He took a deep breath, and I could see him fight for control over his primal, predatory side. The man had power in spades, and the more time I spent with him, the more I could see it.
He stuck out his hand. “I really have no choice, but it would be a shame to hold back on one of the most enjoyable parts of feeding.”
“Ew.” I didn’t have to pretend to grimace this time, but I shook his hand anyway. “Don’t say feeding. The idea of me being food is not pleasant.”
“Would you like to sleep in my bed?”
I paused in my shake and yanked my hand back, my mouth open and my eyes wide. “Really?You couldn’t even wait until after we finished shaking hands to start that up?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” He held up his hands in surrender. “For warmth and companionship. I am offering closeness.”
“That wasn’t even a good save.” I pushed him backinto his room. “Hopefully, we’ll make it back before you need blood.”
“If that’s what you wish.”
“I wish that, yes. You know, I’m not sure I get this new Darius. A soft spot on you is about as comforting as a brown spot on white carpet. I don’t know how it got there, I don’t know exactly what it is, but I’m expecting the worst.”
He took a few steps back, giving me that danged teasing smile as he stepped from my room into his. This was a cat-and-mouse game, and I was way too stupid to play. It was a humbling situation.
“Good night. Or…good day, I guess. G’day. Mate.” My Australian accent was the pits. “Anyway. See ya.” I waved and moved to shut the door.
“Please engage the enhanced protections against the sun in your room,” he said before I had the door completely closed. “As a special favor to me. If you are in danger for any reason, I don’t want to fight the sun when joining the battle.”
“Fair enough, but don’t be creepy. Don’t sneak in here, stand at the foot of my bed, and stare at me. I will firebomb you so fast you won’t have time to dodge.”
“Noted. And Reagan?”
I sighed, keeping the door open a crack. “Yup?”
“I apologize in advance.”
“For what?” I asked, knowing there were eighthundred things he should probably apologize in advance for, and they all centered around that blood draw.
“I will find out who that vampire was, and kill him. I will not be able to live with the knowledge that another of my kind has consumed your blood.”
I blinked a few times. “I’m not sure what to say. Please don’t? That’s insane? You have lost it, my friend, and need professional help?”
“If it makes you feel any better, I will blame it on the shifters so it does not come back to you or me.”
“That does not make me feel better, no. Don’t do either of those things. That’s lunacy, Darius. Seriously, you’ve gone off the deep end, and it isn’t good news.” He winked at me and moved to close the door from his side. “Don’t you dare! We need to talk about this—”
I surged forward, and got a door shut in my face. The deadbolt clicked over.
“Are you serious?” I wiggled the handle on basic principle. I thought about forcing the issue, but I was tired, and it wouldn’t do much good anyway. Still, he should probably know what he was up against. “In the event that you don’t have a personality change,anotherpersonality change, I should say, I will most likely kick down this door before this case is resolved,” I yelled. “Know that.”
I paused, listening. There was a random buzzing noise from something electronic across the room, butthat was it. He didn’t plan on yelling back at me through the door. I would say he was taking the high road, but he’d just informed me that he planned on killing a stranger just because one time, a while ago, I’d had a fling. Like…what?
He had definitely gone insane. That couldn’t be good.
I headed to the bathroom and took a shower. I needed some sleep, and then tomorrow, I needed to find a mage without alerting his demon friend to my presence in the Pacific Northwest. I’d certainly had worse ideas than taking this case, but at that moment I couldn’t think of one.
“A little late, Reagan,” I muttered to myself.
Chapter Thirteen
My boots squeaked on the floor of the police station. The large space was quiet, those with regular office shifts having likely gone home. A check-in desk spread out in front of Darius and me, and the woman sitting there had her eyes downcast at her work.
I’d decided Callie and Dizzy hadn’t needed to come along since I wasn’t sure what, if anything, I’d find on this first leg. This gave them time to accost that poor, untrained mage we’d found after the last battle a couple months before. That mage lived in a small town somewhere outside of Seattle, and little though she knew it, she would soon get two bullies on her doorstep. Dizzy might seem nice, but that was because he was the good cop.
