Chapters (46)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- thirty-eight
- thirty-nine
- forty
- forty-one
- forty-two
The hair sizzled as he lit the ends. I kicked at him, but he leaped out of the way and we goofed around for a few more minutes, until I collapsed on the floor, laughing.
“Better?” he said, standing over me.
“Better. Thanks.”
He reached down, grabbed me under the armpits, and hoisted me onto the bed. Then he stretched out beside me, the backs of our hands touching, the silence falling, calm and comfortable, and I closed my eyes, relaxing for the first time since I’d found Michael’s body.
“Remember last year, when I was tracking that demi-demon in Ohio?” he said. “The one who possessed—”
“—a teacher who started seducing and killing her students? Oh, yeah. I won’t forget that bitch.”
“Remember when I realized she was onto me? When she tried to trap me? I told you and you were on the next plane out to help?” He turned me around to face him. “You didn’t come because you thought I couldn’t handle it.”
“Um, actually, yeah. Sorry. I know I said—”
He poked me in the ribs, making me yelp. “Seriously, Savannah. You came because I needed backup and you knew I was too damned stubborn to ask for it. And a few months later, when I was on a case and realized I was tracking two vampires instead of one, I called you in. I’d learned my lesson. Don’t be afraid to ask for backup.”
I sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “We aren’t just traveling down memory lane here, are we?”
“Nope.” He sat up beside me. “I just don’t want you to bite my head off when I tell you that I want to stay.”
“Okay.”
He paused. “You mean okay, you won’t bite my head off?”
“No, I mean okay, you can stay.”
“Huh, that was easy.” He frowned over at me. “Too easy. What’s the catch?”
“No catch. I need backup. One investigator is dead. Tiffany Radu pushed me down the stairs, planning to do god-only-knows-what. So that’s two reasons—”
“You’re forgetting something.”
“Hmm?”
“Your bike. I saw it on the way in. And don’t tell me you just laid it down. What happened?”
I told him. The acrid smell of burning cloth wafted up and I lifted his hand from the bed.
“No scorching the sheets, okay? They’ll charge me a fortune for them.”
“Sorry.” He made a fist. “The first order of business, I think, is to pay a visit to Cody.”
“No, first I need to talk to Tiffany, and that appointment isn’t until—” I turned to check the clock. I looked at Adam. “How’d you make it here from Spokane so fast?”