Page 49 of Wake the Dream

Kieran’s eyes widened. “And ta-da, we have an address!”

Chapter 12

Kieran

Kieran’s hips achedlike he’d spent more than half of his life behind the wheel of his car. The same car he found himself in currently. And he’d gotten quite used to the sight of Illaria sitting in the passenger seat. He might as well make her an honorary deputy. She looked like she belonged there, a light to his darkness, her moon-colored hair catching the midmorning sun.

He liked it a lot, Kieran realized with a start. He’d gotten used to turning and seeing her, seeing the way the sunlight caressed the delicate planes of her jaw. Of the way she folded her hands on her lap or absently toyed with the ends of her hair.

Yes, he would be pretty upset if something happened to her. Which meant even though she didn’t want to listen to him, in this case he’d be pretty adamant about her safety. Especially considering she was not a part of the official investigation, and he could get in a good bit of trouble for bringing her along.

“When we get there, I want you to follow my lead. I want you to hang back,” he warned, splitting his attention between her and the road.

She swiveled around to stare at him with narrowed eyes. Kieran wasn’t fazed by the look. He recognized it now. Knew to anticipate it whenever he challenged her.

“I don’t like being told what to do,” she said.

“Well, he knows your scent. He knew your relationship to Yelena. Which means we need to be careful dealing with the daytime caretaker if we want information without the whole nest becoming involved. Besides, vamps can get a little testy if you wake them up in the middle of the day. They tend to go for the jugular. Quite literally. I’ve seen it done before and it’s never pretty. I don’t want him going for yours, my dear.”

She settled on the seat with a tiny smile. One she didn’t want him to see but didn’t exactly hide, either. “I like knowing you’re worried about me.”

“There’s a lot of extra paperwork if you get killed on the job,” he told her with a wink. “I’m not a fan of paperwork. I have more important things to do with my time.”

She laughed at the joke, as he intended, despite whatever nerves she felt.

He wouldn’t dream of leaving her alone. She’d do something stupid, like try to sneak into the vamp nest without his knowledge. Better to keep her where he could see her, especially considering the dangers present. Dangers, sure, but better to engage during the day instead of when the moon rose high and the vampires were at the height of their powers. He wanted information without the threat of death, if possible.

“Is there something you can do?” he asked absently. “To change your scent, I mean. I don’t want any of his cronies getting a whiff of you once we step over the threshold. Vampires are hive creatures. Once one wakes, the rest probably will as well.”

“Not really, no. It’s not my kind of magic. And we know I can do so little.” She fiddled with her hair, uneasy discussing the way her magic had begun to fizzle out. “How many will we be dealing with?”

Kieran tried to remember what he’d read, thinking himself prepared. His mind had been elsewhere. Distracted. “In this coven? There are ten, although not all of them may be present. Is coven the right word for a gathering of vampires? Murder, maybe...no, those are crows. I’m confused.”

“You’ve got a lot of research to do, Shanahan.”

That was the crazy thing. He’d done his research. But nothing seemed to stick in his head. Not when he caught sight of her. When she touched him, he lost whatever sense he had.

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