Jade,Belfry breathed in my mind.This is bad. He’s a vampire.A vampire? That sounded really bad, but I shouldn’t be surprised that someone else was pulling David’s strings. This had to be the buyer he’d been talking about last night. I kept my face slack, eyes half-lidded, praying my breathing sounded convincingly groggy.
David folded his arms, and his suit creaked because the fabric was so stiff. “I told you she’d wake up eventually,” he said with that same smug, snide tone I was used to hearing from him. Even with his new employer in tow, he could not keep a lid on his ego.
The other man smiled at me, and creases at the corners of his eyes gave him a shockingly kind expression. It was so sudden—that transformation—that I struggled to make sense of it. That was not a kind smile, but the one a predator used to placate the prey he was toying with. “Ms. Whitaker. I’m so glad you’re conscious.” His voice was smooth, cultured. “I represent Sunworld Corporation.”
Well, that explained a lot. Wasn’t that the company that had been buying up property in Hillcrest Hollow? I had heard Luther talk about it, and Gwen had once complained that they couldn’t fix up more of the town because most of it was no longer theirs. A corporation with connections to Hillcrest Hollow would have a vested interest in anything related to the Galamut.
“I’m going to make you a fantastic deal,” he continued pleasantly. “All you need to do is tell me where the book is and where your partner has gone.” So, they didn’t know where Luther had gone. That was good, very good. They didn’t have the book either, and that was even better. That meant I had leverage.
I laughed softly, but it hurt, pain lancing through my jaw and arrowing along the side of my head. “You’re assuming I know either of those things.” And I didn’t, I truly didn’t. If I were Luther, I would have made sure that book was safe, untraceable. After that… yeah, I was pretty sure he was on the hunt. I actually felt a little calmer when I considered that; I just needed to hang in there, and he’d find me.
David scowled and moved in, leaning over me in what was probably meant to be threatening. I didn’t have it in me to feel more fear than I already did. Even if he’d punched me, he wasstill the least threatening of the two. “Don’t play games…” he warned.
“Let her,” the other guy said, amused, but the kind that was cold and mean. The crinkles around his eyes weren’t even that kind-looking anymore. They made me think of the talons of crows, and now I better understood why they called them crow’s feet to begin with. The man’s gaze sharpened on me, and I had to curb the impulse to squirm. “Please. Go on.” It was an invitation and a trap in one.
I hesitated, then tilted my head as best I could so I could meet his gaze head-on. “Maybe I got double-crossed. Maybe I’m tired of being the junior partner who does the work while the men make the deals.” I smiled thinly. “Cut David and Luther out, and maybe I help you.” Perhaps he’d buy it, sharks like this believed anyone would choose what was best for them. He would expect it, find it familiar, at least, that’s what I hoped.
David spluttered in shock, and I gave him a triumphant grin. I would never betray Luther, obviously, but him? In a heartbeat. “You can’t be serious…” he said, and his gaze went from me to the Sunworld representative.
The vampire laughed, genuine delight flickering across his face. “Oh, this is interesting.” He considered me for a long moment, his head cocked at an angle, and his dark eyes assessing me as if he thought I might be lying. I was, but I hoped he didn’t figure that out. “I’ll have to think about that. You should do the same—think carefully about your circumstances.”
Then he turned and walked back up the stairs. David followed, shooting me a venomous look before the door closed anddarkness reclaimed the room. I sagged against the chair, breath shaking. That had been a close call, and I tried not to think about how deadly this could turn. I’d never so much as heard Luther mention drinking blood from a person directly. He’d shown me his supply of packaged blood in the storage basement below his store. This guy? I had a feeling he was more of a “direct-from-the-source” type, and I really didn’t want him to consider me a meal on legs.
“If ever there was a time for you to prove you can breathe fire,” I whispered, “now is it.” It was the only option. Belfry couldn’t open the window to get help, so I had to do it for him. I wasn’t sure if I’d survive another round with the Sunworld rep; he was such a cold shark that it terrified me to even think of seeing him again.
Belfry peeked out from behind a stack of rotting baskets on the shelf across from my uncomfortable wooden seat.I don’t breathe fire,he said, denying the very thing he’d bragged about from the moment I’d met him. I could have taken that answer as an admission of the truth, but I didn’t. I’d seen that puff of smoke. Back then, I’d chosen to believe it was a trick of the eye, but right now, I needed very much to believe that it wasn’t.
“You’re a magical bat familiar,” I said. “Now would be a great time to start. You can do it, Belfry. I know you can.” I shifted awkwardly in my chair to raise my hands a little, painfully tied behind my back as they were. Once I was free, I could open the window and let him out.
He hovered closer, eyes huge.I could burn you.That sounded less like a denial and more like an admission. Hope surged through me, yes! He could do it!
“I know,” I said softly. “It’s the only way.” It would hurt like hell if his flames licked my skin, especially the fragile skin on my wrists. It was a price I was willing to pay. We couldn’t sit on our asses and wait; we had to do something.
He swallowed, then flew to my wrists, clinging to the rope. A moment later, heat bloomed, searing, sharp, unforgiving. I bit down on a scream as pain lanced through me, the smell of scorched fiber filling the air. Not just fiber, but something that smelled shockingly good, considering it was my own skin that was burning. It made my stomach twist in horror.
Almost,Belfry squeaked desperately. The rope snapped. I gasped, hands free, skin screaming but functional. There was no time to cry; I bolted for the window, fingers clumsy as I fumbled with the latch. It gave with a metallic click, and I shoved it open to the pale morning.
“Go,” I hissed. “Find Luther. Get help.” I pointed with one hand out the now-open window, too small for me to possibly slip through myself, but definitely big enough for a tiny bat like Belfry. I tried very hard not to take notice of the red blisters on my skin. If I did, I knew it would hurt worse.
I won’t leave you…Belfry protested fiercely, desperately. He landed on my jacket lapel to press his snout to the good side of my chin.Please, Jade. That vampire is dangerous.I knew that, and that’s why he needed to go find our own dangerous vampire.
Footsteps thundered above, fast this time. They sounded alarmed, and I knew they were coming for me. Somehow, they’d either sensed the window opening or smelled the stench of burned flesh and rope. “Go!” I snapped, and I bodily pickedBelfry up and shoved him out the window. He shot through the opening, a dark blur against the light, and vanished. I turned just as the basement door opened again.
The vampire from Sunworld descended alone, his gaze flicking to the open window. “Too small for you,” he said mildly. Then his eyes dropped to the burned rope. “But that’s fascinating. How did you manage that?”
I lifted my chin, every nerve screaming in pain and fear, and met his gaze. “I’m not telling you anything.”
Chapter 28
Luther
The room was wrong. I knew it the instant I stepped inside. Jade’s scent should have been everywhere, warm skin, soap, paper and ink, the faint spark of her mind when she thought too hard. Belfry’s sharp little presence should have buzzed along the ceiling; he always felt bottled up, unable to leave the room (but only because he didn’t want to run into any other familiars). There was nothing.
The silence cut through me like a blade. I crossed the room in three strides, tore back the curtains, scanned the bathroom, the closet, nothing. No Jade. No bat. There was no trace, except the echo of fear clawing up my spine.
“No,” I breathed. The word shattered into a roar that ripped out of me, ancient and unrestrained. Agony tore through my chest, white-hot and blinding. The bond screamed, then collapsed into nothing when I reached for it, a yawning void where her presence should have been. I bent double, hands braced on the desk, fighting the urge to tear the building apart, stone by stone.
Focus. I spun and tore from the room, the door slamming hard enough to crack the frame behind me. Guests shrank back as I hit the corridor at speed, fury rolling off me in waves. I thundered down the stairs to the foyer in record time, frantic, frenzied. Casting my gaze wide as I searched for any sign of her, hope dashing when she was not in the boutique, nor at the front desk or the bar.
