Page 43 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

“Lisa,” I repeated, casting the house a nervous glance. Now that we were here, it made her—and what she had been through—all that much more real. “Maybe we ought to find some other case.”

Tobias arched an eyebrow at that. Probably at the ‘we’ I had accidentally slipped in there. “This matters to you. Therefore, we’re doing it.”

“Not at the cost of your safety,” I told him, hating how small my voice sounded.

“I’ll be fine,” Tobias promised. “I have like ten different spells for if the hunters try to start something. We’d be okay, I promise.”

“You don’t know that. These hunters could be exactly what your vision was warning you about.”

Tobias’s expression darkened. “They won’t lay a finger on you. I swear it.”

“And while you’re busy protecting me, who’s protecting you? They’re bad news. Really, really bad news.”

“I’ll call Ethan after we’re done here and have him check the mirror. If they’re the ones responsible for what happens to you in my vision, we’ll…” He trailed off, his expression darkening even further. “We’ll take care of it. Let me help you with this.”

I caved.

“We’ll talk to Lisa and see if she can give us a sense of what type of spirit this is, just in case. But if Ethan sees anything that suggests either of us is in any real danger from the hunters, we’ll leave them alone. We’ll—I’ll—find some other monster to hunt.”

Tobias scowled a bit at that. But after a long moment, he nodded.

With that settled, I clenched my teeth, realizing that we were definitely going to be interviewing Lisa. I suddenly realized that I really didn’t want to be doing any of this right now. Because after my conversation with my maker, this just seemed like a bad idea all the way around.

Mortal danger where I was concerned?

Fine. I deserved it if anyone did, right?

But if there was even a possibility that Tobias might be harmed in the process?

Nope. Absolutely not. No way in hell. I’d burn the world down first if that’s what it took to keep him safe.

But given the fact that he was determined to make this happen for me—even if I was suddenly having second thoughts—I was going to have to go with it. And maybe Ethan would look into his mirror and give us the all-clear.

And then what?

The longer I stayed in Tobias’s presence, the less I wanted to think about that.

We at least both looked the part this time. Tobias had cast an illusion spell on us—he called it a glamor—to make it seem like we were both dressed as FBI agents. Much more efficient than having to buy a cheap suit and lug it around everywhere. The illusion was complete with matching badges.

Tobias knocked on the door. A woman in her forties, her face pinched and worn with grief and anxiety, answered. Then she took one good look at our badges and tried to slam the door in our faces.

Tobias stopped it with his foot. “Ma’am, we just have a few questions.”

A younger woman with straight black hair stepped into the hallway behind her. “Let them in, Ash. They’re just doing their jobs.”

“You’ve already talked to the FBI!” Ash snapped, glaring at the younger woman—who had to be her sister. That made her Lisa Chamberlain, the wife of Lee Chamberlain. Ash added, “These ghouls won’t leave you alone! I won’t have them torturing my baby sister every five minutes. Not in my house.”

Tobias and I exchanged a look, and I could tell he was thinking what I was thinking: Michael and Danny had already been here. We were at least a step behind them, if not more.

“It’s a follow-up,” I said, inventing wildly. “We have more questions. The bureau, I mean. It won’t take long.”

“Why can’t you people just leave us alone?” Ash demanded. “The police already cleared Lisa as a suspect, no matter what the news says.”

“We know that, ma’am,” Tobias replied. He peered around Ashley, meeting Lisa’s gaze. “We’re only asking five minutes of your time. It might help us catch whoever did this.”

“Let them in,” Lisa repeated, sounding so worn thin that it was like she might unravel at any moment.

Ash stepped back. “Fine. I’ll go make us some tea.” She turned back to glare at Tobias and me. “You have five minutes. After that, I’ll need to ask you to leave.”

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