Standing and marching across the room, the vampiress tugged off the scarf and tossed it aside. She was trapped and, like prey, paced in abandon like they always did when seeking an escape. She worked it, though, her long strides swinging her narrow hips, which revealed a peek of sexy skin between waistline and the hem of her shirt.
Vail maintained his position.
Who are you? she demanded again in a remarkably authoritative voice, considering her slender physique and those gorgeous cheekbones. And look at all that hair. It wasnt mussed at all, spilling like ribbons of white gold over her shoulders. I need a name.
Vaillant, he offered freely. But you can call me Vail.
What kind of name is that?
Apparently, its the one my mother gave me.
She pointed at his face and twirled her finger before her. Whats that stuff beneath your eyes? It sparkles. She gave him a sideways sneer. Are you a freakin faery?
Such vitriol drips from your pretty mouth. What have the sidhe ever done to you?
Nothing. She paced some more. Everything! Just get out, will you? This is my place. Go find your own hovel.
Vail leaned his elbows onto the butcher-block counter behind him and smiled as sweetly as he could manage. He didnt do sweet, but he could get close to amiable if he tried.
I dont think so. Id like to hang around and have you introduce me to your kidnappers.
If you know I was kidnapped, my mother must have sent you. Did you come to rescue me? To bring me back to Mommy and lay me before her sacrificial altar?
Vail tutted. You have mother issues? Even saying it cut into his heart. If anyone had issues regarding their mother
Im not telling you anything. She stopped before the bed, stared at it a few moments as if it might bite her, then plopped onto it and, shoulders high and straight, fixed an innocent gaze on him. Get out, Vail the faery.
Im not sidhe. Im vampire.
She scoffed. Could have fooled me.
Why, thank you. I take that as a compliment.
He strolled toward her. The efficiency apartment was small and open, so it was but ten strides to stand before the bed. Squatting, he clasped his hands between his bent legs. Now, about your kidnappers. I assume the introductions are not going to happen, because the guilty party is sitting right here, before me.
She looked aside. A pale beam from a distant streetlight glimmered through the window and highlighted her long, elegant nose, narrow face and chin. Vail believed the ice princess label; she wore it gorgeously. Her eyes were deep blue, almostno, not violet. That was a color he had only seen on faeries.
There are no kidnappers, he ventured. Are there?
You think youre so smart?
Actually, let me lay it out for you.
Oh, please do. Im all about the faery tales tonight.
Then look at me, please.
He waited, but she tilted her head away from his gaze. Vail slid a palm along her cheek, the light getting trapped in his iron rings, and forced her head up. He gripped her chin firmly, and she flinched, but not out of his grasp.
We can make this rough, he warned, or we can do this nice and sweet. Which do you prefer?
If she said rough, hed lose it right here. Vail was not immune to an attractive woman. Very well, so she was sexy. It was those damned white teeth, clear eyes and a touch of impudence. Nothing else. Couldnt be the soft, panting breaths that indicated she was still winded from her adventure eluding him. And it most certainly was not her scent that seemed to curl into his brain and dally with the smarts hed claimed to possess.
The fact she was vampire kept him from shoving her onto the mattress and drawing his tongue down her long, slender neck and to the full mounds of her breasts that peeked above the low neckline of her shirt.
Tell me what you think you know, she said through a tight jaw. She shoved his hand from her face, and fixed her hard gaze on him. Vail.
I work for Hawkes Associates, he said. You know about them?
She nodded, but stiffly. She wasnt about to drop the tough-girl act. If she was a thief, like the rest of her family, then shed probably honed some excellent avoidance tactics.
Your mother hired us to track down her kidnapped daughter. Seems shethat is, youhad been taken from the Santiago mansion only minutes before you were to meet the Lord of Midsummer Dark for some kind of exchange. Taken, in a valuable faery gown. Mommy wants back her daughter and the dress. You following me so far?
She jutted up her chin, defiant, but gave a curt nod.
Seems you, Lyric Santiago he liked that she flinched when he recited her name were supposed to go along with the Lord of Midsummer Dark, the dress, I assume, being some sort of pseudodowry.
Where did you hear that? I was only delivering the thing. Theres no way Id go near him again She shut her mouth.
Again? She had been in Zetts presence before? A fact to note. She wasnt going to make it easy for him. And he didnt want her to do soit was more interesting this way. He liked watching prey squirm.
Funny thing, though. He thumbed his jaw, drawing out the moment and also inhaling her scent, which had deepened with her rising anxiety. Uncomfortable? She may be an ice princess, but he could thaw her out quick enough. That dress was stolen from Hawkes Associates not ten days ago. Now, who do you think is tops on the suspect list?
You think I stole that ugly gown? Ha!
Ugly? He stroked the side of his thumb along her cheek. She did not flinch, but he felt her muscles tense under his touch. Something about this scenario didnt feel right, but he couldnt pinpoint what, exactly. I was told it was fashioned from faery diamonds, the most incredible and dazzling gemstone in the known world. Or unknown world, matters as they are.
His thumb strayed to her lips, full, pink and soft, worth a kiss Vail suddenly realized what he was doing.
What the hell was he doing? That had not been a harsh touch, but one ofadmiration? Wib.
He stood, shoving his hand in a pocket. You dont like diamonds, Lyric?
Theyre not so spectacular.
I imagine so, for one of your profession. You can steal them if you want them, eh?
Im not a thief.
That has yet to be proven. What happened to the dress?
Its a gown.
Gown. Dress. Vail leaned over her. A tendril of blond hair swept his hand. It felt like summer. He fisted that hand behind his back to keep from touching her again. What did you do with it?
They took it from me. And left me here.
They being these imaginary kidnappers of yours?
She nodded. Liar.
So you didnt steal it?
She shook her head.
Nor did anyone in the notorious Santiago clan steal it?
More negative head shaking.
And now someone else has the gown, namely, your kidnappers.
A positive nod.
Vail shoved her across the bed, pressing her shoulders to the mattress, which reeked of mildew and dust. Pinning a knee across her thighs, he prevented her from the anticipated sneak attack of her knee aiming for his jewels.
Youre lying, he growled at her. There was no sign of force or struggle in your bedroom.
Force? The whole damned window was taken out!
But you expected that to happen, which is why the rest of your room was pristine. As well, the gown has not been sold because that is something the entire Faery realm would be aware of
If Faery is so aware, why dont they go right to the ugly thing and get it?
Its not Like that.
Faery sensed the thing, but couldnt pinpoint it. Not without expert trackers, and someone had to actually be wearing the gown to give out the strongest vibrations. And apparently the Seelie court was not currently aware it was anywhere but at Hawkes Associates.
You plotted your own kidnapping to steal the dress yourself. Admit it!
It wasnt for the gownit was to get away from Zett!
Vail pushed from the bed and walked a few steps away. Breathing out and raking his fingers through his hair, he then chuckled. Hed gotten the truth from her much quicker than hed expected.
But seriously? The chick thought Zett had planned to take her to Faery with him? Vail doubted that very much.
On the other hand, he wasnt privy to all Zetts devious kinks. It was possible the bastard wanted Lyric for reasons unknown. And she had intimated theyd met previously.
I get it, he said. You saw an opportunity and took it.
Youre not going to take me back to my mother, are you? I need time.
A touch of measured panic warbled in her voice. She didnt want to go back, but at the same time, she was not afraid of such an outcome.
Time for what?
The vampiress looked aside, giving him her silence again. The streetlight adorned her profile, glistening off fine cheekbones in a tempting tease. It reminded him of the constant glimmer in Faery, and of what made him most comfortable.
I am going to return you to your mother, Vail said, forcing away the image of light-kissed skin, but the deal was you and the gown. Where is it?
I fenced it already.
Liar.
Junkie vampire.
Junkie?
You sparkle. Around your eyes and at your neck. Its in your skin. I know what thats from. Youre a dust freak.
He laughed again and pointed at his eyes, which were neither bloodshot nor clouded, which is what happened to dust freaks. You think so?
She nodded, knowingly. The vampiress could not begin to know him. Ever.
Think what you wish. The faster I can get this damned assignment wrapped up the sooner I can be rid of you.
Just walk away. Thatll take care of your problem, like that. She snapped her fingers.
Vail leaned over her. So whos the fence? She gave him the side of her face again.
After her false accusation, he had no patience. He gripped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. He considered enthralling her, but the little he knew regarding vampire-to-vampire relations was that a vamp couldnt enthrall their own kind. Since arriving in the mortal realm, his power of persuasion had been frustratingly absent. And if he dusted her, shed be worthless.
I dont have a name, she offered.
How do you contact him?
He calls me.
Vail swung a surveying look around the small apartment. The place was merely a safe house, he suspected. It was empty, save the bare-mattress bed. Just a place to hide out until Until? Wheres your phone?
I lost it.
He narrowed his browsthen remembered. I think I can help you with that. Reaching into his back pocket, he drew something out and slammed the phone on the kitchen counter. I guess Im staying the night.
No! Whered you get that?
Found it under your bed when I was looking through your room for clues. He crossed his arms and kicked out a boot to put his weight against the counter. Im here until your fence calls, sweetie.
I hate you!
Not feeling much love for you, either.
I hate it all. I hate this place. I hate this awful, smelly bed. She stood and kicked the bed frame, slamming the entire twin bed into the corner.
Hey now, thats no way to treat those pretty red shoes of yours, is it?
And I hate you again, she retorted. And Im starving, which, thanks to you, my supper got off but he didnt get me off.
Frustrated? Vail ran a hand over his crotch.
She understood the signal. Tiny fists formed beside each of her thighs. Her plan had backfired, and now he would drag her home to her mother, kicking her pointy red shoes and screaming hate and damnation to high heaven. He couldnt wait to do it.
The petulant vampiress stomped into the bathroom.
Where you going?
Where does it look like? She slammed the door shut.
Vail hiked himself up to sit on the kitchen counter. After a few minutes had passed, he heard the shower turn on. Seemed kind of strange to strip with a stranger so near and to just get clean.
If she thought to parade out naked in an attempt to seduce him, the ice princess had better rethink that plan. He was not interested. Despite the erection hed run his hand over moments earlier.
Seriously, Vail? You did not get hard over a vampiress. It was adrenaline. Yeah, thats it.
This was going to be a long night. And he did not like the idea of sitting around, waiting for the fence to contact Lyric. She had to know the name of the fence. To assess the mental capacity of her minions, the vampiress was definitely the brains of the operation.
How to get the information from her?
Maybe if he brought the starving vampiress supper? Dangled a tasty mortal before her? Slashed its wrist and dribbled blood into a wineglass?
That would be too much fun. But not practical, and he wasnt into the horror of mortal blood. And besides, a tough little chick like Lyric Santiago would probably grab the mortal from him and sink in her teeth before he got anything from her.
Subtlety was required. How to appeal to a woman he had no desire to connect with on an intimate level?
Really? Youre going to stick with that attitude?
Vail blew out a breath. So he was attracted to her. Hawkes hadnt given him any rules on how to gain the prize. So, hed wing it.
Lyric turned on the shower and put the toilet cover down and sat. The running water provided a white noise barrier between her erratic thoughts and the overwhelming presence of the arrogant vampire who stood on the other side of the door.
She had expected a search partythe demon guards Charish had hired to accompany her to the hand-off site. She hadnt expected that search party to be only one, and so efficient. And sexy. So sexy, in fact, that she had sat there on the bed like an idiot, instead of escaping out the window behind her.
She was supposed to have more time. A day or two to get her thoughts in order and then hop a plane to climes unknown. A place to hide, yet exist without the worry that the faery lord would ever find her. And Leo, her brother, was supposed to track down a means to free her completely. She needed to contact him.
Had she been stupid to believe such a plan could work? All she wanted was to live her own life. To not be sent to make an exchange, which would become so much more than Charish could ever imagine.