“Yeah.”
The Brother turned to him. “You’re still here, right?”
Lassiter shot him a look. “If you’re talking to me, that’s a yes.”
“Okay… that’s good.” The Brother punched up to his feet. “Then we’ve still got some time left.”
Woo-hoo. Fantastic. Like that was going to make any difference.
Outside her private cabin, Xhex stood alone on the shores of the Hudson, her boots planted in the white snow, her breath leaving her nose in puffs that drifted off over her shoulder. The sunset’s peach-and-pink glow rained down on the frozen landscape from behind her, the colors picked up by the sluggish waves in the center of the channel.
There wasn’t much open water left in the river—ice was building up from the shores and closing in, threatening to strangle the surface as the cold endured through the season.
Without any command from her, her symphath senses pierced the gloaming, invisible tentacles that probed the thin, frigid air. She did not expect to get any hits, but she was so used to being receptive after these last couple of months, she found that side of her wanting to stretch and extend outward, if only for exercise.
She had not found the Band of Bastards’ lair. Yet.
Right person for the job, huh. Frankly, the shit was getting embarrassing.
Then again, the reasons to handle everything carefully were too many to count: So much was riding on her getting a bead on them as quietly and unobtrusively as possible, and at least the king and the Brothers understood that.
John had likewise been endlessly supportive of her mission. Patient. Ready to discuss any angle or not bring it up at all when she was at the mansion—which had been on a regular basis as it turned out: Between seeing her mother, updating the Brotherhood and the king, or even hanging out a little, she was there two or three times a week.
Yet, when it came to John, things had never gone further than a polite meal.
Even though his eyes burned for her.
She knew what he was doing. He was keeping his word, holding back until she penetrated the B.o.B. so he could prove that he meant what he said. Except, as crass as it was… she wanted to be with him. And not as in separated-by-a-dinner-table “be with him.”
It was an improvement over the summer and fall for them, to be sure—and not nearly enough.
Refocusing, she continued to search the environs for no good reason until all around her, darkness descended fast, the light draining out of the sky in the way of late December—which was to say, the shit flushed out like it was on the run, pursued by the cold.
Over to her left, at the mansion on the peninsula, lights came on rather suddenly, as if Assail had shutters on the inside of all his glass: One moment the property was unlit; the next it was like a football stadium.
Ah, yes, the gentlemale Assail… not.
The guy’s hold on the drug scene in Caldwell was nearly secure, with no one of any significance left other than that big-fish supplier Benloise. What she couldn’t figure out was who the vampire’s troops were. He couldn’t be operating a business that involved by himself, and yet there was never anyone coming or going from his house other than him.
Then again, why would he want his associates in his private space?
A little later, a car eased down the lane, heading out. That Jaguar of his.
Man, bitch needed to invest in an armor-plated Range Rover. Or a Hummer like Qhuinn’s. The Jag was fast, and suited the motherfucker, but come on. Little traction in all this snow was never a bad idea.
The sports car slowed to a stop as it approached her, its exhaust curling around and glowing in the red tail lights like something a magician would call up onstage.
A window went down and a male voice said, “Enjoying the view?”
The temptation was to flip him off, but she kept her middle finger sheathed as she crunched through the drifts to him. At this point, Assail was not viewed as a “suspect,” per se—he had done nothing but help the Brotherhood get Wrath out of there when the assassination attempt had gone down. But still, the attack had occurred at his house, and she wondered about where Xcor was getting his financial resources: Assail had had money even before he’d decided to be a drug kingpin, and wars required cash.
Especially if you were trying to fight the king.
Focusing her symphath side on the male, she read his grid and saw a whole lot of… well, lust, for one thing. He wanted her, but she was willing to bet that was not specific to her.
Assail liked sex with chicks. Fine. Got it.
Beneath that testosterone surge, however, she found a hunger for power that was curious. It wasn’t about taking down the king, though. It was…
“Reading my mind?” he drawled.
If only he knew what he was talking to. “You’d be surprised what I can find out about people.”
“So you know I want you.”
“I would suggest you don’t go there. I’m mated.”
“So I’ve heard. But where’s your man.”
“Working.”
As he smiled, the lights of the dashboard picked up his features, highlighting them and making them even more handsome. But he wasn’t just a pretty boy: There was a lick of evil in those heated eyes of his.
Dangerous male. Even though he looked like he was nothing more than a coiffed member of the glymera.
“Well,” he murmured, “you know what they say. Too much time apart makes the heart grow—”
“Tell me something. You see Xcor around anywhere?”
That shut him up. And lowered his lids.
“I have no idea,” he said after a moment, “why you’d ask me that.”
“Oh, really.”
“Not a clue.”
“I know what happened at your house in the fall.”
There was a another pause. “I wouldn’t have thought that the Brotherhood mixed business with pleasure.” When she just stared at him, he shrugged. “Well, frankly, I can’t believe they’re still looking for him. Matter of fact, it’s a surprise that that bastard is still breathing.”
“So you’ve seen him lately.”
At that, his grid lit up in one specific sector—obstruction. He was hiding something from her.
She smiled coldly. “Haven’t you, Assail.”
“Listen, I’m going to give you some free advice. I know you’re all leather wearing and tough and a self-actualized female of the world, but you don’t want to have anything to do with that guy. Have you seen what he looks like? You’re mated to a pretty boy like John Matthew, you don’t need—”
“I’m not looking to fuck the bastard.”
Her deliberately crass language made him blink. “Indeed. And, ah, good for you. As for myself, I haven’t seen him. Not even that night he ambushed Wrath.”
Liar, she thought.
When Assail spoke next, his voice was very low. “Leave that male alone. You don’t want to get in his path—he’s got less mercy than I have.”
“So you think only the big boys should deal with him.”
“You got it, sweetheart.”
As he put the Jag in gear, she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. Too frickin’ typical. What was it about the cock and balls that made males think they had a lock on strength?
“I’ll see you around, neighbor,” she drawled.
“I’m serious about Xcor.”
“Oh, I can tell you are.”
He shook his head. “Fine. It’s your funeral.”
As he drove off, she thought, Wrong pronoun there, buddy. Wrong goddamn pronoun…
FIFTY-FOUR
Autumn was dead asleep when she was joined in the bed, but even in her deep, nearly painful repose, she knew whose hands came upon her skin, and traveled over her hip, and eased up her stomach. She knew exactly who cupped her breasts and rolled her over.
For sex.
Cool air hit her skin as the covers were folded aside, and on instinct she parted her legs, preparing to welcome the one male she would e’er take within her.