Page 40 of Reapers Don’t Ride

I stopped moving, jerking Gavriel to a stop. “How long?”

“Four days, five nights. You missed a few good fights between the angels. Frankie stood guard any time Gavriel left your side to fuel up. He had to recover from how pale he was.” He raised a brow but didn’t actually say why he was pale. We all knew why he was pale: that I’d drunk too much of his blood to get him unconscious so I didn’t have to fight against the lust.

“Who is Frankie?”

“My half-brother. The one you saved from Romi. You’re right about the contract. I have it posted, and everyone who comes in thinking about the bounty on the girl, takes one look at it and leaves.”

“Good.”

“You’re not asking why she’s so valuable.”

“I’m not. I am asking what your crew does. Do you get yourselves involved in anything that’s going to lead to discovery and mass extermination?”

He smiled broadly. “From time to time. Nothing so interesting at the moment.”

“Frankie’s been watching me hibernate?” I asked, turning to Gavriel. “He hates me.”

“Hates you? You’re his hero. You saved him, his sister, and his brother from an open war with Romi. You’re my hero too.” Gavriel kissed my hand while I sat there all tangled up and twisted by that contact.

“Keep it in the bedroom, you two lovebirds,” Lorien said, coming in jauntily. He walked right up where I could grab him and pulled up a stool at the bar. “So much kissing. Gavvy, you should turn; that way you could be immortal together. Think of the romance.”

“It’s impossible to turn angels,” I muttered.

He spun on his stool, studying me critically. “But you had angel blood.”

“Angel blood does not make me an angel, not like you two winged freaks.” I winced. I shouldn’t have called Gavriel a freak.

Lorien laughed and pointed at Gavvy. “She’s got your number. Tell me what you’ve been doing with your wings while she was unconscious. Hovering over her body like a creeper?”

Gavriel threw a handful of peanuts at Lorien, who caught two in his mouth and let the other ones bounce off him. “Don’t listen to him. I only hovered over you for a few seconds like a creeper. The rest of the time I spent lying beside you on that tiny bed, listening to you not breathe.”

Lorien winced. “Shameless.”

Gavriel grinned at his friend and helped me onto the bench before taking the one next to me so I was sandwiched between the two angels. That was a protective maneuver. He was treating me like I was the weakest link, also like Lorien was worthy of trusting my life with. Richard was right. Gavriel would be more interested in redeeming him than in torturing information out of him. How could I get between him and his old friend when they had so much history?

Lorien turned, brushing my knee with his in that movement. It wasn’t much, but the next second, I had him flat on the bar, my face against his throat while I inhaled.

“Gavvy, can you get your girl off me? I get that she’s been hibernating, but I’m not into the feeding thing. Too bad Rich is being such a dick right now, or he’d be the perfect blood donor.”

I pulled away far enough to look him in the eye. I gripped his throat and bared my teeth at him. “You smell of demon.” Only a trace, the slightest trace of demon blood, but I’d had a century of feeding on demon blood in general, and Tralcon in particular. And this angel stank like Tralcon.

Lorien’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not a demon. Get off me before I hurt you. Gavvy wouldn’t like that.”

Shane thumped a dagger down into the bar close enough to Lorien’s head to nick his ear. “You’re working with demons? My crew doesn’t mess with that. Because it’s a mess. If you bring that mess into my bar, then this pretty little vampire isn’t the least of your concerns. Back up, sweetheart,” he said, nodding at me.

I slowly gave him enough space that he could sit up.

Lorien shot me an irritated glance. “I’m not working with demons. I don’t care what Gavvy’s girl says.”

“You don’t care?” I hissed at him. “Ever since we met, I’ve been counting the ways to kill you. Do you know why I count the ways to kill people? Because for a century, I drank the blood of the demon that you contacted. You think he’s not a demon? Then you’re a fool. Like I was a fool. It’s the angel blood in me that he loved to see twisted. Don’t fall for his promises. Don’t forget about the price. It’s always steeper than you can pay.”

I got up and started towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Gavriel asked, following me.

“If I stay here, I’ll kill him. I’ll burn every drop of his blood. I’ll destroy the taint he’s too blind to see spreading.”

“I’m not the one who’s blind!” Lorien shouted at me. “I heard you talking to Gavvy. A vampire who needs reading glasses? Pathetic.”