Page 51 of Fighting for Her Heart

“They arenotmy pals.” Octavia’s voice turns hard and then she downs her drink.

“This is going nowhere.” Axe finishes his beer and slams the glass on the table. “The day’s wasting. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Octavia’s eyes widen. “How will you leave here in daylight?”

“Underground,” I say without missing a beat and covering for Axe. “We plan to wait out the day at the club.”

Octavia exhales heavily as she nods, and then she slides out from behind the table. The waiter appears quickly and pulls out the heavy table so the rest of us can stand without sliding across the curved leather seat.

“It was nice to meet you.” Nora reaches out to shake Tavi’s hand, but Tavi turns away, her heart accelerating again. Tavi can clearly detect Nora’s magic, even if the princess didn’t seem to. Or maybe the princess is just better at hiding her reactions.

Tavi rushes toward the exit, and Timur follows, but Anna stops by our group. “Thank you both for agreeing to make statements to aid our investigation,” she says brightly. “Please keep in contact.”

As she turns away from us, her long hair swings to the side and she steps quickly and lightly to join Timur.

Noting the youth in the princess’s step, I remember she was barely seventeen when she was turned, and clearly the intervening century hasn’t done anything to steal her youthful disposition or vigor.

“Wellthatwas fucking useless,” Axe says under his breath once they’ve gone and the three of us are seated around the table again.

I pour myself another few fingers of whiskey. “Nottotallyuseless.” I raise my glass toward them, as Nora sits again and the waiter returns to adjust our table.

“How do you figure that?” Axe asks, and then nods in the affirmative, when the waiter asks if he’d like a second beer.

“Something about Tavi was off.” I shake my head. “She’s weakened.”

“D’uh,” Axe says abruptly. “She’s been arrested, lost her job, her mates and her magic.”

“It’s something more.” I shake my head. “I knew herbeforeshe had any of those things.”

Axe grunts. “Got a sec for a private chat?”

I nod. The two of us jump up, shifting the table out and then back, in a blink, and then crossing to the far side of the large space before Nora notices. She glances around, not able to track our movements, and we step behind a thick, black velvet curtain.

“What’s up?” I ask the bear.

“Octavia,” Axe whispers, “she was fuckingterrifiedof Nora.”

My back straightens. “You think?” Terror kind of fits now that he says it, but Tavi’s not afraid of witches or magic—not like Axe is. Maybe he’s projecting?

Axe looks into my eyes. “I’d bet my left nut that Nora knows more than she’s saying about the witches who granted and then took back Octavia’s powers.”

Chapter Seventeen

Axe

Ryker headsto the bar as I rejoin Nora at the table.

“I’ll never get used to how fast you guys can move,” she says. “You sure it’s not magic?”

I growl at the idea and her back flattens into the seat behind her. She’s frightened of me. Good. She might be my mother in law, but my original distrust of her has returned. I at least plan to keep a healthy amount of skepticism when it comes to Ember’s mom, and if I’m right and she knows the witches working with Tavi, then she might even be part of the same coven who trapped my clan and killed my family, even if those particular witches would be long ago dead.

I focus on Ryker’s voice as he asks the waiter how to get to the tunnels that lead to the club he mentioned. Leaving that way will help us avoid letting other vampires see we can take sunlight, and as long as there’s some place to sleep in this club, I’ll be happy.

Ryker returns and slides into the booth, putting Nora between us.

“We should go,” Nora says. “That Octavia woman wasn’t much help, but I have some ideas.”

“Whatkindof ideas?” I ask.