“What on?—”
“I don’t have time for this. I have information on Duke’s associates who appear to be actively surveilling you and your family. Do you or do you not want this information?”
There was a brief pause. “Hold on.”
Checking the time, Sloane ground his teeth. He needed to be out of the city before sunrise, and every minute that dragged by away from Cecilia made his physical discomfort worse. He imagined it was something like withdrawal. Despite his helmet’s filter, he’d still been exposed to her pheromones enough that the Pull clawed at him, little by little, until there was no part of him untouched by desire.
And he just…missedher.
Just when he was beginning to debate giving up on helping Dahlia and her criminal, the sound of a door opening came through the line.
“Felix,” Dahlia hissed, “we have a situation.”
“What’s wrong?” That was undoubtedly Felix.
Speaking closer to the phone, Dahlia informed him, “I’m putting you on speaker,friend.Felix, this is Cecilia’s?—”
“Mate,” Sloane cut in, a deep, elvish growl in his voice. “I’m her mate.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure about that one,” she continued, apparently unbothered by the clear warning. “But he’s claiming he has information on a threat and he wants to talk to you.”
Felix’s voice got closer. “You the guy that killed Duke?”
Sloane flexed his claws. “Yes.”
“Did he die badly?”
A grim smile curled his lips. “Yes.”
Felix chuckled. “Good work.”
“I’m aware.”
The vampire made a thoughtful sound. Speaking in a deceptively pleasant voice, he asked, “Do I get to know your name, killer? Since we’re apparently family and all.”
“We are not family,” Sloane corrected him.
Dahlia snapped, “Listen, weirdo: if you’re claiming you’re my best friend’s husband, then you better fucking believe we’re family. Cece is the closest thing to a sister I have and I’ll break every bone in your fucking body if you?—”
“Cece already informed me of the consequences of harming her,” he broke in impatiently. “The only reason I’m calling is to protect her and by extensionyou.And the only reason I’m discussing this with a criminal is because you have ties to the threat and can more effectively eliminate them.”
Felix’s tone changed from pleasant to businesslike in an instant. “I’m listening.”
Sloane clicked through the surveillance photos on the screen. “You’re being watched by one of Duke’s associates. He was dispatched from here to track Dahlia and await further orders. He appeared to be Duke’s right hand man, but as of his last messages does not seem to know that his boss is missing.”
“What happened with Cece?” Dahlia demanded. “If he sent someone to watch us and you felt the need to kill him, it must’ve been bad. Tell me what happened.”
He didn’t respond right away. Sloane had to weigh whether Cecilia would be upset or not before he eventually decided it was worth the risk.
“Duke and two other vampires followed her home, broke in, threatened her, and beat her. Duke claimed he was owed compensation for the death of his brother and that taking Cece’slife was an even exchange. Obviously, I eliminated them, but I need to be sure that no one — this associate included — will seek retribution.”
Two sharp intakes of air came through the line. Dahlia’s voice seemed a little farther away when she breathed, “Oh gods, I’m gonna throw up. No wonder she didn’t want to tell me. Felix?—”
Muttering, her vampire soothed, “She’s okay. You talked to her, remember?”
Some foreign thing in Sloane that felt suspiciously close to compassion compelled him to add, “She’s safe with me now.”
“You take care of Cece,” Felix said, “and we’ll handle Duke’s man. Send me everything you have.”
