I’d believe Inara and Lowen played a part in this before I would him.
Those two were always a little sketchy, and their motives for clinging to me were still unknown.
Inara said someone asked her to keep an eye on me. But was that really true? It was hard to believe the pixies would go so far as a favor.
I suspected they had their own reasons for staying close to me. Personal reasons that I was too lazy to figure out.
Still, I doubted either would work with a hunter to accomplish their objective.
I shook my head, dismissing my complicated thoughts. Stressing about this wasn’t going to get me answers. I was betting the individual responsible would reveal themselves on their own. Probably at the worst possible moment.
I swiped the photograph, schedule and blank piece of paper off the bar. “Keep this to yourself for now. I don’t want anyone knowing I may be the target again.”
As if one stalker, a la an ancient vampire who’d sired my line, wasn’t bad enough.
Caroline retreated a tiny step as if to put distance between me and her. “I think it’s a little too late for that.”
“Yes, lover,” Liam purred, the sound sending a jolt of heat and adrenaline through my system. “The wolf is correct. It is far too late.”
I froze, my back to him as I faced the bar. In my head, I silently cursed. So much for keeping a lid on things until I could get a handle on it.
“Liam—so good of you to join us.” I put the brightest smile I could muster on my face as I twisted to face him, acting like I hadn’t just been caught red handed trying to hide something from him. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“So, I see.”
“You didn’t answer your phone,” I offered, his expression making me feel a little guilty at my attempted deception.
“I was occupied.”
I’d forgotten what an intimidating bastard he was when he wanted to be. I stood there, trying not to let nerves get the best of me.
Liam’s gaze dropped to the paper I still held. “You were being followed.”
“It would seem so,” I said, knowing there was no point trying to hide it now.
“You were supposed to be keeping a low profile.” A storm was building on his face. His control slipped, his fury showing for a split second before his mask slammed back into place, hiding all those messy emotions.
“I was,” I agreed.
“This is not low profile,A stór,” Liam growled.
“He has a point, Lena,” Caroline murmured beside me.
Liam’s eyes blazed with anger as they locked on her. “Stay out of this, wolf.”
Caroline bristled, her eyes bleeding to amber. “Or what?”
I stepped between them before either could do something I would regret. “That’s enough, Liam. This isn’t her fault.”
It wasn’t mine either, but I didn’t say that.
Emotion wasn’t always logical. For vampires especially.
Right now, Liam was locked in that male over-protective mindset and looking to blame someone for what he was feeling. Caroline made an easy target.
A whistle dispelled the building tension as Nathan sauntered into the room. His eyes bugged out at the sight of the corpse on the ceiling. “Aileen, what the fuck? How could you exclude me? You know how much I love massacres.”
Anton’s entrance was silent as he ignored Nathan’s ridiculousness to prowl over to the body.
