Page 273 of Duty and Desire

He kept his gaze stoic. There was a man still walking the earth who’d hit what was his. He’d managed to stay calm while she told him the story, but inside, he’d raged so hard his blood pressure had tripled. Didn’t matter one iota that it had happened before Noah had met her. “That’s irrelevant. Stay here for the moment, and I’ll be back for you.” He turned on his heel to get the body out of the house before she saw it again. He threw Petersen over his shoulder and walked outside, not seeing any witnesses. After setting the corpse in the cargo hold beneath the lid, he strode back inside. She probably wouldn’t want to ride in the truck, but he didn’t have a choice. “Come on, Abs,” he called.

Silence. Complete and utter silence.

He sighed. Her stubbornness was a turn-on, actually. But he was on the clock here. “Abby. Come on.” He strode through the demolished living room to the bedroom. It was empty. A quick search of the bathroom had his temper rising.

She’d gone out the back door.

He ran for the small slider off the kitchen and looked in both directions. Nothing. Damn it. He obviously hadn’t explained matehood well enough to her yet.

That was going to change.

Abby finished shovelingin a bag of veggie chips at the mini-mart at the end of her block. She was starving. The white BMW skidded into the lot, and she waved, running and jumping into the passenger seat. “Thanks for picking me up,” she said.

“Sure.” Tabi spun out of the parking lot, sending water from mud puddles spraying. “I almost didn’t answer the phone. Whose number was that?”

“The clerk at the store,” Abby said, her stomach grumbling. “Sorry.”

Tabi pushed her glasses down her straight nose. “Want me to grab lunch?”

Abby shook her head. “No. I’m good.” She sure wasn’t making a very good impression in front of her new boss. “I’m sorry about all of this. I’m sure my life will slow down soon.” Yeah, right. She’d just mated a demon-vampire hybrid and her chromosomal pairs were somehow changing. And he’d been a little insistent that she stay safe.

Tabi zipped out of town. “Abby? Why did I have to pick you up at a gas station?”

Because there had been a pissed-off hybrid and a dead body at her apartment. “I just thought I’d go for a walk, and then I decided I needed chips,” she said in lieu of the truth.

“Uh huh,” Tabitha said, pressing harder on the gas pedal. Businesses and then homes and finally trees sped by outside too quickly to gauge. “Anything you want to talk about? I’m a great sounding board.”

Abby snorted and then quickly recovered. “No, but thank you.” If she told the pretty blonde the truth about demons and vampires and matings, the woman would probably scream and run for the hills—after calling for the guys with straitjackets. It was too bad Abby had lost touch with her friends from before the accident. It’d be nice to reach out to a couple of them, but it wasn’t like she could tell them the truth, either.

Tabi drove through the industrial park, going to a sprawling maroon colored metal building in the back. “I need an assistant, and I think you’d be fantastic. Somebody to organize me as we get things off the ground.”

Abby craned her neck, curious. “What are you going to manufacture here?”

Tabi shot her a secret smile. “I’ll show you.” She stepped out and frowned as rain started to fall. Sighing, she slid her sunglasses onto the dash and then hustled for the nearest door, using a keypad to unlock it.

Abby followed. She should probably get a better idea of her duties, anyway.

Tabi moved inside, and Abby stepped gingerly over a large mud puddle before crossing through the doorway into a reception area built with hand-cut wood and heavy dark granite. “Tabi Enterprises,” she murmured, reading the wide wooden side that arced across the reception desk.

“Yep.” Tabi flipped on lights and walked beyond reception to a long hallway. “These are all offices.” She moved to the left down another hallway and pointed to a pristine lab. “Research and development.” Then she pointed down to a wide metal door. “Design is to the left, and manufacturing to the right. We’re almost ready with the product.”

Abby blew out a whistle. The metal outside really hid the updated interior. “This is fantastic. What are you researching and developing, anyway?”

Tabi turned to face her in the quiet hallway. “Better spray and even masks that prevent cameras from recording faces. We have some elementary ones in the market, but it’s time for some much better devices.”

Abby paused. “For the government?”

Tabitha sighed and shook her head. She looked down and then back up. “No. For immortals.” Slowly, sharp fangs slid down between her perfectly pink lips.

Abby backed into the wall and quickly righted herself. “Are you kidding me?” she yelped.

“No.” Tabitha retracted her fangs and smiled.

“You’re a vampire.” Abby shook her head. Were they all around, or what?

Tabi scoffed. “Of course not. Vampires are male only. I’m a demoness.”

Well, of course. Why wouldn’t vampires be male only? How silly of her to ask. Abby put her hands on her hips. “Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?”