Page 3 of The Incubus and the Bodyguard

Vlad wasn’t fooled by his neutral tone.

“Not since she and Nikolai left for Europe,” he replied in a level voice.

Cortes hesitated. “Anya got a message from Mae yesterday.”

Anya Mendes was the daughter of the High Priest of the Rio de Janeiro coven. A powerful witch with the unique ability to cast Illusion Sorcery, she and Cortes were now officially engaged.

“Oh yeah?” Vlad said with studied indifference.

“Mae and Nikolai are planning to get a place together in Brooklyn when they get back.”

A hot feeling stabbed through Vlad’s heart at Cortes’s words.

“Are they now?” He picked an imaginary piece of lint off his Armani suit.

Tarang made a soft sound and rubbed against his leg.

“Yes.” Cortes wrinkled his brow, evidently not buying the act either. “You need to put her behind you. Nothing will come from moping after Mae.”

“I’m not moping,” Vlad denied.

Cortes raised an eyebrow.

“It’s been four months,” Vlad said a tad sullenly. “I’m allowed to mope a little still. I did love her after all.”

Cortes watched him carefully over the rim of his champagne flute.

“You slept with anyone recently?”

Vlad narrowed his eyes. Anyone else asking that question would have been looking for their teeth next.

“Why, are you offering your services?” he grunted.

Cortes made a face. “You and I both know our dicks would shrivel up and die if we saw each other naked.”

Popo straightened on Tarang’s head, his golden eyes gleaming. “My Enrique, you must keep your options open. You never know what might happen in the—mmph!Mmph!”

Cortes had muzzled the parrot.

Vlad grimaced. “Is everything okay between you and Anya?”

“It’s peachy, thank you.” Cortes gave Popo a dark look.

“By the way, why are you still representing theBacatá Cartel?”

“Are you trying to change the subject?”

“Yes and no.” Vlad eyed the Colombian curiously. “I thought you cut all ties with your old family.”

“I did.” Cortes rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “My old boss asked me for a favor. To be fair, I owed him one.”

Vlad gave him a puzzled look.

“Remember when Anya and I got attacked by those hellbeasts after we left the cartel compound?” Cortes said. “Well, they ended up having to deal with them. They lost a few good men that day.”

Vlad frowned. The attack had been orchestrated by the Sorcerer King in an attempt to get his hands on Cortes’s rare Arcane Magic.

“Boss.”

---