Page 23 of Wicked Bite
I curled my hand into a fist. “Who hurt her?”
Dice stepped back and looked me up and down. “Protective. I approve.”
“Who, Dice?” I ground my teeth together and felt my fangs sharpening in my mouth. Someone would die tonight if they weren’t careful.
“Jeezzz, no one.” She sighed. “It was an accident. She fell.”
I sucked in a breath trying to let go of the violence that my blood called for. It was unusual for me to react in such a way. Normally, I didn’t fret about things. How intriguing.
“Is she on the mend then?”
She paused, seeming to debate something within herself. She sagged and blew out a breath. “Yeah, she’s okay.”
“I have to see her.” It wasn’t a request.
“I’m sure you do.” She shook her head. “Roll of the dice. Always right.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world.” I was nearly two hundred years old. Time had different meanings. I could play young and impatient, or old with infinite time to give. I pulled up a chair and folded my hands.
She looked from my hands to my face and back again. “Seriously?”
“Every day, really, until I’ve spoken to her.” I gave her a tight-lipped smile. “I could call Sav to join me.”
She groaned. “Fine, hold on.”
When she pulled out her phone, I smirked to myself. Her fingers flew over the screen as she typed up a text. “You know I don’t like you.”
“I know.”
“Guys who ghost suck.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
She looked up from her phone. “But I like the protective action over Piper, so I’m willing to give you a second chance.”
I gave her a single nod. “I appreciate that.”
“You’re shady.” She leaned on the bar and pointed her finger in my face. “And I don’t trust shady motherfuckers. But she likes you despite her better judgement. And believe me, I don’t think she should. I don’t think you deserve her. And if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and make you regret it.”
“Quite the impactful statement indeed.”
She moved in even closer and crooked her finger to get me to move closer. I leaned in and she caught my eye. “There are bodies they still haven’t found. Make no mistake: yours could be one of them, too.”
“Understood.” It wasn’t the first time, or the last, I would be threatened by a woman of power. When Dice glared at me, I believed she was telling the truth. There would be a string of bodies all around her if need be.
She glanced down at her phone and sighed once more. “She’ll see you. Her picker is definitely broken.”
I hopped off the chair to my feet. “Not when it comes to me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right.”
“I look forward to proving you wrong, love.”
“I’m sure you won’t.” She glanced at her phone. “She’ll meet you outside, lover boy. Don’t let me down.”
