Page 59 of A Clash of Moonlight

“No.”

Deagan paused a beat too long, then opened the back door for the female. “Would you like to introduce me to your new companion?”

“Elsa,” Jared said.

“Have you taken note of her resemblance to—”

His hand shot out and wrapped around Deagan’s throat. “No conversation.”

“Jared—”

“None,” he growled.

When Deagan tried to nod, Jared released him.

Deagan’s nostrils flared, and his expression was unusually tight. Apprehensive.

“Get in,” Jared ordered as he sat behind the wheel. Noting the time on the dash, he started the engine, then drove toward the city. Six hours until sunrise. Plenty of time to threaten and bleed a plethora of vampires in the region, to teach them that Arcuro was to be worshipped and feared.

And plenty of time to haunt the human population as well. He had not terrorized the world in quite a while. His master was right. It was not healthy to restrict himself. He needed to let his monster loose.

“Where are we going?” Elsa asked from the back seat.

Every time she spoke, he wanted to kill her. He should kill her—it would be difficult to intimidate the paranorms of Knoxville with a youngling clinging to him—but she was a gift from Arcuro.

“Would you prefer to stalk humans or vampires?” he asked.

“I just want you,” she said.

In the passenger seat, Deagan sighed. “Will you let this one live?”

Deagan irritated him as well, fussing over him like a clucking hen.

“You could send her to Grisham in Florida,” Deagan said.

Elsa made a noise from the back seat. “Are you talking about me? Because I’m beginning to not like you.”

“Hush, child.”

“Child? Look, you might have been around longer than me, but I was born for this life.”

“You asked for this life,” Deagan said. “Which makes you an idiot. Quiet now, or your new existence will be a short one.”

“Jared!” she protested.

Perhaps it would be worth Arcuro’s ire to kill her now. She would trail him like an abused puppy until he did. She had been with him too long, feeding from him these past twenty-four hours. If it had been less time and she had drunk from young vampires, she might have curbed her addiction. Now, only old blood would satisfy her.

“Perhaps we can dump her on the side of the road?” Deagan asked.

“Perhaps we can dump you out,” Elsa snapped.

“Quiet.” Jared’s command whipped through the air, silencing both vampires. He did not have tolerance for petty bickering. No tolerance for distractions. No tolerance for anything that would interfere with his master’s directives, directives that included prying into the pack’s business and humiliating the alpha’s daughter.

That would require him to see her again, to fuck her again, to abuse her trust.

His jaw was clenched. He forced it to relax.

“Does she know you were summoned?” Deagan asked. It was like the vampire had slipped past his mental shields and spied his thoughts.