“Seven deadly sins,” she added. Blue settled her doe eyes on him. They sparkled like sapphires rimmed in black, so stunning against her brown features. She was more down to earth than Gem—didn’t talk as often and was always trying to please Viktor. “You just don’t want a partner. That’s not how it works, Christian. You can’t drive away every new person he brings in just because you’d rather work alone. It’s not your place to choose your partner; that’s Viktor’s decision.”
“Would you be saying this if he’d paired you with Shepherd instead of Niko? I’ll not be matched up with a lunatic. Viktor knows my position.”
“That’s blackmail.”
He folded his arms, his voice rising an octave. “And how do you see that?”
Blue hopped off the ledge and dusted off her hands. “Because threatening to leave if he doesn’t find the right match could force him to make different choices. Keystone doesn’t revolve around Christian Poe.”
He grunted and swaggered toward the door. Blue was colder to him than she was with the rest of the house, just as many were around Vampires. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t try to convince him otherwise when he invited a Vampire into the mix.”
With his Vampire hearing, he caught the sound of her heart skipping a beat and a slight intake of breath.
“Who told you a thing like that?” she asked.
He turned dramatically and bowed. “You did. Just now.”
Blue squared her shoulders, not revealing her obvious disdain for his abilities. “Then perhaps you should have a little compassion for the next person, given you know what it feels like to be the outcast. We’re guarded around you, that’s all. It’s nothing personal, I—”
“Don’t trust my kind,” he finished in a flat tone.
Her shoulders sagged. “I haven’t always approved of Viktor’s choices, but I’ve never tried to force his hand. I trust him with my life. Do you want to know what really took me by surprise? When he didn’t invite Raven back for another chance after she led us to you. She impressed him, but something tells me that you had an influence on his decision, forcing him to choose between someone he trusts and a rogue with potential.” Blue turned her back on him, loosening her hair from the bun. “Careful what you do with that power, Christian. Someday Viktor might lose his trust in you because of it.”
Blue strode out the door and left him alone.
“Women,” he murmured, stalking in the opposite direction.
He picked up a few wrappers and matchsticks along the way, tossing them into the nearest wastebasket. Shepherd smoked and threw his bloody matches all over the place. Christian had half a mind to glue each one he found to Shepherd’s bedroom door.
He descended the stairs until he reached the ground floor. It seemed unusually quiet as he approached the stairwell to the underground gym. Christian hadn’t expected to warm up to the little scavenger, but as he reflected upon the past two weeks, he realized that he was going to miss their sarcastic repartee. He’d never much cared for a woman who spoke profanities—although she wasn’t excessive with them—but Raven was different than most of the women he’d known. She was confident, strong, and clever. She didn’t let personal feelings get in the way of what she wanted, and she had better survival skills than some of the most qualified bodyguards he’d met. Christian didn’t look at her as an object of affection, but an equal.
Or at least hehad, until their kiss.
While her leaping into his arms had taken him by surprise, it wasn’t nearly as startling as his reaction to her walking away. True, a little ego was involved, and when he sensed her indifferent response, he impulsively wanted to do something that would leave her breathless. But the moment he’d felt her body flush against his—Mother of God, the woman hadn’t a clue that her kiss could set Hell on fire.
And Christian had kissed many women—enough that he often preferred to get down to business rather than wasting time on all the licking and sucking.
He’d thought about their kiss often, rewinding to the moment when she’d turned and their lips met, remembering how stunned he’d been since she had professed nothing but hate for Vampires. Raven had a decadent taste, soft skin, and she knew exactly what to do with those lips. She kissed him as though she were starving for him.
While they both tried to pretend it had never happened, it made their training sessions brutally uncomfortable for him. She avoided eye contact and held back on some of her usual quips. Was she ashamed? It made him even more adamant about getting her out of the house.
He entered the training facility and scanned the empty room. Niko looked like a statue in the center, sitting on the floor with his eyes closed.
Christian rocked on his heels. “Let me guess, she decided to skip the afternoon session.”
Niko retained his perfect posture. “She never showed up.”
Christian cocked his head and gave him a peevish glance. “Don’t be daft. Of course she showed up.”
Niko drew in a deep breath and rose to his feet, stretching his neck and arms. “Viktor won’t allow her to make up for the time lost. It appears we’ve seen the last of Raven Black.”
Christian seized Niko’s arm when he walked by him. “You’re telling me she didn’t show up all day? Not even a phone call?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“And you don’t find that the least bit suspicious?”
Niko pulled out of his grasp and straightened his black T-shirt. “She’s not a predictable woman. Maybe she’s afraid of your scrubbing her memory, so she decided to leave town. I’ve spent hours considering different scenarios, and that’s the most logical conclusion. What more could she gain in one day? She knew she wasn’t going to leave this house with her memory intact.”
