Page 14 of Don't Bite the Botanist
For once.
She grinned. “I really am. We call themrogues, though. The ones that murder humans are rogues.”
He scoffed. “Right, like there are good vampires running around not ripping out throats?”
“Actually,” Tressa began.
“Save it,” Ethan said, waving a hand through the air to cut her off. “I don’t really care if your organization has some whole ‘they’re notall bad’ ideology. I’m only interested in one. And it is definitely bad.”
“It?”
“Yeah,” he said, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. “The vampire. Or rogue, whatever you call them. The creature who killed my best friend. I’m going to find her, and I’m going to stake the bitch.” He paused and pursed his lips for a second, running his eyes up and down her petite frame. “So, you in?”
Chapter nine
Tressa
“So, you in?”
The words echoed in the small room, and Tressa was seriously regretting her little lie about being a hunter. When the word popped out, she hadn’t fully considered how Ethan might respond. Now her mouth was writing checks her non-hunter ass couldn’t cash.
Saiden was the hunter. Tressa was just the mind-altering clean-up crew. But she couldn’t exactly tell Ethan that, now could she?
Fuck.
Hadn’t she even lectured Saiden not that long ago about the importance of being honest with your mate?
Okay, this was fine. She could roll with this. If Ethan wanted to spend his time hunting down the rogue who attacked his lab, Tressa could work with that. If anything, it was an excuse to remain in his life. And if she managed to convince him that not all vamps were evil in the meantime, more the better.
Baylin was going to have a field day when she told him.
Deciding to commit to the ruse, she settled back in the chair and crossed her arms. “Am I in? Oh, Ethan. Sweet, misguided Ethan. It’sme who should be askingyouthat question.”
He frowned. “How do you figure?”
Tressa raised a slender hand and began ticking off her fingers. “Let’s see. My organization has the means to locate this rogue. We have the knowledge to take them on. And we have the experience and weapons to be successful. What do you have? Piss and vinegar?”
“Hilarious.”
“And accurate,” she replied, barely suppressing her smirk. “Tell me, Ethan, what exactly was your plan if you’re so hellbent on going after this rogue?”
“I…” He snapped his mouth shut and glared.
She didn’t even try to hide her smirk anymore. “That’s what I thought. So, allow me to ask you a question. Wouldyoucare to joinmein hunting down this rogue?”
He bristled at her over-enunciation of the pronouns but nodded. “Yeah. I guess I could use your help,” he replied in a tone that sounded like he just agreed to a four-hour root canal.
“Excellent!” Tressa chirped, her default optimism waking back up. “I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful partnership.”
“Baylin, I’mfucked,” Tressa whispered into her cell phone.
After another fifteen minutes spent arguing with Ethan about the importance of him staying in the hospital for longer to heal, she’d ducked out to call her cousin.
“Like, literally?” he asked. “Because if so, damn girl. I’m impressed.That was fast.”
“Not literally,” she hissed, slumping against the wall outside Ethan’s room and sliding all the way to the floor. “But I may have just complicated things a little.”
Tressa heard Baylin typing away on his computer for a moment before letting out a low chuckle.
