Page 85 of The Darkest Night

“It’s never too late for brunch,” Vlad assured her, cheeks dimpling.

Mae chewed her lip as she observed the incubus. Everything he did or said somehow ended up sounding sexual.

I bet he’d look hot even if he were wearing a sack.

Vlad’s smile widened knowingly. “How do you like your eggs?”

“Over easy please,” Mae murmured.

She put a fresh pot of coffee on and ate leaning against the counter. She licked her fingers clean after she finished. Vlad’s breakfast muffin was the best thing she’d ever tasted.

“Would you like a second one?” the incubus asked.

Her stomach rumbled before she could reply.

Vlad chuckled. “Go sit. It’ll be ready in a moment.”

The absurdity of the situation wasn’t lost on Mae as she headed over to the dining table. There was a world-renowned mobster standing in the kitchen, making her breakfast. A man born of an incubus and a witch, with the power to smash through walls and make her commonsense waver.

“He’d make a good house husband,” Violet remarked when Mae took the seat beside her. The witch waved a vague hand. “Well, except for the overflowing sex appeal and the killing.”

Nikolai sipped his coffee, his expression cool.

“What’s the game plan?” Mae asked after they finished eating. “Do we just sit around and wait to see whatOniksand the Dark Council’s next move is?”

“We don’t have the leisure to wait around,” Nikolai said darkly. “We should track them down and stop them.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Vlad arched a disparaging eyebrow. “It took me weeks to find out about last night’s little meeting at that club. You think your contacts can do better?”

Nikolai clenched his jaw. He didn’t have an answer.

A stilted silence befell them. Mae was about to ask Vlad and Brimstone about Dickson and Calvarro and how the pair fitted in the picture when her cell rang. She slipped it out of her jeans. It was Yoo-Mi.

She’d given her family her new number last night, before they’d headed out to the club. Mae grimaced, finger hovering over the answer button.

Is this about being arrested?She silently cursed Mrs. Son-Ha’s spies.If it is,maybe we should ask her network about Oniks.

She took the call.“Hi, Mom.”

“Mae?!”

Mae stilled, the terror in her mother’s voice turning her blood to ice. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Ryu and Ye-Seul,” Yoo-Mi said tremulously. “They went out this morning to visit one of Ye-Seul’s friends, in that new retirement place—you know, the one near the golf course in Clearview? They haven’t come back. Ryu isn’t answering her phone. I just called the retirement home. They—they never made it there!”

Chapter 39

Nikolai’s stomachplummeted as he watched color drain from Mae’s face. She rose to her feet, her movements jerky. Brimstone whined and paced the floor around her, his distress plain to see.

“Mae?” Vlad said tensely.

She looked at them blindly.

“Here’s what I need you to do, Mom. Grab a pen and paper and write this address down. I want you to get in the car and go there right now.” Mae clenched her teeth, agony and rage filling her eyes before she squeezed them shut. “Mom, stop talking and listen to me!” she snapped. “I don’t have time to explain right now. I will, when this is all over. Please, just do exactly what I’m telling you to do.”

The air trembled with a flash of crimson magic. Mae opened her eyes. The light in her pupils and her tone when she spoke again sent a shiver down Nikolai’s spine.

“I will find Ryu and Ye-Seul. I swear it on Dad's grave.”

---