Page 54 of Dance for the Dragon
She laughed, but the sound was ugly. “I don’t even remember doing it.” And now, she not only may have lost any chance at being with Kohl again, but she may have caused his death, along with everyone he cared about. Or worse, Parasupe would find out what he is, and take him back to their labs. And she couldn’t even take the time to process how she felt about that, because if Parasupe didn’t get to them first, she was about to have a coven of pissed off vampires on her ass. The chances of surviving their wrath was pretty much zero, but she had to try.
Waving her hands back and forth as she tried to breathe, she said, “Someone must have gotten in here.” She twisted her fingers together in her lap. “I never should have sent you home to sleep. God, I’m so stupid.”
She felt Frank’s hand on her hair. “Awe, honey. You’re far from stupid. You’re just in love.”
“I’m not in love. Lust, maybe,” she admitted.
“Same thing.”
Wiping her eyes, she stood. “I have to go.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to wait until you hear something?”
She shook her head. She was in some serious shit. “Kohl told me to leave. Right now.” She picked up her coat and her purse.
“I’ll get my stuff,” he said. “Give me one minute.”
But she stopped him. “No, Frank. You should stay here. That was just me panicking before. I just…I really don’t want to be alone. But you should stay. It’s safer here than with me. If the vampires find me they won’t stop to ask questions.”
“Dev, I really think you should stay here. They can’t get in, right? Not without an invitation?”
“No, but?—”
“Then I don’t understand why you’re leaving right now. It’s safer here.”
“Kohl told me to leave the city. And despite everything, I trust him, Frank.” She gave him a quick hug. “I’ll call you in the morning when I stop somewhere.”
He followed her to the door. “Devon.”
“I’ll call you.” Blowing him a kiss, she checked the hall. As her heart ripped into a million pieces and tears poured down her face, she ran down to her car, suitcase bumping along the stairwell.
Chapter 19
Hawke watched the last customer stagger out the front door of the club and into the cab he’d called for him, then checked his cell phone for any word from Kohl. He’d taken off on his bike like a bat out of hell after they’d dealt with those Parasupe fuckers, leaving the others to take care of the evidence, and Hawke wanted to make sure Kohl stayed gone until he could assess the Master’s state of mind. Their leader would want someone to blame for this, and Kohl was the obvious answer. Not because anyone would think he’d turned on his own coven, but because he’d allowed the human woman to live long enough to become a threat.
With a nod to Mark at the door, he started to head down to the caverns, but changed his mind and stopped behind the bar to grab a bottle of their best vodka. It wouldn’t do much to relax him, but he was feeling the intense urge to drink.
As he poured himself a healthy double shot, he heard voices coming from the hall, and then the soft click of a door closing. The office door, by the sound of it. Curious, he took his glass with him and with a quick glance around to make sure everyone was gone, walked silently down the hall, stopping just outside the door.
The Master was talking, his voice so low Hawke wouldn’t have been able to hear him if he hadn’t been standing right outside, even with his vampire hearing.
“I’m a firm believer in ‘an eye for an eye’, but you went too far with this, boy. I don’t care who she is, or what games you’re playing, killing our own was never part of the plan!”
“She’s one of them! She was on the news! I saw her outside, and I remembered. I remembered, Master. You told me to take care of her. You told me not to do it myself. You told me to make it look like Parasupe so we wouldn’t get in trouble for killing a human. No vampires were supposed to be on the dance floor when it happened. They weren’t supposed to be there. It wasn’t my fault.”
“Not your fault that you compelled humans to shoot up my club? Not your fault that, when that didn’t work, your fucked up thinking got three of my best vampires burned to ash? You were only supposed to follow him! You weren’t supposed to interfere! Or, how about, instead of finally killing the woman as you were told, you had her tell her old company exactly where we are?” There was a deep sigh. “They’ll be coming after us again. You know that.” Another pause. “What the hell were you thinking, boy?”
“Parasupe killed my best friend. My brother.” Jaz’s voice rose to a whine. “I watched them cut him into tiny little pieces. And they would’ve done the same to me. They took my fang.”
“Yes, they would have. You’re lucky I found you when I did. However, now that they know where we are, you may not be so lucky the second time around.”
There was a brief pause. “He’s fucking her, you know. He’s fucking that Parasupe bitch. He wasn’t going to kill her. And you’re letting him get away with it, after what they did to us. He should die, too. He’s not one of us!”
“Jaz, focus!” the master raised his voice before seeming to remember himself and lowering it again. “What on earth made you believe putting this coven on Parasupe’s radar was a good idea?”
There was some shuffling around.
“Jaz!”
