the book in the direction it needed to go—were Rae Carson, Aaron Brown, and Joanne Anderton.

  Jodi Meadows, Rhea Ference, and PJ Thompson read my first complete draft and provided valuable comments about editing and pacing that I still carry with me today.

  Jill Myles also helped with my early drafts, and her support over the years has humbled me. Perhaps even more importantly, she was the one who pointed me in the direction of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and said, “I think this might be good for you.”

  Without a doubt, the publication of this book never would have happened without the encouragement and wisdom of the Chicago-North chapter of RWA. My deepest gratitude to you all. To my Aphrodite Writers, whom I also met through RWA, your passion and advocacy is inspiring.

  Katie Junttila, one of my oldest and dearest friends, critiqued the manuscript from a reader’s (not a writer’s) perspective, and opened my eyes to so much.

  Clara Kensie astounded me with her acute observations. This book is better because of her.

  Erica O’Rourke and Eliza Evans are two of the smartest women I’ve ever met and I trust their opinions regarding craft, the industry, and social media implicitly. I’m privileged to call them critique partners, but even more blessed to call them friends.

  Holly McDowell’s honesty and spirit have pulled me over many humps, and she has been my unfailing champion when I needed it the most.

  Without Ellen Wehle, this book, and my writing in general, wouldn’t be a quarter as good. And that’s not an exaggeration.

  In 2000, I told my husband I wanted to fulfill my life’s dream and become a writer. He’s always supported me—even when I turned down fun things to sit in front of my computer—and I love him for it.

  And finally, to my agent Roberta Brown, whose unparalleled enthusiasm, initiative, and drive made this all happen; and to my editor, Cindy Hwang, for believing in unusual stories, the power of voice, and for saying yes.

  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  Twenty-four

  Twenty-five

  Twenty-six

  Twenty-seven

  Twenty-eight

  Twenty-nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-one

&nbs
p; Thirty-two

  Thirty-three

  Thirty-four

  Thirty-five

  Thirty-six

  Thirty-seven

  Thirty-eight

  Thirty-nine

  Forty

  Forty-one

  Forty-two

  Forty-three

  Forty-four

  A Taste of Ice

  ONE

  Deals always went down near water.

  At 3 a.m. Gwen Carroway and the Chairman of the Company waited in an idling limo on the Embarcadero. To the left, the bay curled around a sparkling San Francisco. To the right, water poured incessantly from Vaillancourt Fountain’s hulking mess of squared concrete tubes. Water everywhere—soothing her, whispering to her, offering her protection.

  She peered through the tinted windows. On the opposite side of the fountain, two male figures in dark suits appeared between a line of palm trees. Their steps slowed as they started across the angular half-moon of the plaza.

  “They’re here.”

  Her father, Chairman Ian Carroway, stopped poking at his phone and set it on the seat next to his thigh. “You sound a little nervous. Are you?”

  She sucked in air through her teeth. “Maybe a little. New client jitters, I guess. It’ll pass.”

  His sharp, brown eyes warmed as he patted her knee. “You’ve done this a dozen times. The Company trusts you. I trust you.”

  She blew out a breath and tilted her face to the jagged line of city buildings cutting into the night sky. “I know, I know. I just wish it wasn’t so out in the open.”

  The phone buzzed and her father reached for it again, thumbs dancing across its face, as he typed one thing and said another. “The location is for their comfort, not ours. You’ll be fine, kiddo.”

  Still “kiddo” to him, and she was closing in on thirty.

  When he finished typing, he didn’t put the phone down, just held it loosely in one palm. Did he sleep with that thing?

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

  She waved him off. “Yes. I want to do this myself. But thanks.”

  Maybe if the Board saw how ambitious she was—how devoted and beneficial to the Company—they would vote her into their ranks before her next birthday. And wouldn’t that be an accomplishment? Wouldn’t that prove to her people that she’d do anything for them, including committing her life to better theirs?

  Because of her gift, she was the only person in the Company capable of making international deals, but she wanted to be so much more. She wanted to lead. She wanted to take what her father had grown and make it even stronger.

  Gwen patted the bulge in the pocket of her black blazer and opened the limo door. The dome light illuminated her father, who nodded confidently and shooed her off with a grin. His belief in her gave her strength. She would not let him down. She would not let her people down.

  A beige Subaru slowed behind the limo, honked, then swerved around. Gwen hopped onto the curb, suddenly and frighteningly conscious of the way the limo’s interior light cast a spotlight on the important man inside. Secrecy was paramount. She slammed the door, extinguishing the light, and the limo pulled away on silent wheels, leaving her alone in the plaza.

  She closed her eyes and breathed, absorbing the combined sounds of the bay’s lapping waves and the roar of the fountain. Opening her eyes, she channeled her father’s panache and squared her shoulders. She walked steadily around the fountain, resisting the urge to tug at the yellow strands of her hair that swirled in the unpredictable breeze.

  The new client was Japanese, the Company’s first from that country. The actual buyer was too important to retrieve the product himself, rich enough to send others to do his business, and obsessed with anonymity. Just like everyone else willing to pay the Company’s high price of vanity.

  The lead Japanese man approached Gwen with shallow steps. A lock of inky black hair bounced across his forehead, and he used a palm to slick it back. Per the Company’s instructions, he clutched a cheap, nondescript briefcase. His companion, striding with purpose at his heels, stood a full head taller and weighed double.

  She walked among Primaries every day. She lived in their city without self-consciousness or worry that they could differentiate her from anyone else on the street. But when deals went down and the Company cracked open the door to their private little world, it was impossible for her not to feel vulnerable. Like she was opening the drawbridge and inviting the enemy inside the castle.

  That was the source of her nerves, she realized. She didn’t fear for her own safety or that she couldn’t close the sale. Despite monstrous confidentiality agreements, every deal the Company made threatened to reveal more of themselves to the Primaries, and that scared her more than anything.

  There were reasons humans were called Primaries: they were here first and there were far, far more of them.

  Even though the wealthiest of the Primaries craved what her people had to offer, they regarded the Company with caution and a measure of disdain. After all, Gwen’s people, the Ofarians, were special. No matter how much money the Primaries threw at the Company, they could never physically possess Ofarian magic.

  But the Company could sell it to them in a bottle.

  Gwen stopped near the lip of the fountain, where the tangle of concrete and rushing water guarded her from the intermittent headlights on the Embarcadero. She let the clients come to her. The smaller Japanese man walked determinedly, with a laser-like focus. His bodyguard made sweeping assessments of the surroundings with his eyes.

  Go ahead, she thought. You won’t find anyone but me.

  The men pulled up a few feet away. The shorter man passed the briefcase to his bodyguard and retrieved a business card from his pocket. Presenting it with both hands, he bowed and spoke in quick Japanese. “I am Yoshi. Mikatani regrets being unable to come personally.”

  “Yoshi.” She handed him her own card in the same way and bowed deeper. Japanese spilled off her tongue, coming as easily as her native language. “We spoke on the phone.”

  As Yoshi straightened, he looked pointedly over her shoulder. “Your chairman could not make it?”

  She dipped her head. “It seems both our employers are busy. I assure you your business is safe with me.”

  “Gwen Carroway. Vice President, International Relations.” He smiled as he read her card aloud, though the smile was oily and unforthcoming. She didn’t like him at all. When he looked up, the gush of the fountain reflected in his night dark eyes. “Your Japanese is excellent.”

  “So is my Greek. And twenty-two other languages.”

  Another smile, this one wider and slimier. His teeth looked like they’d been knocked out and shoved back in by a third grader. She understood very well that she was in the business of lies, but she was supposed to sell them, not buy them. She desperately wanted out from under his stare; she wanted this deal done.

  “Do you have the remainder of the payment?”

  Yoshi gestured to the briefcase. “Do you have the product?”

  “Of course.” The subtle lift of her shoulders, the overly casual demeanor—she’d stolen them both directly from her father.

  Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a shiny, graphite-colored box the size of a cigarette pack tied with a red silk bow. The name Mendacia wrapped around the package in silvery embossed script.

  Yoshi’s eyes clamped on to it. He licked his lips. “Does it really work?”

  They’d been out in the open for a while now and the covetousness in his expression set her on edge. Her knees locked and she prayed he wouldn’t notice her legs shaking. Maybe she should just walk away from the deal…except that the Ofarians depended on her and her sales, not only for the money Mendacia brought in, but also for the jobs and security it provided.

  “After Mikatani-san’s foot is amputated, use this potion as directed and no one will be able to tell. His body will seem whole. To anyone watching, he will walk without a limp.” She tilted her he
ad, another trust me gesture borrowed from Dad, the king of sales, the master of persuasion. She couldn’t resist needling Yoshi; he rubbed her wrong in so many ways. “But I have already convinced Mikatani. I don’t need to sell it to you.”

  Another swipe of Yoshi’s palm across his forehead. At last he ripped his gaze from the box. “No, of course not. I just find it hard to believe. A potion to cure what the most advanced diabetes doctors cannot?”

  She jiggled the box, the bow flopping from side to side. “Not cure. Appear to cure. To hide.”

  She anticipated his reaction. Expected to see disbelief cloud his expression. That usually happened with first-time clients. Only Yoshi didn’t indulge. His black eyes narrowed in a way that suggested pleasure, not doubt. “Is that all it can do? Make ailing octogenarians save face in front of their investors?”

  Mendacia was far more than that. It was the Ofarians’ honor. Only the most gifted of her people were selected to learn the craft, and it was the hard work of those chosen ones who essentially supported the entire race.

  The Primaries would never know that. They’d get what they paid for. Nothing more.

  “It’s glamour,” she said, taking care not to look away from Yoshi’s eyes. “It can do almost anything.” Related to the user’s personal appearance, that is.

  She raised the box and made an obvious glance at the briefcase. “The instructions to activate the spell are inside the box. I personally translated them and wrote out the words phonetically using Japanese pronunciation. If Mikatani-san has any questions or concerns, please call me directly.”

  The errant lock of hair fell over Yoshi’s forehead again. This time he didn’t shove it away. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. I’ll take the Mendacia now.”

  She extended the box, the red bow a splash of color in the dimly lit, deserted plaza. Yoshi hurried forward and snatched it a little too greedily. Sweat beaded on his skin underneath the flap of hair.

  A chill raced over her. The air around them screamed in alarm.

  Yoshi grinned, slick and crooked. “And I’ll take you, too, Gwen.”