Page 14 of Grave Throbbing
"You're aware of his reputation." Key's gaze narrowed.
"I've heard the rumors. Nothing substantiated. The council doesn't condone his behavior, so they choose to look away. As Empress Marcella's liaison, I don't interact with their daily affairs. It's been easier for me to ignore."
"He's come to the bar looking for me. I wear a different costume every night to throw him off by sight, but he'll know my scent if he gets close enough." He grinned. "The way you did."
"What do you need from me?"
"Your accounting of events, when Mar—Empress Marcella arrives." Harley had almost forgotten Key's hand at the back of his neck, but Key reminded him by rubbing circles into his flesh. His fingers were warm with the blood he'd finished.
Harley took another long drink from his cup. He needed time to think as much as he wanted to rejuvenate his own metabolism to match Key's. Empress Marcella's email had said nothing about Dobbins, nor had she mentioned Ciarán."You may wish to celebrate your life before I arrive,"had been her only warning.
"You really want me to tell our empress that you bit me in the balls, and I wasn't paralyzed?" Though Harley had enjoyed the encounter, was it enough to say he was celebrating his life? He could already imagine the empress's frown. He hoped she would rifle through his thoughts so he wouldn't have to say it out loud.
Key laughed. "I'd leave that part out. Maybe … I was hoping to experiment more, get more feedback from you, if you're willing."
Harley wasn't ready to answer Key's unspoken question. "I'd like to talk to Greed, for her account on Dobbins."
"She went to the courthouse and gave her statement, but …"
"He erased the records." The tightness in Harley's chest eased as the story finally made sense. "No wonder Empress Marcella is on her way here."
Key's phone beeped with a notification. He pulled it out of his pocket before the message across his lock screen disappeared, and Harley read it.
Greed:Don't come home.
"Shit." Key unlocked the phone and dashed a quick text back to her.
Harley missed the comfort of the hand at his neck and arm resting on his shoulder. When he pulled away, Key held his phone out so Harley could read the text screen, too.
Key:Are you all right?
Greed:Someone's in our apartment. I went to the market to grab toothpaste and came home to find the lights on. What should I do?
"You can stay with me," Harley said. He rattled off his address and Key typed it into his phone.
"Not quite how I expected to get you to take me home with you." Key slumped back against the bench, and then hissed when moisture instantly seeped through his shirt from the wet wooden slats.
Harley couldn't help but laugh. He stood and pulled Key to his feet. "We'll have more chances to experiment before the empress arrives."
"Yeah?" Key's eyes danced with the light of a nearby streetlamp.
Oh yes, Harley wanted more of Key and his bite.
Chapter 6
Key
Key had moped outside Harley's building several times, but he'd never been inside. The doorman always told him he needed an invitation from a council member, and he wasn't on the guest list.
Well, he was now. Harley added both Key and Greed to the list, and then they waited in the lobby for Greed to arrive. She did, looking shaken and disheveled from sprinting at vampire speed in her miniskirt and platform heels. One of the suspenders from her school uniform costume had come loose and she'd lost the bottom button off her too-short white blouse.
"You put us on the list?" Her tone suggested that was the worst thing Harley could have done.
"It's good to have it on record, if anyone asks," Harley said. "Dobbins is the only council member who doesn't live in the building. I've also told the footman to let me know if he shows up looking for you. I can't stop him from entering the building, but at least we'll put the rooms on lock-down and receive warning if he does."
Greed nodded. "Thank you."
"I'm on the sixteenth floor." Harley disappeared so quickly, Key wasn't sure which way he'd gone at first. Greed pointed to the double doors to their right, one of which was still swinging. Greed kept her human pace until she saw the wide staircase with a thick banister leading up. Then, she disappeared.
