I bent down and peered in at the profile of a man in a long black trench coat. The window rolled up, so I lifted the handle and opened the door.
He leaned over and looked up at me. “Your place or mine?”
“Well, my place is outside, so you decide.”
I hugged my duffel and sank into the seat, squeaking against the leather as I reached to shut the door.
I felt him staring at me, so I peered over at him.
He pushed his dark shades farther up his nose. “If I’d known that I’d be picking up the ocean, I would have brought a sponge.”
I suddenly recognized the lilt in his voice. The way he spoke had the lyrical swing that was typical of the Irish, but his voice was dark, gritty, and full of attitude.
He dropped his foot on the gas pedal, and my head flung back. I wrapped the seat belt around me and gave him an intolerant glare.
“I know you,” I said, my mind working overtime trying to place him. It took me a minute because I ran into so many people on a daily basis. “Yes, I remember you now. You’re the asshole with the onion rings.”
He raised his sunglasses to the top of his head. “Aye. And you’re the leech with the lacy knickers.” His eyes flicked down to my lap. “Where’s my lemon bar?”
I chortled. “Sothat’swhat the pink box was about. Sorry, but I don’t like lemon bars. I threw it away.”
He squeezed the steering wheel. “Jaysus wept. I think Viktor has finally lost his marbles.”
I was having second thoughts when I realized that this guy worked for Viktor. Maybe he was just the chauffeur.
The scenery flew by—people rushing through the rain with newspapers covering their heads, a paper cup floating down the sewage drain, windows fogged over in most of the eateries. Cognito was quite a magnificent northeastern city, even at its ugliest.
The Vampire put on his turn signal and made a right. “There’s a burger place just up the street. Viktor won’t mind.”
“I’m not hungry.”
He turned his head all the way to face me. “It’s eleven in the morning, scavenger, and your stomach is louder than my engine.”
I chuckled. “A Vampire with a Honda. You made my day.”
He snapped his attention back to the road, his voice clipped. “It’s unassuming.”
“Buy all the burgers you want, but I won’t eat them.” No way was I giving him the satisfaction.
“You must be a Shifter—stubborn and brassy.”
With lightning speed, I whipped out a push dagger attached to my belt and held it against his whiskery jaw. “And you need a shave. Be sure to watch out for those speed bumps,” I added, scraping the knife at an upward angle. “No more insults, or I’ll cut you up into little pieces and ship you back to Ireland.”
He slammed the brakes, and I flew forward, jerked to a stop by my seat belt. The Vampire disarmed me and clamped the back of my neck with an iron grip. “Let’s keep the sharp weapons tucked away, shall we? Besides, a woman like you doesn’t need a dagger. You have a tongue that could clip a hedge.”
He reached for the blade that had fallen on the floorboard and released his hold. “And don’t litter in my car. I never did like a litterbug.”
I sat up and rubbed the back of my neck, my ego slightly deflated. The knife wouldn’t have done him serious harm since stunners were designed to paralyze a Mage, not a Vampire, but sometimes a girl had to make a point.
We left the city and entered a wealthy area of town that I’d never seen before. The car slowed in front of a wrought iron gate that reached maybe fifteen or twenty feet high. Above it was a stone archway between two walls that stretched as far as I could see. On the keystone at the center of the arch was a carving of a Roman soldier’s head staring down at me, his helmet on. The slope of his brows and pensive gaze made me shiver.
The Vampire veered to the left and swiped his card against a stand. While he waited for the gates to open, he switched off the windshield wipers when the downpour changed to a light sprinkle.
“I don’t have to live here, do I?”
“Would that be too awful? Jaysus, will you fecking look at it?” He lifted his arm theatrically. “This isn’t a mansion, it’s a country. If you’d rather live on the street than in here, you’re a bigger fruit loop than I took you for.”
“I’m not living on the street.”
