Page 18 of Brushed By Moonlight

“Let me guess,” Bene cut in. “Someone went exploring last night. Somewhere off-limits.”

Twin pricks of red shone in Henrik’s eyes. “And you didn’t?”

Bene put a hand on his heart. “Absolutely not.” His offended tone suggested he would never, ever consider such a thing.

I doubted that, but Bene wasn’t my problem right now.

Henrik pinned me with a glare, like I’d been the one disturbinghissleep last night.

Asshole,I let my eyes say.

“To solve this issue, it would help to know what happened,” Roux said rather reasonably.

But I doubted vampires reasoned, so I refused to respond.

“We have to play fucking charades now?” Marius grumbled.

I turned my glare to him — and nearly wobbled backward when his glowing eyes met mine. Clearly, his dragon side was worked up about something. But what? I doubted rules violations offended him. Maybe a violation of an honor code? Even bad-boy dragon shifters had to have those.

The longer I gazed into those midnight eyes, the more I settled onviolation of an honor code. And if that was true, well… Huh. Whose honor was at stake here?

Then it hit me, and my knees wobbled. Mine?

Finally, I yanked my gaze away. If I didn’t, it would stay with him all day. The man was like lava spurting from a volcano —dangerous but so mesmerizing, you forgot to drag yourself to safety.

Henrik. Focus on Henrik,I reminded myself.

I had him on the back foot, so it was time to show my hand.

“If you want to stay here — all of you — you have to play by the rules,” I barked.

“Who says I want to stay here?” Henrik grumbled.

Exactly what I’d spent the morning mulling over. Vampires only answered to one boss — themselves. And most vampires lived comfortably from assets amassed over centuries-long life-spans. So why would one stoop so low as to work for Gordon?

Because he has to,I’d realized in the wee hours of the morning. Whether his motive was financial, a favor owed, or some other reason was a moot point. Henrik had had no choice in taking this job. Therefore, he couldn’t afford to lose it.

I put all my eggs in one basket and hurled it at Henrik.

“What you want isn’t the point, is it?” I said. “You’re here because you have to be here, correct?”

Henrik glared.

Definitely aYes.

“You cannot afford to fail, because you know there will be consequences,” I powered on.

All four men stared at their feet. So, ha. I was right. Pretty dire consequences, I figured, because none of them was the type to shy away from breaking the rules.

“Yes, I need Gordon’s business,” I admitted. “But I am prepared to call off this deal if you don’t respect my rules. And not just you.” I pointed at Henrik. “All of you will be out of here…”

Bene’s throat bobbed in a heavy gulp.

“…and it will be up to you, Henrik, to explain to Gordon why,” I finished.

As a teacher, I’d rarely called on the principal to assist with discipline because that undermined my own credibility. But Henrik was a vampire, not a fifth grader. Whatever power I could hold over his head, I sure as hell would.

It seemed to work too, because Roux, Bene, and Marius all glared at Henrik. Especially Marius, I noticed. Interesting. What did a man like him have to lose?