Page 69 of The Darkest Night

“If he is, that’s a damn good cover-up.” Miles’s tone remained skeptical. “Never saw a fake sorcerer with a walking stick before.”

“Guys, I really think he’s just her landlord,” Nikolai murmured.

Mae cut her eyes to them. They stopped talking.

Something rumbled hungrily. Mr. Seong’s gaze dropped to Hellreaver.

“Sorry about that,” Mae said brightly. She rubbed her belly, a fake smile on her face. “Looks like I’m ready for dinner.”

“Oh.” Mr. Seong blinked. “Well, I best leave you to it.” He turned, stopped, and looked over his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re safe, Mae. It would have broken your family’s heart if something had happened to you.”

Emotion clogged Mae’s throat. “Thank you, Mr. Seong.”

The old man nodded and smiled. He headed slowly down the stairs, one hand gripping the banister firmly. Mae waited until she heard the door close at the bottom before heading back inside the apartment with the others.

Brimstone came out of her bedroom and dropped a purple, rubber object at her feet.

What is this curious chew toy?

Mae grabbed the vibrator, strode across the living room, yanked a window up, and hurled it outside.

Brakes squealed. There was a bang followed by distant cursing.

Mae closed the window and tugged the curtains together guiltily.

“Was that a—?” Violet started.

“No, it wasn’t.”

They ended up ordering takeout to satisfy Brimstone and Hellreaver’s bottomless appetites and feed the other familiars. They’d just finished stuffing their faces when a cell phone rang. It took a few seconds for Mae to realize it was the one Vlad had given her when she’d left the New York coven headquarters that afternoon. The way he’d slipped it into her back pocket had been downright illegal and nearly caused Nikolai to have some kind of fit.

She fished the phone out and took the call. “Hello?”

“Hi, Princess,” Vlad drawled.

His voice sent a delicious shiver down her spine.

Wait. Does his incubus power travel across phone lines?

She asked him the question.

Vlad chuckled. “No, it doesn’t.’

“Oh.” Mae scratched her cheek and did her best to avoid Nikolai’s cold stare. “So, hmm, why are you calling?”

There was a short silence. “Can’t I just call to say hi to my queen?”

The way Vlad dropped his tone an octave did all kinds of crazy things to Mae’s pulse. She swallowed, turned away from the others, and clutched the phone to her face.

“Stop kidding around and tell me what you want!” she whispered fiercely, trying her best to sound admonishing. “I have two trigger-happy sorcerers and a witch in my apartment right now and this little game of yours isn’t helping the situation!”

She could feel Vlad grinning at the other end of the line.

“You got a pen and paper?”

“Wait. Let me grab them.” Mae rose, went into the kitchen, and took the shopping list pad off the refrigerator. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Meet me at this address downtown in two hours. We have work to do.” He paused. “There’s a dress code. I’ll send some clothes over.”

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