Page 47 of Twilight Destiny

“This isn’t a laughing matter, dammit.” Paul hissed as pain from his wound speared through his side.

“Am I laughing?”

“Where’s Kincaid? I just want to ask him how he’s evading Luca. I’ll meet him anywhere of his choosing. No weapons. Dammit, man, I’m desperate!”

“I can see that. What’s wrong with your side?”

“Luca kicked the shit out of me.” Rhinehart’s shoulders slumped. “I should have known better than to expect any help from somebody like you.”

“For a hunter who’s supposed to be at the top of his game, you give up mighty quick.”

“I’m not worried about me. I’ve got a wife and three kids to think about. Luca’s threatening them, too.”

Saintcrow grunted softly. “Why don’t you go spend the night in the hotel? If the desk clerk says they don’t have a room, tell him I sent you. I’ll see if I can get in touch with Kincaid.”

“You’ll help me?” Rhinehart stared at him in disbelief.

“I try to do a good deed every day,” Saintcrow said, his voice as dry as dust. “Try to keep out of trouble until I get in touch with you.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything.”

“I can’t thank you … ”

But the vampire was gone.

Kincaid bent the woman over his arm, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the warm, rich scent of her life’s blood. She was young. Pretty, with golden hair and sky-blue eyes. He ran his tongue along the slender curve of her neck, then paused. He could dine on her later. Right now, he had another hunger that demanded attention.

Wrapping his arms around her, he transported them to his lair. It wasn’t much. A two-bedroom house located on a small cul-de-sac. There was only one other house on the block, and it had been abandoned for more than a year.

He carried the woman into his bedroom and lowered her onto the mattress. She didn’t move, simply lay there staring up at him, her eyes blank. She was his for the taking, he mused as he stretched out beside her. Dammit! He had never taken a woman by force. Never compelled one to submit to him. Was that a line he wanted to cross? What if it was the woman he loved lying there, at the mercy of another of his kind?

Muttering curses under his breath, he lifted her into his arms and transported them back to where he’d found her. Annoyed with himself, he released her from his thrall and vanished from sight.

He materialized insideThe Bloody Rose.

Five minutes later, Saintcrow strolled into the nightclub.

Kincaid glared at him. “What the hell do you want now?”

“A drink and a kind word?”

“Shut up.”

Saintcrow took the stool beside Kincaid’s, signaled the bartender, and ordered a glass of wine. “You look like hell.”

“I feel that way, too.”

“Why don’t you call her?”

Kincaid shook his head. “I killed a man last night.”

Saintcrow arched one brow.

“It wasn’t in your territory.”

“I know that.”