Nick pinched himself. Yes, he was awake, although he would have loved to believe this was a nightmare. The guy was buck-naked and looked mad as hell. Even from his current position peeking around a doorway from a room up the hall, Nick could sense the menace rolling off the guy in the way his shoulders and back tensed. The owl-man turned a gravely serious expression on Rowan, the firelight casting deep shadows over his face.
“Michael, what are you doing here?” Rowan said through her teeth.
“Well, well, well.” The naked man scanned Rowan, his lips bending into a scowl. “It seems you weren’t that hard to find after all. I always knew this place was your favorite.”
Michael… Nick knew that voice. He’d heard it earlier that night. This was Verinetti. He gave the guy a quick once-over.Fuck. This was Rowan’s ex-boyfriend? A shape-shifter with a body like a pro athlete who owned one of the hottest clubs in town and could fly by her window anytime he wanted to? Nick ground his teeth.
“Congratulations, you found me.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t hiding.”
“Do you have any idea what kind of damage you caused tonight?” Michael snapped.
Nick’s fingers tightened around his gun. Nobody should talk to Rowan like that. He didn’t care who or what this guy was.
“This isn’t a good time,” Rowan said. “You need to leave.” She placed her hands on her hips and spread her wings menacingly. A jealous twinge constricted Nick’s chest. He didn’t want a jerk like Verinetti to see her wings.
Michael rolled his eyes and swaggered toward the fire without an ounce of shame over his nakedness as far as Nick could see. The shifter took a deep breath through his nose before speaking. “Have I interrupted your playtime with the human? I saw the two of you dancing together on the security video, and then, later, in the auction house. Nick Grandstaff, detective NYPD.”
Nick’s spine stiffened.
“He has nothing to do with this.”
“Then you won’t mind if I disembowel him for what the two of you did to me tonight. Four vampires injured. The entire coven thinks Wicked Divine is a security risk. Do you have any idea how much money you might have cost me?”
“Might have?”
He turned cold, dark eyes her way. “I was able to contain the problem. All I had to do was promise the coven master the head of the one who did this.”
She growled. “You’re fooling yourself if you think I’m going to let you have my head.”
“Not yours, Rowan. I hidyourimage on the security feed.”
“What about the detective?”
Michael turned from the fire, shadows dancing across his naked form. “Come now. Even I have limitations. The detective was visible for far longer than you. The coven would have noticed. Besides, he’s the perfect scapegoat. Turn him over to me, I’ll hand him off to the vampires, and all will be forgiven.” His voice was low, soft, and threatening as hell.
“No.” The syllable came out through Rowan’s clenched teeth.
That seemed to surprise Michael. He tucked his chin and raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. You’re protecting the human. Don’t tell me that little dance was a sign of a greater affection.”
Nick’s heart pounded. What would she say? He hoped to God he was more to her than one dance, but he wouldn’t blame her for denying it to this asshole. She hadn’t known Nick long enough for him to expect her to put herself on the line for him.
“The human ismine,” Rowan said with a growl that rattled the walls. “My bonded servant. You cannot have him.”
Nick’s eyebrows shot up so fast it almost hurt. Bondedservant? Hers? He caught himself grinning, then pulled his stupid ego out of the stratosphere. They barely knew each other. He certainly was not hers or her servant. He didn’t belong to anyone. Although he couldn’t deny he’d like to try out being each other’s sometime soon.
“Oh? Look at you, all… protective.” If the way Michael was baring his teeth was any indication, he was not happy with this revelation. “Someone needs to pay for tonight, Rowan. I must return the man to the coven master or there will be hell to pay.”
“Must you?”
“Are you suggesting I lie to the master of the NAVAK coven?”
“You already did for me, didn’t you?”
He looked at his nails. “It’s a huge risk. Vampires can smell a lie. It’s one thing to make sixty seconds of digital video disappear. An entirely different thing to look Malvern in the face and tell him I have no idea who the human is. I do know who he is: his name, address, job, and, as it appears, his lover.” Michael’s gaze raked over her in a way that made Nick’s skin crawl.
“Tell him you’re following up on a lead. That’s true and will buy us time.”
He lowered his chin. “Diversion will only last so long. Malvern is going to expect results. He won’t go away until he has his pound of flesh.”
