Page 86 of Bent Out of Shade
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Zev blinked slowly,his eyes returning to their regular brown color. “By all means.” He motioned us back to the chairs and sat on the edge of the desk with his legs brushing ours.
I slapped a five-dollar bill down. “Should you accept your employment with Cassin & Associates, your business cards will arrive in five to ten days.”
He picked up the bill and dropped it to the floor. “You’re testing my patience.”
From out in the hall came the clatter of glass and a muffled curse.
Tatiana cleared her throat and tapped her wrist.
Zev turned his head like a lion who’d scented prey, his eyes glittering, and pocketed the money. “And I would be delighted to join your organization. It wouldn’t be the first time.” So. Many. Questions. “Debrief me, will you? Succinctly,” he added when I opened my mouth.
“Sabrina Mayhew was turned against her will and is the rogue vampire killing gang members.” That succinct enough for you, jerkwad?
Zev leaned so far forward that he was nose to nose with me. “Who sired her?” The barely leashed violence in his voice made me shudder.
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “What I do know is that Sabrina didn’t want to become a vampire, but someone did it and left her to fend for herself. She also killed three men in front of me. I could be wrong that she’s behind the rest of the murders, but I doubt it.”
Zev gouged the desk with his fingers like it was butter, strips of wood curling around his hands. It was scarier than if he’d destroyed it. “That’s why you’ve been stalling Vincenzo.”
It was a bit more complicated than that, but I nodded. One dilemma at a time.
“Yet he made you swear a blood oath of secrecy instead of calling in all possible resources to find her.” Zev pulled a two-inch splinter out from under his fingernail without even a wince, but I grimaced enough for both of us. “He’s in a precarious position right now, isn’t he?”
“Hypothetically, if he were,” Tatiana said in a warning voice, “he’s handling it with no one the wiser.”
Zev smirked and steepled his fingers under his chin.
“Who was Vincenzo?” I said. “Before he was turned?”
Zev always insisted he hadn’t lost his humanity when he became a vampire, and despite much evidence to the contrary, I also had proof that he’d loved deeply—both Tatiana and his wife, whom he still mourned hundreds of years after her death.
Vincenzo also loved Sabrina. Maybe I could appeal to his humanity?
“Who knows?” Zev toyed with the pearl-handled letter opener on his desk. “Digital records have made hiding one’s past more difficult, but Vincenzo was changed long before that technology. He’s a vampire, he’s possessive, and his mate was turned by someone else. That’s all that matters.”
“He loves her,” I said. “That matters too.”
Zev darted a glance at Tatiana. “That makes it worse.”
“We want your permission to find whoever did this to his fiancée,” Tatiana said in a matter-of-fact tone, “and hand them over to our client.”
“You think that will satisfy him?” Zev ran a finger along the letter opener’s blade, drawing a single crimson bead against his pale skin.
Tatiana looked away.
“I doubt you need my permission,” he said, his finger already healed, “since none of my people would dare leave a new vampire alone. That means someone else has come to town and you may do whatever you like to them.” He stood and started pacing alongside us like a tiger in one fluid motion.
Tatiana shot me a pointed glance and I scowled at her. Thanks for making me the messenger.
“Well.” I fidgeted on my seat, drawing Zev’s predatory stare. “It could mean that one of your people is making a power grab.” I shrugged my shoulders up to my ears to protect my neck.
Zev laughed. “A good leader knows if their crew is unhappy enough to mutiny. Trust me, Ms. Feldman, I am an exceptional one.”
“With an exceptional ego,” Tatiana said.
I smothered a grin.
