“Are you thinking of turning them in?”
Tak adjusted his braid. “I don’t want anyone focusing on Salem’s history. It would ruin his reputation in this town. I can protect my pack from enemies but not town gossip. I have all I need.” He leaned down and narrowed his eyes at the Vampire.“I’d like nothing more than to gut you with my tribal knife, but I have work to do, and you’re going to give us more information. Aren’t you?”
Atticus tilted his head, still holding the Vampire’s mind. “Might I borrow your knife?”
Tak removed the dagger affixed to his belt and turned it around, offering the handle to him. “Don’t get blood on Mercy’s desk. There’s a roll of plastic just outside the room on the right-hand shelf. Let me know when you’re done.”
Atticus raised his hand to get Tak’s attention before he stepped out. “You might want to turn the music on lest you frighten the women.”
“I’ve got just the song.”
Atticus planned to extract as much information as he could before finishing the guy off the way he deserved. Tak’s heavy footfalls ascended the steps and crossed the house. Moments later, a male singer whispered, “Let the bodies hit the floor” and then screamed through the speakers, rattling the ceiling.
Atticus tuned out the music and carved a bloody trail in the Vampire’s cheek. “Now, where were we?”
Chapter 16
The baby’s constant kicking kept me up all night, and not even knitting could relax me. I wondered if Atticus had made it home from his errands and gone to bed, but I didn’t know where his bedroom was located. I wondered if he even had a bedroom or owned a bed. What would be the point?
Of course he does, silly. Sleeping isn’t the only thing a person does in bed. Maybe he keeps all his mirrors on the ceiling so he can watch himself having sex. But wait, he said he didn’t bring people home. Where does he go? A hotel? Why am I thinking about his sex life?
I secured the belt on my pink floral robe and padded down the stairs. Atticus had left me prepared meals, and I heated up one for dinner. The caviar was tempting, but since Milly’d warned me about sodium, I chose fruit for dessert. Now it was past midnight, and I was debating on a late-night snack.
Motion-activated lights flicked on at every turn, one on each step of the stairs. Given he could see in pitch-black, he must have installed them for me.
I suddenly forgot which way led to the kitchen. “Is this what they call ‘pregnancy brain’?”
When I passed a hallway bathroom on the right, I ducked inside to use it. Even his bathrooms had fancy fixtures and counters. Immortals often bought gems, gold, real estate, and historical artifacts as a financial investment for the future. The value of the dollar fluctuated, and most of us didn’t get involved with the human stock market. While this home was certainly an investment, he must have been awfully lonely, even for a man who enjoyed the quiet.
I stared in the mirror at my plump cheeks. The pack had been making sure I ate since finding out about the baby, and it showed.
The bathroom was unusually balmy and smelled of soap. While I washed my hands, my blood curdled at the sight of blood smeared on the sink basin. I turned and looked around the room but didn’t see anything else unusual, so I dried my hands and stepped back into the hall.
“Atticus?” I clutched my elbows and stared into the darkness.
“What can I do for you?”
I jumped and whirled around.
One of his motion-activated night-lights blinked on right next to him. Atticus stood at the end of the hallway just as still as one of his statues, and it sent a chill up my spine.
“What are you doing down here, Miss Lockwood?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Are you cold?”
“Why would you ask that?”
He canted his head. “The way you’re holding yourself.”
Engulfed by a stretch of silence, I found my words, but my voice trembled like a leaf. “Why is there blood in the bathroom?”
“I’m sorry I was late. Your pack caught one of the Vampires and summoned me to assist them.”
The security light clicked off.
I lurched forward. “Why didn’t you say anything? Are they okay? What happened? Please tell me. Is Salem…?”
