Drawn from the party by the threat radiating off one of their own, six wolves—distinguishable by their glowing amber eyes—formed a tight pack behind McStudpuppy. “Then, you’re willing to be his alibi? You can confirm he was with you at the time my cousin was shot?”
Remember that scene in the movie Titanic when the White Star Line crew member picks up the phone and yells, “Iceberg, right ahead?” That’s exactly how I felt tiptoeing around the wolf’s conversational land mines. How could I act as an alibi for a man, who I hate, when the barrel of the murder weapon was crammed between my ass cheeks?
Casually as I could, I let my shoulders rise and fall in a shrug I prayed came close to nonchalant. “I have no idea what time your cousin was killed. How could I possibly say for certain?”
Wolfie took a step closer, glaring down the bridge of his nose at me. “You show a blatant disregard for this man. Which means you have nothing to lose by ratting him out. If you tell me I have any reason at all to suspect him, my pack and I will take him up to the roof to discuss this matter… semi-privately.”
Biting the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste the coppery rush of blood, I let my gaze flick around the room. The wolves weren’t the only ones who had taken notice of our little tête-à-tête. A smattering of blood red eyes peered our way. The Nosferatu population in the room was watching with a vested interest. They wouldn’t let one of their own be taken anywhere by the wolves. One wrong word from me, and this was going to blow up into an all-out war. One that would reduce the ball, and possibly the entire block, to ash… just as Bash warned.
Damn, I hate when he’s right.
With beads of sweat dripping down my spine, I fought to keep my expression an impassive neutral. “I’m sorry for the loss of your cousin. I truly am. That said, while Lannister is guilty of many things--disregarding the feelings of others, treating women like trash, and being an unparalleled twat-waffle to name a few—I don’t think he’s capable of murder.” Despite knowing it was for the greater good, the lie soured on my tongue like rancid blood. “I can’t vouch for his whereabouts every minute of every day, but if you’re asking me if I think he would premeditate that kind of violence…” As I glance to Lannister, the night of the murder played behind my eyes. Lannister drew and fired first; that was a fact. But I saw the look on his face when that ruby spray of gore exploded from the wolf’s chest. No one was more shocked by it than him. It didn’t change anything in the slightest, other than allowing me to speak the remainder of that sentence in truth. “No, I don’t think he would.”
“Anything changes to make you think otherwise, you call me.” Plucking a black business card from his breast pocket, Wolfie passed it to me before his glowering gaze shifted to Lannister. “This isn’t over, fanger. Count on it.”
Jerking his head to his impromptu pack, Wolfie McStudpuppy—or Smith Andrews according to his card—sauntered off with the others in a tight formation behind him.
“Bye!” Lannister hollered, waving like a moron. “I wish I could say I’ll remember you fondly, but I fear I’ll have no recollection of this night at all!” The inebriated giggle that followed broke with a loud hiccup.
Grabbing his hand, I clamped it tight to his side. “If I get killed because of your dumbass, I will come back and haunt you. And I don’t mean in the sweet Patrick Swayze kind of way. I’m talking brutal, Freddy Krueger, slicing and dicing you in your sleep antics.”
“Would that make you the woman of my dreams?” He pressed with a sleepy leer. “That would be surprising since I like my gals with a bit more up top and less in the caboose.”
Grabbing him by the shoulders, I spun him towards the bar. “You make it really hard not to let you die in a horribly bloody fashion.”
“You would be surprised how many times I’ve heard that,” Lannister chuckled, haphazardly following wherever I led him.
“No, I really wouldn’t.” Guiding him onto a barstool, I waved to the pink-haired bartender who made a hell of a Proprietor. “We need a coffee laced with human blood to sober up my friend here. And I’ll take a gin and tonic to make him slightly less unbearable in the meantime.”
Both elbows on the bar, Lannister leaned her way. The tone he adopted was neither hushed, nor a whisper. “You are very beautiful, and I fully intend to think of you and pleasure myself later tonight.”
“Lannister! I am so sorry!” I yelped and swatted at him with the back of my hand.
The bartender’s eyes crinkled with amusement as she dolloped blood into a mug of black coffee. “Don’t be, you’re friend tried to bite the wrong person. A powerful witch, who feels the #metoo movement came a few centuries too late, cursed him. In addition to appearing a few sheets to the wind, he also can’t lie to any females for the next twenty-four hours. Watch this.” After sliding us our drinks, she planted her palms on the bar. “Lannister, was it?”
His head jerked and wobbled in an awkward nod of confirmation. “That’s me!”
Flipping cotton-candy colored bangs from her eyes, she tossed me a playful wink. “Lannister, is there any female in this building you wouldn’t bone… if the opportunity presented itself?”
“Yep,” his lips parted with an exaggerated pop. “Any of them who are taller than me. I am a lazy, lazy man and have no desire to climb for it. Plus, if I’m being honest—”
“And you are,” I added with a wry laugh.
If Lannister heard me, he didn’t let it hinder his revealing rant. “I feel the size of my penis is appreciated more by petite women. With smaller hands, it appears more impressive… if you know what I’m saying.”
And that revelation, my friends, made gin and tonic come out my nose.
“I may not be responsible, but I’ll say you’re welcome just the same.” The bartender grinned and turned her attention to the siren bellying up to the bar.
“Unable to lie,” I muttered, trying the term on.
“So it would seem,” Lannister raised his coffee mug to his lips, treating himself to a noisy sip.
The thought of that was far too tempting to resist. Gaze fixed on the bottles of liquor lining the shelves behind the bar, I voiced a question I wasn’t entirely certain I wanted the answer to. “Lannister, was anything between us ever real?”
“Nope,” he shook his head without hesitation. “Not a minute of it.”
“Yeah,” I mused, bringing my drink to my lips for a hearty swig. “I totally deserved that emotional punch to the gut.”
“It may sound cliché...” Talking with his hands, Lannister sloshed coffee onto the bar. “But it wasn’t you; it was me. Nothing about me is real. I’ve got the status and notoriety, but none of it is real. It’s all an illusion that my family has created like a magician’s tricks. They don’t trust me to do anything, nor do they have confidence in me at all. I’m not allowed to participate in the family business, out of fear I’ll foul things up. In fact, they even put me on an allowance—as if such a thing could hamper my exuberant spending. It’s ludicrous if you think about it. They know I have a reputation to uphold. So, no. Nothing between us was ever real. Because I am not certain I’m even capable of real.”
“Cry me a river, rich boy.” Rolling my eyes, I slammed what remained of my drink.
“I mean it.” Swiveling on his barstool, Lannister leaned on one elbow to support himself. “You know, in some ways, I truly envy you.”
“Well, I have great hair and a killer ass. Who wouldn’t?”
“I mean the whole dhampir thing.” He rolled his eyes at the mere idea of it. “No one has any expectations of you. Humans expect you to be monstrous; monsters expect you to be tame. You completely get to decide who and what you are. I was hoping being seen with you tonight would make me appear worldly and cultured. Not like the spoiled waste of space my family believes me to be. It was wrong for me to use you in such a way. For that, I guess I’m sorry. But, if we’re being honest with each other, we never stood a chance from the beginning.”
“Because y
ou’re a criminal, and I actually have a shred of a conscience?” Snapping my fingers over my head, I gestured for another drink.
“There’s that,” he admitted, pursing his lips. “And that I could never compete with your relationship with your business partner. What’s his name?”
“Sebastian,” I rasped, head spinning at his spot-on claim. Was it possible that I wasn’t the victim in this I thought I was?
“That’s the one. I would hear the two of you whispering and giggling together, and I knew you and I would never have a connection like that.” After another swig of coffee, a bit of clarity began to sneak in, carving his features into a mask of stoicism.
Eyebrows shooting into my hairline, I snorted a humorless laugh. “If you think I’m going to apologize, I suggest you Google the term an ice cube’s chance in hell.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it… or expect it from anyone after all I’ve done.” Finishing the last of his coffee, Lannister smacked his lips.
Turning to face him, I leaned one elbow on the bar. “I’m glad we’ve reached a point in our relationship where we can be truthful and honest. It’s helping to reduce that murderous rage I was feeling towards you.”
“It only seems fair.” A curvy red-head swished past, momentarily capturing Lannister’s attention. “After all, you did save my life tonight. But not before putting it in very real danger.”
With a ruddy blush seeping up to my earlobes, I chewed on the inside of my cheek and fought to keep my expression impassive. “I’m not sure I follow. What are you talking about?”
“Oh, how fun. You’re going to play dumb.” With fangs lengthening in an ominous threat, his ravenous glower traveled to the pulse drumming in my throat.
Squaring my shoulders, I took the time to elegantly cross my legs before responding. “You’re not yourself tonight, Lannister. I’m not sure even you understand what you’re implying.”
Wetting his ruby red lips, he leaned in, intimately close. “The bag. The bullet. I openly admit you’re far more clever than I ever imagined. Still, you had to figure I’d put it all together at some point. Even you can’t deem me that obtuse.”
“Oh no, but I do. A complete moron, and that’s me being flattering.”
Lannister clamped his hand on my knee, squeezing hard enough to bruise my flesh beneath his vise grip. “You clearly have the evidence, Teigen. Yet, when given the chance, you didn’t turn me in. What exactly is your play here? What are you after? You want to destroy my life? Seek some twisted vengeance?” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “Do your worst. I welcome it if it means this whole thing will finally be over. I never meant to hurt that kid. I need you to know that. I acted on instinct and have regretted it every second since—”
I doubted anyone was listening, but that didn’t change the fact that this particular subject matter could get us both killed. “Shut up.” I forced the words through gritted teeth.
Lannister let his shoulders rise and fall with detached interest. “You wanted the truth to come out? Well, here it is, sister. You might as well get comfy and enjoy the show.”
Grabbing the sleeve of his suit coat—that probably cost more than I made in a year—I yanked him to his feet. “Don’t say another word. Not a syllable. Get up, and walk out with me. Now.”
“I do like a forceful woman,” he chuckled, and turned on his barstool with a grand flourish.
Chapter Eight
Through the sound system, the lead singer of the band directed everyone to the roof to prepare for the end of the ball. Soon, all rules and wards would end and we would be on our own.
Prompted by the announcement, glowing eyes snapped our way from the farthest corners of the warehouse. The wolves prowled closer.
While my hand encircled his wrist, I yanked Lannister off his bar stool and hustled him through the crowd as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, Lannister decided to meander along at little more than a mosey. Really, I was kicking my own ass for that. It had been my idea for him to feed. He would have been a hell of a lot easier to sheepdog to the door if he wasn’t riding a blood high.
“You were so adamant about staying here,” he drawled, seemingly oblivious to the pack of certain death closing in, “whisking me up to the rooftop, encouraging me to feed. It seems a shame to leave now that the party is getting interesting.”
Nostrils flaring, I spun on him. My stare lobbed from one corner of the room to the other where Wolfie and his friends crept closer with their bone-crushing incisors on full display. “What the actual fuck is the matter with you? Do you have some insane death wish that makes you want to take everyone down with you?”
As he planted his feet in a wide-legged stance, Lannister’s pretty boy façade… broke. His face crumbled. Bloody tears streaked down his cheeks in torrents of regret. “Isn’t that exactly what you were doing tonight when you came here with your little props? All because you wanted to see this very outcome. Well, here it is, Teigen.” Easily shrugging off my hold, he threw his arms out wide. “Time to throw your cards on the table, sit back, and enjoy the show!”
He had no intention of moving, yet the fact that we had tried to run painted us as guilty to the nearing Lupine. Staying meant the beginning of an all-out supernatural war, with or without the gun ever making an appearance. People were going to get hurt, innocent people. I couldn’t let that happen.
That being the case, I went with the only option available to me.
Allowing my fangs to lengthen from my gumline, I dove for his throat and drank in deep hearty pulls. Little known fact about dhampir (who am I kidding, everything about my kind is little known), we can drink from humans or vamps. Which I exploited in that moment to give myself a much needed boost.
Only when I felt his power surging through my veins did I pull back with blood dripping from my chin. Wolfie had made it to the edge of the dance floor, his lips curled in a snarl of vicious intent. “That’s it, we’re officially out of time.”
This time, I yanked him forward far easier, dragging him on as walls of fur and fang closed in.
Legs pumping for all I was worth, I sprinted for the door with a reluctant Lannister dragged along for the ride.
Claws swiped.
Jaws snapped.
One arm outstretched, I reached for the door, praying the magic on the other side was instantaneous. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shoved it open and felt the bite of the crisp night air against my skin.
A flash of light.
Stomach-lurching vertigo.
And we were back on the curb outside of the skyrise that housed Lannister’s penthouse.
Hands on my knees, manic laughter of relief bubbled from my lips. “Holy shit, that was scary! Not going to lie; I peed a little bit.”
Lannister was celebrating in a far different manner. Namely, openly blubbering in a very un-vampiric way. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. I didn’t. I was playing a part… like Al Capone… until the gun fired. Let the wolves have me! They’ll be more merciful than my family when they learn I’ve broken a pact that has been in place for centuries! Why? Why did you save me? What is it you want, Teigen? If it wasn’t to watch me die at the hands of the wolves, then what?”
I glanced up and down the oddly vacant street and knew exactly what that meant. My team had cleared the area. The second they saw us; they would move into position to make the arrest. Filling my lungs to capacity, I exhaled through pursed lips. “I could have destroyed you tonight. It’s important to me that I saw that up front.”
“Understood,” the pretty-boy vamp sniffled.
The words of the woman from the bathroom echoed through my mind, ringing with glorious truth. “But, then I realized I would rather chase future happiness than hold onto hate from the past.”
“Wha—what does that mean?” he recoiled in apprehension.
“You want a fresh start away from the oppressive hold of your family? This is your chance.” With a roll of my wrist, I invited him to run.
Lannister’s gaz
e lobbed from me to the beckoning path to freedom and back again. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I choose to believe you made a mistake when you killed that kid.” I admitted, folding my arms over my chest. “And because of that, I’m giving you a chance to make a change. I’m with the SIA. My team will be here any second. If you’re going to run, do it now. Disappear, and don’t look back. Cut ties with everyone you know, form a new identity, and break free from this spoiled, waste of space, existence of yours. And in case you need a bit of incentive... ” with a slight bend at the waist, I pulled the gun out from beneath my skirt. “This is just one of many pieces of evidence that will implicate you in the Lupine murder. To ensure safety between the species, the Supernatural Intelligence Agency will want nothing more than to bring you down. Consider this me giving you a head start.”
“You’re going to shoot me in the back with my own gun the second I turn around!”
Head tilting, I offered him a sweet smile that was a vast contradiction to the warning stabbing from my stare. “I don’t need a gun to kill you, Lannister. I never did. The S.I.A. has boatloads of evidence against you; pictures, text messages, murder weapons, you name it. My team will be coming for you, and when we capture you—when, not if—I need you to know that none of this is personal. Not anymore. From here on out, you’re nothing more than a mark. So, I suggest you run.”
Air rippled, and he disappeared in a blur of speed.
Adjusting my earring, I spoke to the team I now knew to be within radio frequency range. “This is Agent Hodge. The suspect has escaped on foot, and I’ve lost sight of him. I repeat, Nosferatu suspect is in the wind.”
Hands falling to my sides with a slap, I turned on the ball of my foot… froze. Across the street, illuminated by the warm glow of a streetlight, Bash stood, watching with a knowing smile.
“I thought you gave up on me?” I shouted, a soft smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.
“I had to rendezvous with the team, but I never turned the earpiece off. Whether you like it or not, I’ve always got your back. ” Pausing for a beat to check for cars or rogue vamps, Sebastian jogged across the street and hopped up onto the curb beside me. “Speaking of, that mouse in the vent story was truly horrible. You should get your badge taken away for that alone. Listening to that, I was genuinely embarrassed to be your partner.”
The Monster Ball Year 2 Page 57