Page 58 of The Huntress

“Do you want to hear the news or what?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Carter met with a man out in Tennet’s Lake. McKinney took pictures, but they’re worthless. Sun in his eyes and such. Said he couldn’t describe him well either. Walked as if he was royalty was all I got.”

“Did he tail the new guy?”

“He said no, not for all the cookies in this town.”

“You promised him cookies from me? You said he owedyoua favor!” At her glare, Mike shrugged. “This had better be good.”

“He said the man was a suckblood, Callie. Carter meeting with a suckblood when we know he hates them? You best warn your beau.”

“No one says beau anymore, Mike.” She tapped her fingers on her desk, her brows crinkled in worry. “There isn’t just five suckbloods in this city. There’s like seven or eight. Narrowing it down is gonna be a bitch.”

Mike sighed at her sass. “Just tell him, my girl. I don’t get a good feeling in my knees about this.”

“Holy shit! In your knees? Are you sure?” She chuckled. “Mike, I have the greatest respect for your knees. They can predict shit better than a fortune teller. So I’ll tell him, but first, I’m craving bacon, eggs, pancakes covered in maple syrup, and coffee strong enough to kill a rhino.”

Pancakes?Gabriel tamped down the excitement that rushed through him. He hadn’t tasted syrup or honey in over three hundred years. Then again, he’d still want her if she lived on brussel sprouts.

“Oh, and those little cheese sausages?” A blissful smile formed on Barrow’s face.

“Might as well.” She yanked the jacket from the back of her chair and tugged it on. “Captain approved my leave, so I’ll see you in about a week’s time.”

“Sure. Took leave as well. Maybe I ought to see how Anna’s doing.”

“She said she’ll meet you at Branbury’s at seven tonight. I sent her an email to confirm.” Callie giggled as she strode toward the precinct’s front doors.

“Callie,” Barrows shouted, but she waved goodbye instead of staying for his rant.

“You heard that, right? The only royal suckblood I know is your brother,” she said to Gabe as she lifted her collar around her neck.

“I’ll have Leo look into it,” he whispered from the shroud.

“Fancy some bacon?”

The sun was setting, taking its heat with it. He inched closer and surrounded her with a pocket of warm air, not liking that she shivered—a side effect of the slow conversion.

“I’d fancy anything with you.” He trailed her as she turned down the sidewalk and headed for a diner a few blocks away.

“You’re sexy and a sweet talker. How’d I get so lucky?” She smiled but didn’t look at him, keeping a determined pace to the diner as if she was on her own.

He envisioned wrapping his arms around her, hugging her body against his.

She moaned, her cheeks flushing pink as she licked her bottom lip. “I can sense your need.” Her voice sounded a little breathless.

“I need you, this is true,” he said without shame.

“Yet…you don’t trust me to take care of myself?” She rubbed her lips together. The leaping of her heart told him his response was important. “It’s been a few days of peace, but you don’t believe your fellow suckbloods have given up on me?”

“I trust you against humans and shifters. I don’t trust my kind. Syl sent out a warning, and he doesn’t do that lightly. Still, there are those who are stupid, fearless, desperate for something new in their mundane lives. I tried not to follow you, but I needed to know you were safe. My heart won’t let me rest, Callie.” The words tumbled from his lips and surprised him with how true they were.

The excited thrum of his heart sent tingles to his extremities, as if his blood raced through his veins. He studied her profile and released a slow breath. What pierced him was more potent than what Abigail had called forth within him.

This human woman had slid under his defenses with her scent alone. At first, he’d thought it her flavor and everyday lust, now, she meant far more to him than that.

“Your heart?” she asked as she paused outside the diner in the shadows of an alleyway.

“My heart’s involved, Callie.” Couldn’t she see how much he needed her? How much she affected him and how smoothly she fit into his life as if she’d always been there?

At his confession, she stilled, her eyes widening as her heartbeat stuttered. “Come, show yourself. I can’t have bacon alone.” It was a command—and he obliged.

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