“He’s right. Thanks for the heads up, but the matter is closed,” Brax said.
“Eric.” Liam nodded and turned away as his goon grabbed me in a grip every bit as confining as his had been.
With no choice but to go or risk being dragged, I followed the guard, shooting a glare behind me. The two men who thought it was appropriate to send me away without even a pat on the back for giving them information had their heads bent together as they discussed whatever it was they were meeting for. Neither looked up as the door closed behind us.
I quickly found myself sitting inside a black escalade with the brunette guard beside me. Every time I shifted, he tensed as if he was getting ready to tackle me.
“How long have you been a vampire?”
No answer.
“You been in Columbus long?”
It was like listening to crickets.
“So you kidnap women often?” I asked.
He didn’t respond, not even to shoot me a glance.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
My conversational gambits tapped out, we lapsed back in silence.
The time passed slowly as we waited. Liam and the blond appeared from around the corner.
The man next to me climbed out and the three conferred before the blond slid into the passenger seat and the man who’d been guarding me headed for the driver’s. Liam climbed in next to me.
“Find out anything useful?” I asked in a fake chipper voice.
“I learned plenty.”
I liked it better when he and Brax had been at each other throats.
“You planning to share?”
“Not really. It’s better if you focus on the task I gave you.”
Because that was likely to happen. Arrogant, arrogant man.
It was tempting to hold back what the witches had told me. I meant to say this in front of Brax as well, but I’d been hauled out before I could get the words out.
“The witches think what’s happening in the city might be the cause of demon taint.”
I still wasn’t too sure what exactly that meant, but it seemed important.
Liam stilled, as if the world had hit pause on him. There was no movement. No breath. He was like a painting. Only a lot more 3D. I eyed him. Was this a natural response as a vampire? If so, that was another thing I hadn’t quite got the hang of.
“That is helpful information.”
How? How was it helpful? It was like I was blindfolded in the dark and being directed by someone who said to turn right, no left, no straight. I kept barking my shins on things I couldn’t see and all I needed was for Liam to untie the damn blindfold.
“Don’t suppose you’ll tell me what’s so helpful about it.”
“No.” His voice was crisp and invited no argument.
I thought as much.
“You make it incredibly hard to trust you,” I said. Not to mention all his secrets frustrated the hell out of me. I was curious by nature and having this mystery hanging just outside my reach was driving me batty.
