Page 77 of Brimstone

SAERIS

LORRETH’S LEATHERS CREAKEDas he shifted, staring at the vampire. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

I watched the two males, waiting for the first fist to fly. The way they were looking at each other certainly promised violence. Leaning back against a pillar, Lorreth folded his arms casually in front of his chest. He’d unwound the silver chain that I’d used to restrain the other male, and I hadn’t done anything to stop him. If Lorreth deemed it safe to release him, who was I to say otherwise?

Foley—this stranger with blue-black hair; pale soulful cat eyes; and gold that flashed in his mouth every time he spoke—glowered up at my friend from under drawn brows. “I didn’t think I’d ever see youhere, Lorreth. Walking around in the open like you’re on a godscursed vacation.” He spoke the words without emotion, but there was an anger behind them that ran deep. It charged the air, making the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

Lorreth huffed down his nose, looking down at his boots. “It’s not like Iwantto be here, brother,” he said.

“If you two aren’t going to draw blood, then I have a cat to find,” Algat sniped. The look she sent me could have killed a dead man twice. “Here. The book that was promised.” She held up the tome with the faded black cloth cover that she had stabbed at me earlier. “I can’t guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for inside it, but then again, what do I care? I’m here from an hour after dusk until an hour before sunrise. Donotreturn during those hours. You may peruse the shelves, but do not remove any other books from the library without written consent.”

She held out the book across the reading table. I went to take it, but she snatched it back at the last second. “Do you understand?” She squinted at me through narrowed eyes.

“Do I understand that I’m only permitted to enter the library for an hour in the evening and an hour before dawn? In my own court? Yes, I understand perfectly.”

“Good.” Algat shoved the book at me and left.

As soon as the stooped Lord of Midnight was gone, Foley rose from his seat. “She’s a vampire, Lorreth. She’s wearing Fisher’s dagger like she didn’t have to pry it from his cold, dead hands. And the way you’re angling your body right now tells me you’d stand against me if I went for her throat again.”

Lorreth looked over his shoulder at me, raising both eyebrows in query. “He went for your throat?” he asked.

I shrugged, nodding.

“And you don’t have a mark on you? Impressive.”

Foley made a sound of annoyance. “That really isn’t the point.”

“You must be getting rusty in your old age, Foley. Or perhaps you’re just out of practice because you’ve hidden yourself away in a fuckinglibraryof all places.”

The vampire’s hands curled into fists, tension drawing his shoulders up around his ears. “No one comes here,” he said. “Noone apart from that old witch. This is the only place I can be without causing friction.”

I held up a hand, laughing quietly. “Uh, I’d say you just caused plenty of friction.”

Foley rounded on me, features drawn into a sneer. “I wasn’t talking toyou.”

It happened fast. The chair behind Foley flew into the air and then crashed down onto the reading table. The vampire was lifted off his feet and flung backward. A banner of black streamed across the library, and then Lorreth was holding the vampire out of the hole I had created in the library wall by the front of his shirt.

“You’d be wise to adjust that attitude,” he said.

In a flash, I was at his side. “Lorreth, it’s okay. Pull him back in.”

But Lorreth didn’t obey. “She is a vampire.Halfvampire. But she’s also half Fae. And she did not pry that blade from Fisher’s cold dead hand.” He laughed, shaking his head, as if he couldn’t even believe what he was saying himself. “Hegaveit to her.”

“Bullshit. He wouldneverdo that.” The male was angry, yes, but otherwise appeared unconcerned that he was being dangled precariously over the side of the building. “The only reason he would do that was if she was . . .”

Lorreth dipped his head, eyebrows up again. He made a ‘go on. You’re almost there. Finish the thought,’ kind of motion with his free hand.

Foley’s eyes darted to me, going wide. “No.” He shook his head. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” Lorreth scoffed. “Are you telling me you can’t smell him on her from here? It’s been two days since he was here last, and I can still—”

“Excuse me, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t finish that thought. While I’m fairly immune to the judgment of others, I don’t thinkI can handle my friend gossiping about the fact that I reek of sex right in front of me.”

“So, she’s tricked him, then,” Foley said uncertainly. “She’s found a way to control him. But that doesn’t explain why you’re protecting her like this. She’s the enemy, Lorreth.”

The dark-haired warrior glanced back at me again, a crooked smile taking over his handsome face. “She’s mydrinkingpartner. And since you’re the one who left that spot wide open, you don’t get to complain about someone else filling the role.”

“She’s their queen,” he hissed.