Page 129 of Taste of Blood

Dante scores points by not taking the bait. “You say you’ve heard about me? What exactly would that be?”

“Just that you have your finger on the pulse of this city. I’m quite envious, actually.”

“And why is that?” Dante asks. You could cut the tension between them with a knife.

“I’m trying to grow my business here, which means of course, building bridges with the right contacts. Perhaps we could be mutually beneficial to each other.”

“What line of business are you in?”

“A little of this, a little of that, but I do have a small pharmaceutical company I recently acquired.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Dante replies, “but I don’t have anything to do with pharmaceuticals.”

“That’s not what I hear.”

The vein on the side of Dante’s head starts to pulse. I tense, ready to jump in if needed, when Thalium turns his attention to Asher. “And what about you, Mr. Winston? I hear your company is quite involved in acquisitions.”

Once again I find myself swallowing a growl. The last thing I want is Thalium’s attention on Asher. How does he even know who he is?

The green of Asher’s eyes deepens as he replies, “You seem to know a lot about other people, Mr. Thalium. One would think you were researching us.”

“I make it my business to know my competition.”

“And how exactly did I become your competition?”

Thalium’s eyes flicker to me as he offers a humorless smile. “You can’t blame me for envying you. You have one of the most successful companies on the east coast.”

I’m this close to strangling him. I feel my body tense up, my fists clenching at my sides until Asher’s hand touches mine, defusing the situation. Thalium’s eyes track the movement and his lips curl up in a smirk.

He leans closer to Asher. “Now that the dick measuring is over,” he murmurs, “please enjoy what’s left of your evening.” And then he strolls off like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“I’m going to fucking murder him,” Dante snarls.

“Not if I get to him first,” Asher mutters.

“He was taunting us,” I say, turning to Asher. “I don’t like that he knows who you are.”

“I don’t either,” he admits.

“I need to go to the ladies’ room,” the woman on Dante’s arm says. I’d all but forgotten she was there.

“I believe it’s by the entrance,” Dante tells her as she wanders off. After she’s gone, he turns back to us. “Since the fucker obviously knows who we all are, I see no reason not to take him out tonight.”

I’m in complete agreement, though I’m not sure how we’re going to accomplish that with just the three of us. That’s when I spot Roland working his way through the crowd toward us. When he reaches us, he leans over and whispers something in Dante’s ear.

“When?” Dante says.

“Just now.”

“Go get the men. Meet me out front.” He turns to us. “Two dens have just been hit. One of ours and a White Guild one.”

“Which White Guild one?” Asher asks, his face going pale.

“Lupercalia.”

38: Asher

WE MOVE AS one across the floor, Dante’s bodyguard parting the crowd as we make our way toward the exit. I pull out my phone and text Benjimen to meet us out front.