“No.” Jian-Li shook her head. “The blond one asked for the vampire.”

“Fuck,” Abel snarled. “To you?”

She nodded. “To me.”

“And you said…?”

“I acted like he needed to see a doctor and told them I had no idea what he was talking about.” She took another step into the room, her eyes going to Delilah, who she gave a soft smile, before they came back to him. “I don’t know, but when the blond one asked this, the dark one appeared annoyed.”

“This means…?” Abel prompted.

“I really don’t know, tian xin,” she said softly. “But I got the impression the dark one wished for this contact to be a little less aggressive.”

“That’s good, right?” Delilah asked.

Jian-Li looked to her. “I have no idea, but I hope so.”

“And that was it?” Abel called her attention back to him. “They asked, you said you had no idea, and they left?”

“Yes, they left, but not before the dark one gave me this,” Jian-Li told him, moving toward Abel, holding up what appeared to be a business card.

He took it and saw it was. Cream. Thick, expensive stock. Printed in bold, script letters was:

Gregor

Councilman

Dominion

This meant nothing to Abel. Then he looked to the back and sucked in breath.

On the back, written in pen, it said:

We mean you and your mate no harm.

The Biltmore. Suite 1013.

His mate.

His mate.

He looked to Delilah.

She was his mate. That was what his kind called them.

Something settled in his gut that Abel didn’t trust because it felt good.

But even so, his throat tightened further because they knew he had a mate.

“What’s it say?” Delilah asked.

He shoved the card in his back pocket. “Nothing that makes sense.”

Having followed his movements, she looked from his hip to his eyes and he knew she didn’t believe him. There was only a hint of hurt in her face, but it was a definite indication she didn’t like shit kept from her.

He ignored this and looked to Jian-Li. “I gotta finish downstairs and then I gotta run.”

“Of course,” she said with soft understanding.

“Take care of Delilah,” he continued.

“You don’t have to ask,” Jian-Li replied.

He knew he didn’t.

“Sorry about lunch,” he muttered, moved to her and leaned in, sliding his temple across hers before he headed to the door.

“Abel?” Delilah called.

“Later,” Abel replied without looking back.

Then he shut the door.

* * * * *

Abel sat as wolf on the highest cliff at the south end of town, staring down at the lights spread narrow along the bay, his focus on one of the tallest, most attractive buildings in the city.

The Biltmore Hotel.