Page 94 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

“We hunt supernatural bad guys. And in our line of work, we run across a lot of messed up stuff,” Danny supplied. “Like with Thomas Beyer. He would have died for sure if you guys hadn’t helped him. And there wouldn’t have been a goddamn thing we could’ve done to stop that. He was attacked by a banshee.”

“A banshee,” I repeated, incredulous. Every time I thought I understood how strange the world was, I learned something new that made it even weirder. “Like the wailing woman from Irish folklore?”

“Well,” Danny exchanged a glance with Michael. “I mean, we’re not really sure if they’re actually the same thing or not. It might be a situation where there’s the same name for different types of beings that seem similar on the surface, but really aren’t. But what we’re talking about is a type of fey creature—a really bad one—that hunts mortal men and siphons their life force away with its wailing. Generally, if you hear a banshee, you’re doomed. Unlike most malevolent fey creatures, it preys on the most powerful members of society. It enjoys making them weak.”

“Why do I feel like you’re basically a walking encyclopedia of supernatural baddies?” Tobias asked, raising an eyebrow at Danny.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Michael muttered, giving Danny a look that was equal parts annoyed and bemused. “But we wouldn’t get very far without him. He’s also a pretty badass hacker.”

Danny glared at him. “Michael. We don’t tell people how our operation runs. Remember Memphis, when you got way too gabby with that wendigo?”

“Well, I didn’t know he was a wendigo, did I?” Michael protested, immediately going on the defensive. He gave a shrug and chugged his beer. When he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He set his glass down and poured himself a refill. “He seemed like a nice enough guy.”

“Right, because you wanted to bang him.”

“What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants.” Michael turned back to us, clearly not catching the way Danny’s expression froze for an instant, like Michael had just struck him. “Anyway, that’s why we’re here. We were hoping to confirm what type of bad guy was offing some of the most successful businessmen in town. We never figured we’d have a chance to just talk to the victim directly.”

Danny, apparently unable to help himself, added, “Because banshees leave marks. Usually, its bruising around the throat and sometimes even bleeding from the ears.”

Tobias and Michael exchanged a knowing glance and smiled at the same time. Through the bond, I could feel Tobias’s amusement. Despite his best intentions to the contrary, I knew that Michael was beginning to grow on him.

Danny caught it and shot Michael a betrayed look. “How many times has my research saved our asses?”

“I still have an ass to save because of you,” Michael agreed solemnly.

Danny couldn’t seem to think of anything to say to that, but his eyes narrowed at his partner in obvious suspicion.

“So,” Michael said brightly, clearly intent upon steamrolling ahead at full speed. “Here’s the deal: when Danny and I run across folks who have been harmed by the supernatural, we’ll give you two a call. We can run the offensive and you guys can make everything all sunshine and rainbows afterward. What do you say?”

I don’t get the game they’re playing. Tobias told me, his mental voice filled with suspicion. Is this some kind of weird trap? It doesn’t seem like it, but they can’t really be serious, can they?

I think they are serious, I replied.

I bit my lip, considering it.

Surprisingly, their suggestion made sense. Even if they found it distasteful to have a vampire and his warlock mate in their orbit, they probably really had seen some pretty awful stuff in their line of work. Stuff that left innocent people completely wrecked and broken, like how Lisa had been. I supposed that if you saw that type of thing often enough—or stuff even worse than that—and you felt helpless to put a stop to any of it, you’d probably be willing to do something insane. Like hatch a plan to work with the guys who almost killed you, for instance.

At least we all had that in common.

I’m… well, I think I’m kind of tempted to give it a try, actually.

If they try anything, anything at all, we’re completely done with them. Tobias told me. Agreed?

Agreed.

Tobias sighed, turning back to the hunters. “Fine. We’ll try this out. On a temporary basis. Like, for a couple of cases. Then we’ll revisit how it’s going in another couple of months. And we’re not following you around the country like we’re your fucking groupies. You text us an address and how bad things are, and then we’ll show up to help, provided we’re able to. That’s the deal. That’s going to be how this will work.”

Danny and Michael traded surprised glances. Which meant they clearly hadn’t expected us to say yes.

Danny recovered first. “Yeah. That works for us.”

“Awesome,” Michael grinned at us, seeming abruptly more at ease than Danny. Then his gaze landed on me, and, after a pause, he added, “Now that we’ve got all that settled, I’m dying to know… are there any other nice vampires out there, or is it just you?”

“Michael, we talked about this,” Danny protested. “Remember how sometimes stuff that’s on the inside should stay that way? This is one of those times.”

“Well, excuse me for being curious!” Michael snapped. He gestured at Tobias and I. “These two come along and blow all of my beliefs about the supernatural world to smithereens. So, yeah, I have a few questions. I think that’s pretty fucking reasonable, given the circumstances.”

“How do you guys usually run across vampires?” Tobias asked.

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