My gaze swung around to the vampire, who moved forward, as though he was going to stand with me…
Tucker smoothly skirted to the side, putting some distance between us. Cool air filled in the space where his body had been pressed up against mine, although it did nothing to douse the red-hot embarrassment burning in my cheeks.
“I told you she was around here somewhere,” he murmured.
The words weren’t unexpected, but they flew over me like a swarm of yellow jackets stinging my heart over and over again. I’d thought—hoped—that Tucker was genuinely attracted to me, that he was truly, fully on my side, but it seemed as though I was wrong about that.
“Yes, you did,” Clyde replied. “I had no idea you were planning a little treat for yourself before we got down to business, but I do admire a man who can multitask.”
He leered at me, just like the three giants were still doing. The embarrassment burning in my cheeks and the rest of my body abruptly chilled, morphing into razors of icy rage. I seized on to the emotion, using that cold, sharp pain to ground myself.
“Now what?” I asked in a snide voice. “Going to try to buy my shipping yard again?”
“Nah,” Clyde replied. “I’m done asking nicely. You’re too stupid and stubborn to cash out and walk away, so I’m just going to take what I want. The way I should have all along.”
He raised his hand, and the gun in his fingers glinted under the soft lights. Clyde grinned, thinking he was in complete control of the situation, but the weapon didn’t overly concern me. I could always use my metal magic to wrench the gun out of his hand before he could shoot me with it.
After that, well, I wasn’t quite sure what would happen, but I wasn’t scared. Like I’d told Tucker on the street the other day, I’d only ever been afraid of two people in my entire life. My father and my brother weren’t around to terrorize me anymore, and I would be happy to add Clyde O’Neal and his men to the list of my dead enemies.
Clyde waggled the gun at me. “Let’s take a walk.”
To my surprise, Tucker held his arm out to me. “Ms. Parker, if you will be so kind as to let me escort you,” he murmured in a cool, polite voice, as if we hadn’t been making out just a few minutes ago.
I threaded my arm through his, then gave him a smile that was all teeth. “Why, Mr. Tucker, I would be delighted as always.”
He winced at my harsh, accusing tone, but he didn’t say anything as he led me across the bathroom and out the opposite door, with Clyde and his three giants following along behind us.
We steppedinto another empty corridor. By this point, we were on the opposite side of the resort from the ballroom, and I couldn’t even hear the murmur of the party music anymore.
“Take her outside,” Clyde ordered behind us.
Tucker opened a nearby door, and we stepped onto an enormous gray stone terrace that jutted out from the back of the resort. Several Adirondack chairs were arranged around firepits where folks could sit and roast marshmallows and the like, while a set of wide, shallow stairs zigzagged down the steep slope to a flat area that was a popular picnic spot during the warmer months. But tonight everything was crusted with snow, and icicles longer than my fingers hung like jagged teeth off the edge of the resort roof above, as well as the stone railing that cordoned off the terrace from the open air below.
Tucker led me over to one side of the terrace. Clyde eyed us a moment, as if making certain that I wasn’t going to try to run, then started talking to his men. Given the wind gusting around the terrace, I couldn’t make out their low words, but I doubted Clyde was telling the giants to take me back inside. More likely, they were discussing what to do with my body after they killed me.
That wasn’t going to happen, and I was going to enjoy showing Clyde what a fatal mistake he’d made by targeting me. But first, I needed to know whose side Tucker was truly on. I still thought—hoped—that it was mine, but I could never be certain of anything when it came to the mysterious, mercurial vampire. It was one of the many things that made him so annoying, frustrating, and fascinating.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. “Please don’t tell me you’ve actually thrown your lot in with this crew. After working for Mason Mitchell, this would be a serious step down for you, as far as bad guys go.”
“I wasn’t aware there were echelons of evil in Ashland,” Tucker quipped.
I snorted. “Please. We both know there aretotallyechelons of evil in Ashland and that Clyde O’Neal is nowhere near the top of the food chain. So my question remains the same: what are you doing?”
“Trying to help you, despite how annoying, frustrating, and stubborn you’re being,” he grumbled in a low voice only I could hear.
I arched an eyebrow. “So now I’m annoying, frustrating,andstubborn? Excellent. Let’s see if we can add a few more adjectives to that list before the night is through.”
Tucker sighed and rolled his eyes upward, as if asking some higher power for the patience to deal with me. “And I thought Gin had reckless tendencies. You have her beat all to pieces, Ms. Parker.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Tucker. What can I say? I tend to react badly when someone tries to bully me and take what’s mine.”
Clyde finished his conversation with his men and stepped back over to us. He looked me up and down, but this time, his gaze was more thoughtful than lecherous. After a few seconds of silent contemplation, he shook his head, as though disappointed by what he saw.
“I still can’t believe you killed Raymond Pike.”
His words punched me in the chest, and all the air rushed out of my lungs. Out of all the things he could have said, out of all the names he could have dropped, I hadneverexpected him to mention my brother.
My arm slid free of Tucker’s, and I swayed on my feet before I was able to steady myself. “How did you know Raymond?”
