Page 18 of Bishop's Flight
“Yes.” Four more nights. Three more days. “We don’t have much time.”
“We have to split up,” Brigid said. “I’ll keep talking with the lad’s friends and work the other casinos. Luckily this place runs on a twenty-four-hour clock. Lucas’s guard Miguel is gonna take me to the casino where the car show was held last weekend.”
“You think the lies she told might be grounded in some truth?” Carwyn nodded. “Very possible. I’m going to call Gavin and find out what clubs in Las Vegas Zasha Sokholov might find attractive. Bernard is coming with me.”
“Does Gavin have a club here?”
“He has two.” Carwyn tucked the photos of Lucas in Brigid’s file next to the screenshots Lee printed out. “He’ll know the atmosphere of the clubs here—it’s a shortcut to figure out where Zasha might like to drink.”
“Take a picture of the girl.” Brigid shoved one in his front pocket. “Show it around the clubs. Zasha might have shown her off or even lent her out if they were feeling like an arsehole.”
“Which they are.”
“Exactly.”
He caught her wrist as she started to stand. “How’re you feeling? This is a lot of pressure.”
“Four days.”
He heard the despair in her voice.
“It’s not enough time, Carwyn. Cause it’s not really four days, is it? It’s four nights. These are the times I hate being a vampire, because we’re feckin’ useless during the day. I can’t be out and about searching for him, and he deserves that.”
“Agnes and Rose have people who will search during the day. And Lee will search as well. We can only do what we can do.”
Brigid stared into nothing. “Did I bring Zasha here? Am I the reason that this kid might die?”
“You can’t think that way. We have no idea why—”
“Exactly!” She stood and started pacing. “I don’t know why this vampire has fixated on me. I’m worried about our family.”
Carwyn stood and reached out, but she dodged his hand. “I’ve already told all my children, and I’ve warned Deirdre especially.”
“I know that, and I know their security is good, but I’m not going to be easy with this until this vampire is dead.” She shook her head. “Zasha Sokholov needs to end. I don’t know what it’s going to take to do that, because they’re more powerful than me. I have no illusions about that. I need to kill them, and I don’t know how. So right now I’m focusing on this boy.” She lifted his picture. “I can findhim. I’m just worried he won’t be alive when I do.”
He caught her chin between his fingers and pulled her closer to kiss her mouth. She hooked one arm over his shoulders and pulled him tight, threading her fingers through the thick hair at the base of his neck.
At her touch, his amnis went on alert.Mate. He could feel his amnis alive in her, just as hers threaded his veins. She held him close for a long moment, anchoring herself.
He needed this and so did she. They’d been traveling for days with others, and they hadn’t taken a moment for themselves.
“Come to the bedroom.”
“We don’t have time.”
“We need this.” He kissed her mouth. “You need this, Brigid.”
He bent down, hooked his arms under her thighs, and lifted her in one movement. He carried her to the light-safe bedroom they hadn’t even visited and tossed her on the bed before he closed and locked the door.
“I think you need…” He reached down, unbuttoned her pants, tugged off her shoes, and stripped her naked below the waist. “A bit of a bite to clear your mind, Brigid Connor.”
She raised one eyebrow. “And where do ya intend to bite me?”
The corner of his mouth lifted up as he knelt at the base of the bed. “Don’t worry, darling girl. I’ll kiss it and make it better.”
Without another word, he spread her legs and bent his mouth to taste her. She was already wet for him, and the taste of her body made his fangs fall. He scraped them along the inside of her thigh and heard her panting.
“Not just yet.” He wanted to make her come first. He needed her to get out of her own mind for a moment. He wanted to make her scream.
