Page 4 of Paramour of Sin

He tilted his phone toward me. “Do you recognize this guy?”

I stepped forward to examine the photo on his screen. My eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Clark. Or… Cody?” I really was bad at names. “He’s a lawyer at some firm downtown.” I tilted my head, more closely reviewing the photo.

Which was when I realizedwhyGleason had a photo of him on his phone.

Clark’s dead. Very… very... dead.

“Oh.” My hand flew up to touch my lips, my eyes widening. “I didn’t do that to him. He was fine when he left. Actually, he was quite happy. I even…” I trailed off at the look on Gleason’s face. The innate suspicion. “Come on, you know I wouldn’t lie to you.” I took a step back. “You just helped me cart off that guy last month! Why would I hide this one?” I looked at the phone again. “Hell, why would I leave himthereto be found?”

He blinked at that, then looked at the photo of the blond male in the middle of the sidewalk. “You’re right. You wouldn’t.”

My shoulders sagged in relief, only to tighten again as the scent of smoke tickled my nostrils.

Uh oh…

“Darling Guinevere,” a deep voice murmured as Lord Zebulon appeared in my kitchen. “I do believe we need to have a chat.”

Oh, demon fires,I thought, falling into a requisite bow.This isn’t good.

“My lord,” I greeted meekly. “How can I be of service?”

Chapter Two

Gwen

I swallowed as silence descended upon the kitchen.

Lord Zebulon stepped forward, his expensive shoes disrupting my line of sight to the floor. He bent and lightly touched my chin to draw me up from my bow. “You’ve recently fed.”

“Yes,” I replied, breathless.

He glanced at Gleason. “From you?”

My roommate snorted. “No. From the smiling idiot I just met in my driveway.”

“Was he alive?” Lord Zebulon pressed.

I flinched at the inquiry, the lack of trust apparent and fully deserved. “My last failure was five weeks ago,” I said softly. “I reported it to Zane.”

“Yes, he informed me,” Lord Zebulon said, his gaze still on Gleason.

“He was alive,” my roommate confirmed. “The same cannot be said about her conquest from last week, which I imagine is why you’re here?”

“I didn’t kill him,” I protested, horrified by the connotation in his tone. “He was very much alive when he left.”

Lord Zebulon’s chocolate gaze slid back to mine, his expression assessing as he drew his thumb along my jaw to my throat. “The corpse bears the mark of a succubus,” he said after a beat, releasing me from his searing touch. “Something I imagine the Dark Provenance hasn’t determined yet, but will.”

“You examined the body?” I asked, my voice small.

“I did. And your imprint is all over him.”

“Because I fed from him last week. But I assure you, he was very much alive.”

“Did anyone see him afterward?” Lord Zebulon asked.

My lips flattened. “As he was alive, no. I didn’t think anyone needed to see him.” I couldn’t help the bite to my tone, but really wished I’d done a better job masking it. Especially after Lord Zebulon’s face darkened.

His irises swirled with power. “Careful, Guinevere.”