Marina’s smile grew. “You mean like a date?”
“Yeah, like a date. Will you go somewhere with me like that?”
“Yep. I’ll prob’ly have sex with you afterwards, too,” she teased.
He blinked at her sleepily. “That’s good. I like that. Maybe after I take you enough places you’ll want me around all the time.”
She didn’t tell him he didn’t need to take her on a bunch of dates to make her want him around all the time. She’d had more fun sitting on the couch watching TV with him than she ever had going to fancy dinners with Dex. “That sounds pretty good to me.”
He grabbed her wrist and gently tugged her closer. “I don’t want to scare you away, but I intend to make you fall in love with me,” he said against her lips.
She didn’t doubt it for a minute. Especially since she was already more than halfway there. “I’m gonna hold you to that,” she whispered back.
Epilogue
Twenty minutes later, Marina left Quinn’s room and eased the door shut behind her. He’d been talking about where they were going to go on their first real date when he’d passed out mid-sentence.
The waiting room was now empty, except for Harper, Riddick, and the air of tension surrounding them. It was so thick it seemed to occupy its own space in the room.
“What’s wrong?” Marina asked, dread churning in her stomach.
Harper grabbed Marina’s hands and urged her to sit down. “Hunter questioned Davis and the other vampires about their mission. Anton, too.”
“OK,” Marina said slowly. “What did they say?”
Harper paused, obviously searching for words, which turned up the volume on Marina’s dread. Harper never had to search for words. “They wanted that Anton guy out of prison, right?” Marina prompted. “Is he Davis’s friend or something?”
Harper shook her head. “No. Davis and his men were just mercs. Recently turned vamps with military background, which explains why they were armed. Anton was a biochemist who worked at Sentry back in the day. He’s in Midvale because he did unsanctioned experiments on humans and vampires. The experiments weren’t exactly…humane, and subjects didn’t exactly volunteer, which is why he’s in Midvale. But it was his unsanctioned work that led the other biochemists in the right direction to create the dhampyres.”
Marina frowned. “Why would anyone want an old Sentry biochemist released from prison?”
“Davis says the man who hired him to get Anton released is building an army. He wants Anton to create more dhampyres.”
“What does he need an army for?”
Harper took a deep breath. “To restaff Sentry. And the man in charge doesn’t want slayers and psychics this time around. Only dhampyres.”
Marina was pretty sure her jaw unhinged and hit the floor. “Why would anyone want to reestablish Sentry?”
She shook her head. “That we don’t know. Yet. But what we do know, what Davis was able to tell us, is who is pulling the strings—the man who has been working to re-establish Sentry for the past four years.”
Harper was always pretty dramatic, but this was getting ridiculous. “OK, well, spit it out, Harper. Who is it? You can’t really shock me at this point.”
The look Harper gave her was full of pity. “It’s our father.”
Marina blinked. “I’m shocked.”
Harper gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“What are we going to do?”
Riddick laid one hand on Harper’s shoulder and one on Marina’s. “We’re going to shut that shit down. Right?”
Harper and Marina exchanged a glance that said more than a thousand words ever could. “Fuckin’-A,” they said in unison.
The End…for now
But stay tuned for the first book in the upcoming Harper Hall Investigations spin-off series, Section 8!
A personal note from Isabel:
If you enjoyed this book, first of all, thanks! It would mean a lot to me if you would take a moment and show your support of indie authors (like me) by leaving a review. Your reviews are a very important part of helping readers discover new books.
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Thanks so much, and happy reading!
The Harper Hall Investigations series reading order (all books now available everywhere books are sold):
Semi-Charmed
Semi-Human
Semi-Twisted
Semi-Broken
Semi-Sane
Semi-Obsessed
And did you know I also write contemporary romance/romantic comedy? You can check out the whole first chapter of You Complicate Me for free right here:
http://www.izzyjo.com/blog/something-brand-new
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