Page 39 of Death Deals

“Hector was right. This isn’t a place for you.”

Anger flared. I clenched my fists. “You’re kidding me, right?” He was agreeing with that pompous asshat now? He’d just fought to keep me here.What gives?

The vamp named Louis was beside me in a second. When he touched my arm to guide me toward the elevator, I jerked away and threw Andre a deadly glare. Part of me wanted to argue my right to stay—I was the only one that could translate what Cornelius was saying if he switched back to his tribe’s language again, after all—but I kept it to myself.

One look at Hector and his smug grin, and I knew what Andre was referring to. Even though they had a mutual agreement to not kill each other, there still wasn’t trust there. And after Hector and my exchange on the way down, he wasn’t taking any more chances.

Spinning on my heel, I trudged back to the elevator. “Come on, Lou,” I said with an annoyed grunt. “Let’s go.”

We walked into the elevator together, and Louis was quiet as we traveled up to the suite. He didn’t even look at me.

Once we arrived and I stepped into the lavish room Andre and I shared, Louis hesitated in between the open doors.

“Is there anything you need before I go?” he asked.

I glanced about the room and an idea struck. “You know what, Lou? Yeah. Is there a kitchen in this joint?”

He nodded, but his dull expression showed he didn’t much care for the nickname I’d given him. “Yes, of course.”

I grinned. “I’ll take one of everything they got on the menu. And make sure they charge it to Lord Andre.”

I ate myself into a coma. Not literally, but pretty close.

Room service had come up with everything from filet mignon (delicious) to escargot (disgusting) and New York-style cheesecake to a lobster tail the size of my forearm smothered in butter. It didn’t take long for me to drift off to sleep on the couch while watching another home renovation show, my full stomach like an anchor pulling me deeper into dreamland.

When I woke, sunlight pushed against the drawn curtains, telling me it was day again.

I stood, rebuttoning my pants now that the bloat had subsided—don’t judge me—and glanced at Andre’s closed bedroom door. His bloody clothes sat in a pile on the floor nearby. Looked like the vampire had snuck in while I slept.

I could wake him up and ask him how the interrogation went with Cornelius…orI could go downstairs and check things out for myself. Unbothered and without a vampire breathing down my neck.

Maybe I was crazy—okay, don’t answer that—but I also wanted to face Cornelius again. This time, unafraid and prepared.

My mind made up, I headed to the elevator and hit the down button.

During my descent, the car stopped on a middle level for another passenger, which, to my surprise, turned out to be Ricky.

“Jade,” he said with a smile as he stepped inside with me. “All the excitement over?”

“It’s never over,” I laughed.

Ricky didn’t share in my joke. Instead, he asked in a nervous whisper, “Is Cornelius dead?”

“I’m not sure. That’s what I’m going to find out now,” I said.

His eyes widened. “You’re going back to the basement?”

“Yep.”

“You narrowly avoided death the last time you faced Cornelius, and now you want to go back?”

I watched as the LED numbers above the doors continued to count down as the elevator passed floors. “Pretty much.”

Ricky rubbed the back of his neck.

I pressed theLobbybutton for him. “I’m not asking you to go with me. You’ve been through enough already.”

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing the huge white and gold lobby. But Ricky didn’t leave. Actually, he stayed put until the doors shut again. When I reached for thedoors openbutton, he swiped my hand away.

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