Page 51 of Shadow Hunter

“Calling him. What else would I be doing?”

Damon buried his face in his hand. What in the world would he ever do with her? He sighed. “Tiffany Solow, only you would place an ancient vampire on speed dial.”

11

There was nothing like a master vampire to go with your brand-new stilettos. Tiffany balanced on one lone shoe, her other braced against the Dumpster outside the club. She patted the panic button strapped to her inner thigh one more time to make sure it was securely in place before she handed her weapons over to Damon and rearranged her shawl.

Without a word, they walked to the entrance of the alleyway. Around the corner was the entrance to Cha^teau Blanc, one of the trendiest restaurants in town. With her budget, she had never eaten there before, but she’d heard the place was excellent, and thank God Damon—and the E.U.—had loads of extra cash to buy her a nice dress for the occasion.

“You look good enough to eat,” Damon whispered from behind her, the heat of his breath on her neck hardening her nipples to taut peaks. She fought back a smile. Screw him and the sexual dominion he had over her. “But try not to entice the monster too much, okay?”

She inhaled a deep breath, then glanced over her shoulder one last time, expecting to see Damon encouraging her on, butalready he’d disappeared into the night, the shadows seeming to swallow him whole.

“I fucking hate when you do that!” she called into the dark, certain he’d hear her.

She was certain she didn’t imagine the dark chuckle she heard in the distant shadows.

Steeling herself for the evening, she swallowed the lump in her throat, heading toward the restaurant. She felt naked without her weapons by her side.

Damon was right. Facing a vampire unarmed was light-years different from having a stake at your side. Even if she wanted to, there was nothing she could fight with now. But Caius had never scared her before, and she wasn’t about to allow him to scare her now. And all emotions aside, she knew Damon would protect her.

This was a chance to prove herself.

To show she could be something more than just Mark’s baby sister.

She exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, increasing her pace a little. There wasn’t any time to waste. A master vampire was waiting for her.

She wrapped her shawl more tightly around her shoulders and entered the restaurant. The soft sounds of melodic piano music carried to her ears amidst the murmurs of the demure dining couples. The dim lighting hit her cocktail dress at the perfect angle, and the midnight-blue material glittered through the dark.

Her stomach growled as the smells of lobster bisque, baked bread and fresh herbs filled her nose. Vampire hunter or not, for a broke-ass college student who subsisted on a diet mainly made up PB&J sandwiches, microwave macaroni and cheese, and chicken-flavored ramen noodles, divine didn’t even begin to cover the nose-gasm she was having.

A handsome restaurant host in a nicely pressed suit cleared his throat. “Are you meeting someone, miss?”

She eyed the layout of the restaurant.

Well, damn.

The only entrance was the door she’d just came through. There wasn’t even a single emergency exit visible. There had to be a way out, though. The law required it. She searched, eyes combing the restaurant, before she saw the Emergency Exit sign right above the kitchen door. Inconvenient, but not worth abandoning the opportunity. Come hell or high water, Damon would figure out how to slip inside the building undetected if necessary.

And where was Caius?

She had just started to look for him when the host cleared his throat again. “Miss?”

She snapped to attention. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m meeting Mr. Dermokai—”

The name hadn’t even escaped her lips before the host’s eyes widened, and he swept his arm out in a welcoming gesture. “My apologies, madam. Right this way.” He hopped to as if someone had lit a fire under his ass and poured gasoline on it, any hint of his earlier haughtiness gone. She glided across the restaurant behind him.

At least she hoped she was gliding. Heels were not her thing.

Her heart beat hard as the restaurant host led her toward the far corner of the restaurant.

Shit.

Privacy was not what she wanted with Caius—at least, not now. She had agreed to have dinner with him before he escorted her to a private location for feeding.

They were supposed to have been in plain view. Not this.

Tiffany schooled her features into place, trying to hide her shock at the change in plans. Caius’s ill-temper and inflatedego needed stroking and removing himself from the public eye clashed with that deep-seated need.Thiswas not his usual style. She’d hoped he hadn’t sensed something different about their interaction, wasn’t somehow onto their plans, and yet, she was unable to contact Damon to even give him a heads-up.

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