“Lair? Really?”
My attempt at humor passed over his head.
Deborah raised her hand. “If we’re taking a vote, mine is to remain here. This is a good location. It’ll be hard to find anything that fits our needs so well.”
She had a point. Given my struggle to find a place before this one was forced in my lap, I knew how difficult the real estate market was. We’d never find another house this perfect.
“I’ll talk to Thomas,” I promised them.
Maybe our sire could reason with Ahrun. Tell him what a bad idea it was for him and Connor to bunk under the same roof. Even better, maybe he could get the ancient to go away entirely.
Some of Connor’s stiffness faded and he nodded in reluctant agreement.
I touched his shoulder in comfort before the three of us focused on Inara and our guest.
Instinct told me it was Baran that we had on our couch. I had no idea why, since he and Breandan looked identical, but that’s the name that stuck.
This close up he looked even worse than he had in the ravine. Blood leaked from a slash across one shoulder. Another ran the length of his torso. A third wound split the side of his leg.
I was betting they were courtesy of a sword or some other bladed weapon.
He also had puncture marks in the opposite shoulder that showed signs of tearing. As if an animal had latched on and shook its head to do as much damage as possible.
Seeing he was beginning to wake, I waited until his eyes focused on me. “Hey there, sleeping beauty. Welcome back to the land of the living. You ready to tell me why you were in my woods being chased by a bunch of assassins?”
four
As the moments tickedpast and there was no answer, my frown grew. “Crickets? Really? That’s what you’re going to give me?”
I’ll admit I wasn’t as familiar with the Lucies as I was vampire enforcers, but from the way Connor reacted to their presence, I could tell they weren’t your regular run of the mill killers for hire. These were dangerous people we were dealing with, and we’d gone toe-to-toe with them.
They’d be back. Likely in force. I’d like to have an idea as to why before that happened.
“Inara,” I demanded.
She wasn’t really going to do this, was she?
My friend glanced uncertainly in Baran’s direction, the two sharing a look before Inara’s face filled with resolve.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked in disbelief. “Inara, come on. This is me. Whatever trouble you’re in, I can help you.”
Even if we hadn’t developed a quasi-friendship, I would have put it all on the line. I owed it to her for all the times she’d saved my ass.
Inara gave a tiny shake of her head. “Sorry, Aileen. Not this time.”
Unbelievable.
“That’s it? After we just saved both your asses, that’s all you have to say?”
To her credit, Inara looked a tiny bit regretful as she faced me. “It’s best if you don’t get involved.”
“Best for who?”
Not me. That was for sure. I knew firsthand the damage I could do wandering around blindfolded. Half my too-stupid-to-live decisions were due to a lack of knowledge about a situation.
Whether she liked it or not, I was already in this. She should know me well enough by now to realize that I wasn’t going to walk away. Not when a friend of mine was in danger.
Inara’s wings fluttered, an instinctive movement despite the flash of pain I could see the action caused her.
