Chapter Fifteen #2
“Out for revenge on,” Henrik finished, pretending it was all the same to him, which it absolutely, positively wasn’t.
I didn’t know the details, but I knew he and Szabo had once been friends — to the extent that vampires were capable of friendship.
What had ended it, I had no clue, and even I wasn’t dumb enough to broach a topic that irked Henrik so badly.
Even now, points of red shone in his eyes and reflected on the surface of his coffee.
Mina rubbed her face, then straightened with an effort. “Great. I mean, good to know.” She grimaced. “Maybe.”
Bene patted her arm. “Sorry.”
“Well, I’m grateful that you chased him away. But how do we make sure he stays away?”
Killing him was my first idea. My second one, also. I kept it to myself, figuring Mina wouldn’t like to hear that.
Our glum silence must have given us away, because Mina slumped back in her chair. “Great. Another vampire out to get me.”
“I’m not out to get you,” Henrik said defensively.
“Oh good,” she mumbled dryly. “Just one vampire out to get me.”
“He’s after us, not you,” Roux pointed out.
“But if I happen to get in the way…” She slid a finger across her throat.
Bad move, because Henrik’s eyes lit up again.
Bene pushed the last of the bacon over to him. More meat meant longer intervals a vampire could go without sucking blood. But sooner or later, he would need to sate the impulse or risk going crazy — a little like Szabo.
The ideal case was a willing donor — better yet, donors. Those were usually reckless young things, male or female, who didn’t shy away from kink — the gateway drug, so to speak, to letting a vampire suck their blood.
Gross, my dragon wrinkled its nose.
Definitely not my thing, but there were plenty of willing and able blood donors out there, most of whom had their memories wiped by the vampire afterward.
All they recalled was hitting incredible highs through some combination of drugs, sex, and alcohol.
As long as the vampire didn’t overbinge, everyone would go home happy and reasonably healthy — give or take a few pints of blood.
I made a mental note to ask Roux if he’d been keeping tabs on Henrik’s diet. For now…I kicked Henrik under the table. He could try his luck with any woman he wanted. Just not my woman.
He glared back, then stabbed his fork into the bacon.
“Maybe we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Bene tried.
“We absolutely should, at least when it comes to Szabo,” Roux said wearily.
“So, where do we start?” Mina asked.
A woman of action. No wonder I liked her.
Love her, my dragon corrected me.
Like. Love. Lust. I’d lost track of the difference. Hell, I doubted I’d ever known it.
I scratched my chest. Didn’t Mina deserve someone better?
So, be better, my dragon rumbled. That’s what we’re here for, right?
I stared into my coffee. Frankly, my only goal had been marginally better. Just enough to stay on the right side of shifter laws and politics. But Mina deserved way, way better, and I wasn’t sure I was up to that. Was it even worth trying?
I waited for the usual answer — no — to pop glumly into the back of my mind. But, huh. Nothing. Nada. Zero.
Of course it’s worth it! my dragon roared.
I gripped the armrests of my chair, fighting the urge to shift, roar, and claim my mate.
A phone beeped. Mina, Bene, and Roux all pulled out their devices, but only Roux’s rang.
“Hello?” he answered, then froze. “Oh. Hello, Gordon.”
Everyone went silent.
“I see… Yes… You have a job for us…”
Now? I mouthed.
The more Roux listened, the more deeply his brow folded.
“Where?” he interjected. Then his eyebrows jumped. “Mallorca?”
I did a double take, then calculated how long it would take to reach that Mediterranean island. A two-hour drive to Paris, then a short flight. Unless Gordon could get us a private jet from Dijon…
Don’t want to go to Mallorca, my dragon pouted. I want to stay with Mina.
My eyes locked on hers, and her expression said she was thinking the same thing.
Maybe I could talk my way out of the trip. Maybe I could stay and protect Mina.
And other things, my dragon hummed.
My body heated, and her eyes sparkled.
“When?” Roux asked, then gulped at the reply. “This weekend?”
We all stared at one another, and Bene mouthed, This weekend?
“What’s today?” Henrik whispered.
“Thursday,” Mina said.
My gut clenched. Did Gordon’s weekend start on Friday or Saturday?
Roux checked his watch. “I’ll have to look into tickets—”
Gordon must have cut him off, because he nodded slowly. “Oh, good. Everything is arranged, then.”
Not good. Even Bene looked concerned.
“Can I put you on speaker?” Roux asked.
Normally, my dragon side jumped at any hint of action — especially after a week cooped up in France’s answer to the outback. But this time, my gut clenched, and all I could think of was Mina.
“Mina?” Roux furrowed his brow. His eyes met hers. “No, she’s not here. Just us four.”
Mina’s lips parted, and her hands tightened on the armrests of her chair. She started to stand, but—
“Roger. For our ears only,” Roux said to Gordon, still watching her. “Not a word to Mina.”
She looked at me, swallowed hard, then lowered herself again.
“Okay, I’m putting you on speaker…” Roux said, giving her one last chance to decide.
I could see her warring with herself. But, hell. She had every right to know about what games her loving godfather was playing behind her back.
“Can you hear me?” Gordon’s gravelly voice boomed over the line.
“Loud and clear,” Bene said.
“Henrik here,” the vampire murmured.
“Marius,” I chimed in, watching Mina.
Roux let a beat go by, then spoke up. “That’s it. The four of us. Go ahead.”
Mina bit her lip and stared nervously at the phone.
“All right,” Gordon announced. “This is the plan…”