“Nathan will see you back to the city,” Liam said into the silence.
I started, my attention spinning back to him. What? This little jaunt had taken up all of twenty minutes of my time. That couldn’t be all he wanted.
“That’s it?” I asked, not believing him.“That’s what you wanted?”
“It is,” he said. He moved past me, his smell wrapping around me.“Now, don’t you wish you’d accepted the money for this request instead of having me force your compliance?”
I stiffened, my feet stuck in place, and fought to keep my expression emotionless as a cold feeling invaded. I wasn’t getting paid. That should have occurred to me. For some reason, it hadn’t.
That was just ducky. My chances of making rent were getting smaller and smaller. I might have to take the sphinx’s job after all.
His smile widened just a touch as if he could sense my thoughts.
I gave him a superior look as I sauntered past him.“I don’t know. Twenty minutes to knock a night’s debt off doesn’t seem like too bad a trade to me.”
I didn’t wait for his response, heading for the foyer. The loss of a night’s income burned, but redeeming one of the nights I owed for such a small price was almost worth it.
My victory was short-lived as my stomach clenched painfully. My steps hesitated as I fought the urge to double over. Pain and nausea swamped me.
Nathan’s concoction had lasted longer than the normal blood I drank, but not long enough. My body was getting ready to purge it from my system.
I gritted my teeth, touching the wall for balance. Not if I could help it.
I breathed slowly for several seconds, conscious of Liam at my back, watching, learning. If he’d been concerned before, I didn’t want to think how he would react if he knew how much troubleI’d been having keeping blood down. I could kiss any autonomy and my non-biting days goodbye.
He seemed to have appointed himself my keeper/guardian, and he took his duties very seriously.
“Something is wrong,” he said, coming around me and peering at my face.
I forced myself to straighten and gave him a cocky smile. Everything was fine and dandy. If I kept telling myself that, maybe one of these days my body would actually listen.
“Nothing wrong here. I just got myself a free night,” I said, moving around him.
Nathan was waiting for me in the foyer when I got there.
“Let’s go,” I said, moving past him.
His gaze lifted above my head.
“Aileen.” Liam’s voice held a note of warning.
My hand was already on the doorknob and turning it. I fought to keep from groaning even as my stomach cramped again. In retrospect, taunting him had probably not been my best idea. Had I let him have the last word, he might have never witnessed that moment of weakness in the hall.
The door creaked open as I turned and gave him an expectant look. His attention locked above my left shoulder as an emotion crossed his face that made the breath in me still. It was full of a naked yearning, the breadth and intensity of which was scorching.
I turned to see what had caught his attention outside and caught the briefest glimpse of white before it disappeared into the dark.
To Eric, he said,“Go.”
Eric moved past me, disappearing into the trees almost faster than I could see.
I turned back, a question on my lips. Liam’s closed off expression stopped me.
“See her home,” Liam ordered Nathan, his focus already returning to the trees.
It wasn’t lost on me something had just happened. He’d heard or seen something that had stopped him from saying whatever was in his mind.
This was Liam. Badass vampire. Dangerous enforcer. He could kill more easily than most people breathed. What had caused that reaction?
