Page 84 of Bitten

Third time’s the charm…

Caelian opened the door to his hotel to see Kane standing there, looking as sinful as ever. His heart began rocketing in his chest—and the desire to shut the door and demand Kane leave fought with the one that wanted to eat the sexy man alive.“Why’re you here?”

Kane frowned. He gazed at Cannon for a moment before looking back at Caelian. “Official business. I have some questions to ask you.”

Caelian eyed him another moment, trying to decide what to do. “I don’t know that I’m up for more business tonight.”

He cast a glance to the side and saw Cannon glaring. There’s no way to make him leave without getting us killed.

He backed in and let Kane inside. After shutting the door, he leaned against it, afraid to move. “I thought I wasn’t going to see you for a while?” Why the hell did you come?

“I wanted to get some work in on an investigation I’m on—but realized you might be able to help me with that. I need to ask you about the drugs you brought in and who they were for.”

Heat flashed in Caelian’s face. Would he never live down one bad decision? He took a few steps, eyeing the hotel room. He’d already done a sweep with the little bit of magic he had and hadn’t sensed any recording equipment, but he wasn’t totally sure. “I’ve already told Theis all I know.”

“He took your statement, but passed along the report to the PD because it was secondary to what he was investigating and not his focus. I found the report sitting on someone’s desk untouched. I read through that report before I came over and did some checking. I have some follow-up questions.”

Caelian headed for the room’s small refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of caemis. “Want one?”

“No thanks,” Kane murmured.

Caelian unscrewed the lid and drained a good third of it before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Can you help me?”

Caelian swallowed thickly, not wanting to bring up the vampires he’d worked for—as it only reminded him more of what they’d now asked him to do. “I don’t know that I’d be much help.”

“Give it a shot?”

Caelian eyed Kane a moment before nodding.None of his booby traps had ever gone off, so he thought the place was clean. But there was a tiny bit of him that was afraid Cannon might be listening in. He walked over to the balcony door and opened it up. The sounds of the city below filled the room, and he urged Kane closer.

Kane frowned at him as he walked closer. “Something wrong?”

“I think Cannon’s listening in on conversations,” Caelian whispered.

Kane eyed the door but didn’t say anything. He withdrew a small notepad and flipped it open as he sat on the arm of the chair beside the open doors. “Who’d you borrow the money from?”

Caelian shrugged as he leaned on the doorframe. “They didn’t give me names.”

“How did you know to go to them for money if they didn’t give you a name?” Kane asked.

“I’d gone to five different banks, trying to get a loan for the bookstore.” He paused. “As I was coming out of the last one, a guy who’d been inside waiting for an appointment with me said he’d heard about this place that was offering small loans to guys like us. He asked if I wanted to come along with him. I agreed.”

“This guy—you get a name?”

“I didn’t.”

“Was he a vamp?”

“No. I think he was Fae or elf of some kind. Likely a mutt like me. That’s what it seemed, anyway.”

Kane scribbled something in his notepad. “And where did he take you.”

“This small storefront. It wasn’t officially open for business yet—there was still construction going on.”

“No name on the store?”

“No,” Caelian murmured, but then a memory popped into his brain. “Midnight-something or other. It wasn’t on the building, but I think I remember a sign that was going to go up sitting inside.”

---