“There’s a bright side to the fact that my boyfriend could be seduced into cheating on me against his will?”
“If it does work, Sam will end her. The bitch will be gone, and you’ll never have to deal with her again.”
“Sam wouldn’t kill her.” My smile was feral. “You can’t kill someone who’s already dead.” If Gina succeeded in seducing Salem, the bitch was mine.
Laughing, Fletcher pinched my cheek gently. “I often forget that behind this innocent exterior lies a bloodthirsty banshee. The contrast is fascinating.”
“Well thanks. Now let’s move on from this rather depressing subject and I’ll go try on all this stuff.”
“We haven’t been to the lingerie department yet.”
“Lingerie? Sam was right – you know no boundaries. I love it.”
(Salem)
For the second time over the past few evenings, I was summoned to Sam and Jared’s office. This time, only the pair was inside.
“I take it this is about Will.”
Sam nodded. “I had Ryder scan his mind.”
“I’m surprised Will agreed to that.” He’d always been very secretive and cautious.
“He wasn’t happy about it, but he couldn’t say no, since he needed to prove that what he knew was worth anything.”
“What exactly was his information?”
It was Jared who answered. “Much like Marge, he doesn’t recall the woman or even remember how he came to work for her, but he once met with her assistants without her. Their appearance match the silhouettes in Marge’s mind of the woman’s ‘lackeys’.”
“Does he know their names?”
“Unfortunately, no,” mumbled Sam. “But the conversation he had with them was interesting. They referred to the woman as their Maker. That means she has a nest of some size, so we’re not dealing with a few rogue Pagoris working alone. Also, the blokes were smartly dressed and rode in a Mercedes. These vampires aren’t like my old Sire, struggling to have money, power, and influence. They already have it. People like that can’t keep a very low profile.”
Jared stuffed his hands in the pockets of his knee-length leather jacket. “When Will asked them why she wasn’t present for a meeting, they responded with: ‘she’s visiting her Sire in Manhattan’.”
“All of that will definitely help the researchers narrow down their search,” I mused, but I wasn’t as appreciative as I should have been. A part of me had selfishly hoped Will had been lying and would be quickly sent home.
“You’re disappointed,” observed Jared.
“Gina’s going to make things hard for Ava.”
Sam snorted. “She’ll try. There isn’t a person on this island who won’t jump to Ava’s defence, if necessary. Not that Ava needs anyone to defend her in any way. I’m willing to bet she can handle that petty little bitch quite well.”
“I agree. I’d just prefer it if she didn’t have to.” I turned to leave, only to have Sam speak again.
“One more thing. I agreed for Will and his two chosen vampires to come here. But I didn’t promise that they’d live.”
Jared smiled. “She leaves a loophole in every promise.”
I nodded. “I’ll remember that.”
Sure that Ava would have returned from her shopping spree by now, I made my way to her apartment. She was chatting on her cell phone when she opened the door. Her welcoming smile hit me right in the groin. I couldn’t resist planting a brief kiss on her very tempting mouth. As a gesture of invitation, she moved aside to let me pass, mouthing ‘Cristiano’.
I hated that asshole. Mostly because he’d warned me away from Ava; even went as far as to conjure a knife and hold it to my throat. So I’d effortlessly wrestled it out of his hand and flung it aside before ordering the useless bag of shit to stay out of my fucking business.
As Ava babbled about the brothel-situation to Cristiano, who had apparently seen Sam and Jared’s announcement on V-Tube, I walked into the living area. I would have taken a seat on the sofa if it wasn’t for the fact that there was no space. “That’s a lot of bags.”
“What? Um, yeah, that was Salem you heard. Why is he in my apartment?” She began worrying her bottom lip, looking panicked. “Um. Well…that’s kind of a long story.”
I heard Cristiano then: “Tell me you’re not seeing that psycho! Didn’t I warn you to stay clear of him?”
She bristled. “I’m not sure I like your tone.”
“Jesus, Ava, are you fucking clueless?”
I snatched the cell from her. “Hello Cristiano,” I drawled. My voice sounded dangerous even to me, which was most likely why Ava made a try for the phone. I dodged her move, shaking my head. That didn’t stop her from lunging for it again.
“You’d better have a damn good platonic reason why you’re in my sister’s apartment.”
“Really? I’m devastated that I can’t provide you with one.”
“You fucking psychopathic bastard!”
“There’s no need for that kind of language.”
“I told you not to touch her!”
“And I told you this has nothing to do with you,” I stated firmly, voice hard.
“It has everything to do with me!”
“Wrong. What happens between me and Ava is our business.”
A growl. “End it! She can do better than a born killer!”
“I won’t dispute that she can do better. But I can’t and won’t give you what you want. Ava’s mine.” She was also amusingly hanging from my arm, doing her best to reach for the phone. I transferred it to my other hand, earning myself a smack on the chest.
“You’ll hurt her –”
A spike of anger shot through my system. “That’s one thing I’d never do.” Apparently there was enough conviction in that statement that not even Cristiano would doubt it, because he instantly quieted.
When he spoke again, his voice was calmer. “Put Ava back on the phone.”
“All right. But if I hear you trying to talk her into walking away from me, I’ll end the call.”
“Interfering bastard,” he muttered.
I grunted. “So she often tells me.” I held out the phone, and she grabbed it with a haughty sniff before backing away.
Her voice was quiet and hesitant. “Hello?”
“Are you sure about this, Ava?”
She looked at me for a long moment before answering. “Yes.”
Good, because she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Why couldn’t you have picked someone…sane?”
She smiled. “He has lucid moments, though they’re few and far between. And he’s a warm, cuddly bear at heart.”
I arched a reproachful brow as I advanced on her. She backed up, giggling. “You’ll pay for that, Ava.”
“What did he say?”
Still backing away, she giggled again. “Nothing. Look, I’m going to have to go.”
“Wait, I’m not –”
I struck quickly, snatching the phone and ending the call. “Warm and cuddly? I don’t fucking think so.”
“The land of denial is a toxic place to live.” She squealed as I suddenly slung her over my shoulder and began striding toward the bedroom. A giggle burst out of her as she demanded, “What are you doing?”
“Demonstrating that I may be many things, but cuddly isn’t one of them.” I dumped her on the bed, and she squealed again. I stared at her, lips pursed. “I wonder if I can get you to make that noise when I’m inside you. Let’s find out.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
(Ava)
“So let me get this straight.” I placed my empty NST bottle on the counter in front of me as I leaned forward in the breakfast stool. We’d migrated into his apartment just before dawn, since he hadn’t wanted to sleep in a bed adorned with pink, glittery covers. “You not only want me to give up my apartment and move in here, but you want me to do it tonight?”
Salem didn’t even look up from his breakfast. “Yep.” To him, this was a foregone conclusi
on.
It truly was a shame that I couldn’t reach far enough with my legs to kick him under the counter. “No.”
That made his head snap up. “Why?”
With anyone else, it would have been easy to explain – mostly because it was totally obvious. Our relationship was a few nights old; it made sense to give it some time before taking such a big step. But Salem didn’t think like other people. He didn’t think in terms of what was normal or what was reasonable to others. He thought in terms of what he wanted and what made sense to him.
To Salem, it made absolutely perfect sense for me to move in here. It wasn’t even arrogance. It was that he genuinely didn’t see the problem. “Look, I can’t just give up my apartment.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know for sure that our relationship will be a permanent thing.”
“Yes, we do.” Like it would be achieved by the power of his formidable will.
“Just because you want it to be permanent doesn’t mean that it will be.”
“Yes, it does.”
I suppressed the urge to bang my head on the counter. “Life isn’t full of guarantees. There’s always a possibility that we could mess this up.”
“No, there isn’t.” He punctuated that by shoving a forkful of egg into his mouth.
This time, I didn’t suppress the urge to bang my head on the counter. In fact, I did it three times; all the while digging deep – really, really deep – for patience. I didn’t find any. “It would be stupid to rush things.”
“Rush? This thing between us started three months ago.”
“Yeah, in your head.”
His brow very slowly slid up. “Are you saying it didn’t?”
“I’m saying that you like to think I’ve been yours all this time because you’re ridiculously possessive.” I wagged a finger. “Having someone blow hot and cold with me for three months does not constitute a relationship in Ava’s world.”
“That wasn’t me blowing hot and cold. That was me fighting with myself.” He took a sip of his coffee-flavoured NST. “In any case, it doesn’t change the fact that what’s between us all began the minute you arrived on the island. This was inevitable, Ava. It was just a matter of us both accepting it.”
“I’m willing to concede that this has been building between us for a while. But I don’t see how this means we should push things. No, we should wait; get to know each other better.” And slowly get him used to my hyper ways.
“We’ve spent the past few months doing that.”
“I would have thought the last thing you wanted was to share your personal space with anyone.” The guy was just so cagey and private.
He pushed aside his empty plate. “You’re not ‘anyone’. You’re Ava. You’re mine. You belong here, with me.”
The girly part of me actually liked the caveman thing, which was severely frowned upon by the independent woman in me. “Look, we shouldn’t try to sing before we can talk, or we could fuck things up.”
“Isn’t the phrase ‘don’t try to walk before you can crawl’?”
“Not when I say it.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up into a quarter of a smile. “Why fight me on something you want as much as I do? And you do want it.”
“Because, as I’ve already explained numerous times, it’s too early in the relationship for this.” I jerked in surprise as he suddenly appeared at my side in less than the time it took to blink.
Swerving my stool to face him, he cupped my chin, pinning me with his frustrated gaze. “You’re talking like this is one of your casual flings, Ava. It’s not. It’s far from fucking casual.”
“I never said it wasn’t.”
“You gave yourself to me. What’s more serious than that?”
“I’m not saying this isn’t serious –”
“You knew how tight I’d hold you. You knew just how possessive and domineering I’d be.” Releasing my chin, he cocked his head. “How old are you, Ava? Human and vampire years in total.”
I shifted in my seat, suddenly and inexplicably feeling a little defensive. “Twenty-eight.”
“So young.” He ran the tip of his finger from my temple to my jawline. “I’ve walked this Earth for over eighty years. When you reach that age, when you have such a long history of memories, experiences, mistakes, and regrets, it’s much easier to be introspective. Much easier to know what you really want, just how important it is. And just how hard you’ll fight to keep it. We take it for granted that the people around us will always be there. That’s not how it works.”
“You lost someone very close to you.” This was the grief that Fletcher had mentioned.
“One minute someone’s there, the next minute they’re gone. Just like that.” He clicked his fingers. “You and I both have very dangerous jobs. Jobs that can take us away from each other so very, very easily.”
I understood what he was getting at. If something happened to him in the future, if I lost him, I would feel that I had wasted time with the whole ‘let’s wait a while and see how things go’. And I would hate that I’d wasted it.
Fletcher hadn’t been wrong when he said that Salem wouldn’t be an easy person to be with, that he was darkly possessive. But then, I’d already known that. Known that I’d thrown myself in the deep end with someone who would demand everything from me, who would become my second skin if I let him. It would have been scary if it wasn’t for that odd ability he had to make me feel safe.
Even now, with him looming over me, tension radiating from him, and his face a mask of frustration and torment, I felt safe. I also felt myself losing the battle to be mad at him. How could I, when there was no much pain in his eyes? I wanted it gone.
Slumping in my stool, I sighed in defeat. “You’re good at this.”
“What?”
“Getting your way.”
The shadows left his eyes and his mouth curved into a full smile. I nearly fell off the stool in shock. Moving to stand between my legs, he threaded his fingers through my hair. “Remember that next time you think about fighting me on something.”
I snorted, amused. “You’d be bored if I always let you have your own way.” I wanted to ask him about the loss he’d hinted at. But I didn’t want to dig up the pain again, didn’t want to lose that panty-dropping smile. I’d shelve my questions for now.
“You could never bore me.” His mouth was mere inches from mine when there was a knock at the door. My entire body seemed to sigh in disappointment. “Later,” he promised me with a growl.
I followed him out of the room, expecting it to be Will, or maybe even Gina. As such, I was surprised to see Sam and Jared at the door. “Evening,” Sam greeted with a smile as she entered. Salem and Jared exchanged curt nods.
“We stopped by your apartment first,” Sam told me. “When you didn’t answer, we figured you’d be here.”
They’d been looking for me? A lifetime habit kicked in, urging me to instantly declare…“It wasn’t me. I wasn’t there. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She chuckled. “You’re not in any kind of trouble. If you were, you’d probably be able to use that sweet, innocent face of yours to get out of it. We just have some questions that we hope you can answer.”
“Oh. Not a problem, then.”
Salem came to my side, curling his fingers possessively around my wrist. “What’s going on?”
“Like Sam said, we just have some questions for Ava.” Jared’s intense, hazel gaze then locked on me – it was hard not to squirm. “When we were in the brothel, the demon we found in the attic mentioned The Underground. You knew what she meant.” I nodded. “So you know about demons?”
“A little. One of the people I was friends with when I was human…Well, it turned out she was a demon. I didn’t find out until after I Turned. Since I was preternatural too, she felt comfortable enough to reveal what she was.”
Salem spoke to Jared then. “Why the interest in demons?”
“An hour ago, we were contacted by a vampire from Sebastian’s line,” he replied. “He was instructed to pass us a message from a demon named Knox Thorne.” Jared looked at me. “You know him?”
“I wouldn’t say I know him. I met him once, but we didn’t really talk much. My friend belonged to his lair before she mated into another one, so I saw him at the celebration of her mating.”
“Well, it seems that the demon who was held captive in the brothel belongs to Thorne’s lair.”
“What was the message?” Salem asked Jared.
“Thorne wants to meet with us. According to the messenger, the guy’s pissed and he wants to know about the vampires behind the existence of the brothel.”
Sam’s expression was grim. “We can’t afford to give him any intel. It’s one thing for us to track and destroy the bitch as punishment. But if another species was to attack her, the woman’s entire line would want to retaliate, despite that she deserves whatever comes her way.”
Jared nodded. “If a war then begins, we’ll be forced to choose a side. I wouldn’t want to defend her, but it wouldn’t be good to side with demons over our own kind. We’d no longer be trusted to protect vampirekind.”
“A war between vampires and demons could even make other preternatural species nervous and worry they’re next,” Salem pointed out. “They could decide to attack us first, considering it the best form of defence.”
“Exactly,” said Sam. “We’ve agreed to meet with Thorne. If we hadn’t, it would not only have been considered an insult, but it would have made him think that we aren’t taking all this seriously. The problem is that I don’t know much about demons, and I don’t want to go in there blind. All I could find out about Knox Thorne is that he’s a ruthless businessman who runs a chain of hotels, casinos, restaurants, and nightclubs.”
“He wants us to meet him at one of his hotels,” revealed Jared. “But we need to know what we’re dealing with here. Demons are pretty insular and private – it’s hard to understand them. The last thing I would have expected to learn was that a demon is a fucking billionaire who mingles in perfectly with unsuspecting humans.”