He shrugs. “You could say that.”
“What does that mean?” I hiss.
Another shrug from the red-haired vampire. “Sometimes they ask me to take care of pesky problems, and if those pesky problems happen to have a lot of money, they wire the money to themselves.”
My mouth falls open.
“What?” He smiles innocently. “I still only kill bad guys. Don’t look at me like I kicked your puppy.”
In my time chatting with Zav, they’ve finished up onstage, and the music starts up once more. Couples descend onto the dance floor, and Valen is quick to tug me to join the fray.
Despite knowing that I should be keeping a lookout for anyone suspicious, I allow myself to enjoy being in Valen’s arms.
“I don’t really know this kind of dancing,” I confess.
“I’ve got you,” he croons. “Just follow my lead.”
I let Valen sweep me along the dance floor with practiced ease, and I think I fall a little more in love with him.
When the song ends, another begins immediately after, and Valen easily alters our dance for the new song.
He smiles down at me, opening his mouth to say something.
That’s when the lights cut out.
And a moment later, screams fill the room.
CHAPTER 58
AVA
Valen’s gripon me tightens, and my heart stutters. A chill works its way through the room, and I shudder at the malevolent energy it holds.
“What’s happening? Can you spot anyone?” I ask and try to look around. It’s so dark I can’t see shit, but Valen should be able to.
Valen hisses through his teeth, and I feel the swish of his body as he looks side to side. The thudding of feet and screams have made things more than a little disorienting.
“Too hard to tell right now. Stay close to me,” Valen says as he attempts to pull me toward the outskirts of the ballroom.
“Wait!” I yell above the chaos. “What about the others?” In my initial shock, I forgot we weren’t near them since we were dancing.
“They can take care of themselves. We planned for something like this and agreed to protect our respective mates,”Valen explains. I stop resisting and allow him to pull me away, but not without worry.
I almost trip over a fallen hors d’oeuvres tray, based on the clinking sound and the squish of food beneath my feet, but Valen keeps me upright. The urgency in which he pulls me isn’t typical, and I know he’s trying to be careful while getting me out of harm’s way. The problem is, we don’t know exactly what danger we’re fleeing from or where it’s even coming from.
“I see Zav and Celine. Come on,” Valen urges and I follow blindly.
“Ava, is that you?” Celine calls and I use my arms to feel out in front of me. I hit the pearls along her sleeves and sigh in relief.
“Are you okay?” Zav asks in a tone that’s the most serious I’ve ever heard from him.
I nod and Valen grunts in reply. “You?”
“We’re good. For now,” Celine answers. “But I can’t see shit.”
“And neither can I,” Zav grumbles. “Stupid, no good, shitty eyesight.”
I feel her shaking slightly beneath me and my heart goes out to her. She and Valen must be terrified right now, more so than us, due to trauma of their kidnapping.
