Page 36 of Unholy Gambit: Checkmate in Blood
When she asked him, he only told her he had his ways, and she assumed he’d somehow used his vampire powers. The waitress at least had to ask for their drink orders.
Axel won the first game, Aury won the second, and they were in their third game when a tall, handsome man in a suit walked up to the table, and Axel stood to greet him. “Marco. It’s good to see you again.”
The two shook hands, and Marco looked to Aury. “I see that you recognize the name.”
Right. Master Vampire. Super powerful. He looked like a confident man in a bespoke business suit, but she didn’t feel power oozing off of him, as she’d expected when in his presence.
He looked to Axel and seemed displeased. She guessed the two of them were telepathing. After several long moments, Marco gave him a tiny nod and looked back to her.
“I wanted a chance for a quick hello, which I’ve done. I’ll have an order of fried pickles and fried mushrooms brought to your table on the house, as an apology for interrupting your date.”
He glanced at Axel and back to her. “I see the attraction between the two of you.” He paused, and suddenly seemed more like a meddling aunt than some uber-powerful vampire. “It seems I’m a sucker for wanting relationships to succeed, these days.”
He looked to Axel. “If you don’t fuck up, I’ll likely allow your presence in my territory while you and your Aurélie figure things out.”
Axel looked at him a beat. “It truly wasn’t intentional.”
“I can see that, which is why you aren’t in cuffs being marched downstairs.”
Aury heard him say it, wanted to ask what it was about, and then couldn’t remember what she’d wanted to ask. It suddenly seemed important she be polite to this vampire, and she asked, “Is there a way I should address you?”
“I appreciate the question, but I’m just Marco, to you.”
A tall, giant of a man stepped up and put two baskets on the table — one with pickles, the other with mushrooms. “I could see you prefer blue cheese to the ranch we usually provide for dipping, so I had them use it, instead.” He looked to Marco. “The waitresses are covered up, so I brought them out.”
“This is Julian, my assistant.” He looked at Axel. “You have his contact information, and unless you have something critical that can’t wait for an answer, it’s best to go through him, when you need to contact me.”
When they were gone, Aury dug into her food, and Axel took his next shot before sitting with her.
“Is that normal? The local boss checking in on the visitor’s girlfriend?”
He tilted his head. “Considering he’s already had three of his inner circle talk to me, it was unexpected, but based on what I know of him, it’s probably not terribly outsidehisnormal.”
“How about his assistant poking around in my head to find out I prefer blue cheese to ranch? Because that was a little disturbing.”
“Try to think of it as being an important enough guest, they bothered to look.”
Aury wasn’t sure that was better, but she figured it wasn’t worth it to argue the point. Vampires didn’t understand boundaries when it came to looking in people’s heads. Clearly.
They spent the rest of the evening playing, drinking, and talking. He wasmuchbetter at billiards, and she only won a few games, but it didn’t matter. She was having fun.
And at the end of the night, another long kiss goodnight in Ruby’s living room. Warm, unhurried, and a little sweeter than the last.
Then he was gone.
Chapter 11
The next evening, Aury found a spot in the parking garage across the street from the Aquarium and walked the half-block to Axel’s hotel. She waited in the lobby for Dr. Woods, since instructions to reach Axel had been messengered to him. Apparently, this was too top-secret for text or email.
“Did someone drop me into a movie? Is Jason Bourne about to hand me a burner phone and disappear?” she asked her psychiatrist when he arrived.
“Our world is full of secrets. If you’re ever overwhelmed, I’m available to help you navigate it.”
“Navigate being overwhelmed, or navigate your world?”
“Oh, this isn’t my world. I’m familiar with the way vampires protect their daytime hiding places, but my world is about forests and the moon, and rarely underground strongholds. As to your question, I will help you with whatever I am able, which should be both, under most circumstances.”
The two maneuvered through several locked doors, each with separate code, down some steps, and then gave a verbal password to a guard, along with a room number.
