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Authors: Jeaniene Frost
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letting Denise pick through your property for a bloke that I’ll leave with, no questions asked, if she finds who she’s looking for.”
Ian’s brows went up. “Do I get to know what this person did?”
Spade’s smile was more a baring of teeth. “No. You don’t.”
He’ll never go for it , Denise thought, seeing the craftiness flit across Ian’s features. But then the other vampire smiled back.
“I do love that house, Charles. Done.”
Denise let out her breath, relieved and guilt-ridden at the same time. Now she could add a house and a boat to what it cost Spade to help her, all because she manipulated him. She had to find a way to pay him back, even if it meant making installments for the next thirty years.
Ian stretched. “You’re welcome to start with who I’ve got in the house and work your way from there. I don’t need to tell you how far-flung some of my people are, but I’ll put the word out that they’re to give you their full cooperation.”
“And you won’t mention you recognized the human I’m traveling with,” Spade added, his voice steely.
Ian’s gaze slid over Denise in a way that made her feel like she’d somehow lost all her clothes. “No, but it’ll be interesting to see how long you can keep this a secret. Need a place to stay while you’re in town?”
“Thank you, I’ve made arrangements elsewhere,” Spade replied, to Denise’s relief. The sooner they were away from Ian, the better. He was handsome, but there was something openly cold and ruthless about him. Without even realizing it, she found herself inching closer to Spade. Let’s look at his people and get the hell out of here.
As if Spade had heard her mental directive, he took her hand. “Ian, if you’ll direct us?”
Fifteen minutes later, Denise was cursing to herself in frustration. Out of the dozen men, human and otherwise, who lived at Ian’s house, none was Nathanial. How long before Raum became impatient and started threatening her family again? Or how long before the demon marks manifested more dramatically in her? Right now, the only changes she’d noticed were an increasingly short temper and constant hunger, but she knew that was just the beginning. How long did she have before the marks turned her into the same sort of monster Raum was?
“Tell whoever you’ve got in the area to meet you at the Crimson Fountain tonight,” Spade said to Ian as they made their way out. “It’ll give us a chance to look at more of them without arousing suspicion.”
Ian cast another speculative look at Denise before nodding. “I had other plans, but this situation piques my interest. I’ll see you there, mate.”
Denise waited until they were miles away from Ian’s before she spoke. “I’m so sorry about your house. Please , let me reimburse you. I have a 401(k) I can tap into—”
“No.” The single word was crisp. Spade didn’t even look away from the road when he said it.
“But this isn’t what I intended!” she exclaimed, the tension from the past several days sharpening her voice.
Spade looked at her, briefly but thoroughly. “You had no idea what this would entail when you involved me, but I did, and I agreed nonetheless.”
More guilt piled onto her. This was wrong. So wrong. “What if it takes months to find him?”
She couldn’t bear the thought, but the initial, naïve assumption she’d had that she could quickly find Nathanial if she just had an in with the vampire world had been shattered. Spade had thousands of people in his line. How many other Master vampires had thousands of people spread out all over the world?
“Then it takes months to find him,” Spade replied, no emotion in his tone. “I’m in this to the end, as I promised.”
And she might not have months before she became a monster. Her former feeling of helplessness turned to anger. When she did find Nathanial, she’d make him pay for what he’d put her, her family, and Spade through.
Then the hatred
Ian’s brows went up. “Do I get to know what this person did?”
Spade’s smile was more a baring of teeth. “No. You don’t.”
He’ll never go for it , Denise thought, seeing the craftiness flit across Ian’s features. But then the other vampire smiled back.
“I do love that house, Charles. Done.”
Denise let out her breath, relieved and guilt-ridden at the same time. Now she could add a house and a boat to what it cost Spade to help her, all because she manipulated him. She had to find a way to pay him back, even if it meant making installments for the next thirty years.
Ian stretched. “You’re welcome to start with who I’ve got in the house and work your way from there. I don’t need to tell you how far-flung some of my people are, but I’ll put the word out that they’re to give you their full cooperation.”
“And you won’t mention you recognized the human I’m traveling with,” Spade added, his voice steely.
Ian’s gaze slid over Denise in a way that made her feel like she’d somehow lost all her clothes. “No, but it’ll be interesting to see how long you can keep this a secret. Need a place to stay while you’re in town?”
“Thank you, I’ve made arrangements elsewhere,” Spade replied, to Denise’s relief. The sooner they were away from Ian, the better. He was handsome, but there was something openly cold and ruthless about him. Without even realizing it, she found herself inching closer to Spade. Let’s look at his people and get the hell out of here.
As if Spade had heard her mental directive, he took her hand. “Ian, if you’ll direct us?”
Fifteen minutes later, Denise was cursing to herself in frustration. Out of the dozen men, human and otherwise, who lived at Ian’s house, none was Nathanial. How long before Raum became impatient and started threatening her family again? Or how long before the demon marks manifested more dramatically in her? Right now, the only changes she’d noticed were an increasingly short temper and constant hunger, but she knew that was just the beginning. How long did she have before the marks turned her into the same sort of monster Raum was?
“Tell whoever you’ve got in the area to meet you at the Crimson Fountain tonight,” Spade said to Ian as they made their way out. “It’ll give us a chance to look at more of them without arousing suspicion.”
Ian cast another speculative look at Denise before nodding. “I had other plans, but this situation piques my interest. I’ll see you there, mate.”
Denise waited until they were miles away from Ian’s before she spoke. “I’m so sorry about your house. Please , let me reimburse you. I have a 401(k) I can tap into—”
“No.” The single word was crisp. Spade didn’t even look away from the road when he said it.
“But this isn’t what I intended!” she exclaimed, the tension from the past several days sharpening her voice.
Spade looked at her, briefly but thoroughly. “You had no idea what this would entail when you involved me, but I did, and I agreed nonetheless.”
More guilt piled onto her. This was wrong. So wrong. “What if it takes months to find him?”
She couldn’t bear the thought, but the initial, naïve assumption she’d had that she could quickly find Nathanial if she just had an in with the vampire world had been shattered. Spade had thousands of people in his line. How many other Master vampires had thousands of people spread out all over the world?
“Then it takes months to find him,” Spade replied, no emotion in his tone. “I’m in this to the end, as I promised.”
And she might not have months before she became a monster. Her former feeling of helplessness turned to anger. When she did find Nathanial, she’d make him pay for what he’d put her, her family, and Spade through.
Then the hatred
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