Page 69 of Brushed By Moonlight

“Resents is one word,” Bene sighed.

“Hates,” I grunted.

“Despises,” Roux added.

“Out for revenge on,” Henrik finished, pretending it was all the same to him, which it absolutely, positively wasn’t. I didn’t know the details, but I knew he and Szabo had once been friends — to the extent that vampires were capable of friendship. What had ended it, I had no clue, and even I wasn’t dumb enough to broach a topic that irked Henrik so badly. Even now, points of red shone in his eyes and reflected on the surface of his coffee.

Mina rubbed her face, then straightened with an effort. “Great. I mean, good to know.” She grimaced. “Maybe.”

Bene patted her arm. “Sorry.”

“Well, I’m grateful that you chased him away. But how do we make sure he stays away?”

Killing him was my first idea. My second one, also. I kept it to myself, figuring Mina wouldn’t like to hear that.

Our glum silence must have given us away, because Mina slumped back in her chair. “Great. Another vampire out to get me.”

“I’m not out to get you,” Henrik said defensively.

“Oh good,” she mumbled dryly. “Just one vampire out to get me.”

“He’s after us, not you,” Roux pointed out.

“But if I happen to get in the way…” She slid a finger across her throat.

Bad move, because Henrik’s eyes lit up again.

Bene pushed the last of the bacon over to him. More meat meant longer intervals a vampire could go without sucking blood. But sooner or later, he would need to sate the impulse or risk going crazy — a little like Szabo.

The ideal case was a willing donor — better yet, donors. Those were usually reckless young things, male or female, who didn’t shy away from kink — the gateway drug, so to speak, to letting a vampire suck their blood.

Gross,my dragon wrinkled its nose.

Definitely not my thing, but there were plenty of willing and able blood donors out there, most of whom had their memories wiped by the vampire afterward. All they recalled was hitting incredible highs through some combination of drugs, sex, and alcohol. As long as the vampire didn’t overbinge, everyone would go home happy and reasonably healthy — give or take a few pints of blood.

I made a mental note to ask Roux if he’d been keeping tabs on Henrik’s diet. For now…I kicked Henrik under the table. Hecould try his luck with any woman he wanted. Just notmywoman.

He glared back, then stabbed his fork into the bacon.

“Maybe we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Bene tried.

“We absolutely should, at least when it comes to Szabo,” Roux said wearily.

“So, where do we start?” Mina asked.

A woman of action. No wonder I liked her.

Love her,my dragon corrected me.

Like. Love. Lust. I’d lost track of the difference. Hell, I doubted I’d ever known it.

I scratched my chest. Didn’t Mina deserve someone better?

So, be better,my dragon rumbled.That’s what we’re here for, right?

I stared into my coffee. Frankly, my only goal had beenmarginallybetter. Just enough to stay on the right side of shifter laws and politics. But Mina deserved way,waybetter, and I wasn’t sure I was up to that. Was it even worth trying?

I waited for the usual answer —no— to pop glumly into the back of my mind. But, huh. Nothing. Nada. Zero.