“The satchel of money. Good thing I set some aside for the hotel.”
“Do you think she skipped town? Maybe that’s why she needed all that cash.”
“I couldn’t say.”
“What the hell happened to the TV?” Crush set the box on the dresser and looked at the smashed screen.
“If he’s gonna stay with us, he’ll need something to watch,” I said.
“For feck’s sake. Prop him by the window. There’s plenty of action outside.”
“Get the one out of Viktor’s room. He doesn’t watch TV—or so he claims. Unless someone has Lenore’s key.”
He cupped my head in his hands. “Are you all right?”
My head throbbed as if someone had struck me with a baseball bat. My eyes burned, my veins were pulsing, and I’d never felt more exhausted. “I need to lie down.”
“Do you want Lenore’s old room? I can get another key.”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing will make me sleepier than hearing my father laughing at some stupid comedy. Thanks for bringing him. I left one of the men alive, but it doesn’t matter now. Sparrow saw me. If he had gone after my father—”
“Worry not, lass. I’ll go down and tell Viktor that Sparrow saw you. And if anyone has a problem with your da being here, they can take it up with me.”
“We need to keep him here, and he can’t go outside. Not even to walk Harley.” I lowered my gaze. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I did to one of the Vampires.”
“You mean survive? You must always do whatever it takes to gain control of a situation. We’ve had this conversation before. I don’t need to know. That’s not what we’re about.”
I swung my gaze up. “You’re not even curious about the details?”
Grinding up against the Vampire wasn’t exactly cheating, but it seemed like something Christian should know. I’d lured many a man to his death with seduction, but now I felt riddled with guilt.
His hands swept over my shoulders. “You’re alive, and that’s all that matters. Well, half-alive. Whenever we get back home, we’ll work on it in the training room. You have limitations because of your Breed, but you also have advantages. You’re young, and you’re relying on maneuvers that worked in the past. Nothing wrong with that. But whenever you’re in a tussle and reach for familiar tools, we’ll reenact it in the training room. It takes decades to refine one’s talents and learn new tactics. If you had two Vampires in the room, that complicates matters. I don’t know how we’ll re-create that exactly, but I’ll do my best. Though, to be honest, you don’t seem to need much help.”
I flicked a glance at the ghost behind him who had on nothing but his underwear. “Is there anything you want to tell me aboutyourmission?”
He put his arms down. “Can’t say there is. Niko and I completed the task without a hitch.”
“So you didn’t have to do anything… regrettable?”
“That’s an odd question.”
When Crush looked like he was about to attempt an impossible repair on the broken TV, I nudged Christian toward the door. He stole a kiss before disappearing out of sight.
CHAPTER19
Istretched across the sheets and blinked awake. I could sense it was midafternoon. The TV was on, but my father wasn’t in his bed. When I sat up, I flinched at the sight of Harley sitting at the foot of my bed. I waved my arm around, and he somewhat followed it. Could he see my aura? If I didn’t carry a smell, he wouldn’t know me from the mailman.
“Hey, boy. Do you remember me? I look different, don’t I?”
“Ruff,” he replied.
I thought my father was in the bathroom, but when the main door opened, I jumped to my feet. “You’re not supposed to leave the room!”
He ambled past me with a roll of newspaper. I watched him spread out the classifieds in the far-left corner. He must have been doing that for Harley to go on.
I scribbled on a notepad and then tapped him on the shoulder. When my hand went through him, I waved the paper in front of his face.
Crush clutched his chest and shot back as if a rattlesnake had bitten him. “Jesus, girl! Don’t do that again.” He snatched the paper and gave the side-eye in my direction. “We need a better system. All that paper floating around makes me feel like I’m in a horror movie. And this hotel doesn’t help.” He read the note and then flicked it on the bed. “Your toothy friend wasn’t around, so I had to go myself. Unless you want Harley shitting all over the floor.”
