Page 35 of Newly Undead in Dark River

What the hell did that mean? Before I had a chance to ask, Brody changed the subject. “We’re in luck. She’s in Vancouver. She can be here in an hour.”

Vancouver was ten hours away. That was impossible. “Is her broom supercharged or something?”

All three of them laughed, but it was Brody who wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. He was even more affectionate now that we’d been through the craziness of last night together. I wasn’t going to lie, I lapped up his affection the same way I lapped up his blood. It was wonderful.

He leaned close until I could feel the brush of his lips over the shell of my ear, and a tingle ran through my body.

“Magic.”

The womanwho stepped out of a glowing slit, in reality, made my jaw drop to the floor like I was an animated cartoon cowboy with a big red mustache. The slit was one thing. That was fucking weird. Like some superhero movie with bad eighties special effects weird, it was like she was entering from a glowing red abyss.

But she was goddamn gorgeous. I mean, I wanted to strip naked and beg her to take me, and I was as hetero as they came. I mean, I was straight up strictly dickly. She was just that hot.

On the heels of that realization was Brody’s joke about someone sucking like a Hoover. My eyes whipped toward Judge, but his face was completely impassive like he was carved from stone. The Fort Knox of expressions.

In the face of such beauty, that told me everything I needed to know. There was no hint of male appreciation, no spark of recognition. No nostalgic smile of meeting someone you’d long ago worked with. It was just stone-cold neutrality.

They’d been lovers. I knew this deep down in my gut, somewhere in the same vicinity as the acid of jealousy was currently burning.

I looked at Walker, who looked respectful, and in all honesty, a little petrified. That seemed like a logical response. The power that poured off her made me choke on the air.

The warmth in Brody’s eyes wasn’t lustful, but definitely friendly.

Miranda appraised us all in that silence. She gave Brody a small smile and wiggled her fingers.

“Sheriff. It is good to see you again.”

Walker Walton honest-to-goodness tipped his hat. “You too, Ma’am. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

She waved a hand. “Not to worry. I was in town, and Brody has a way of convincing women to do what he wants.” Her tone was teasing, but slightly disapproving. Apparently, the lack of attraction between the Brody and Miranda was reciprocated. They were both blind, obviously.

But when her eyes landed on Judge, there was nothing platonic in them. Her eyes burned, and I couldn’t tell whether it was with anger or with lust or with the fires of Hell.

“Judge. I didn’t know you would be here.” Apparently, they learned complete neutrality in the same vacuum salesman school, because I couldn’t tell if she was happy to see him or not.

“I’m here for Raine,” he said in a low voice that was nearly a growl.

Miranda raised a single eyebrow and looked at me appraisingly. I should feel offended, but there was nothing scathing in her gaze. More like professional interest. “Ah, Raine. So you are the fly in this little vamp commune’s ointment. It is nice to meet you.” She put a hand out to shake, and the good manners that had been drilled into me as Mika Mackenzie reared their head. I reached out to take her hand, but fingers around my wrist stopped me. I looked up at Judge, who’d moved impossibly fast.

“She can read your soul if you let her touch you,” he growled, and I frowned at the beautiful woman. That was a damn sneaky trick.

Miranda let out a tinkling laugh, the kind that just made your heart happy.

“A bit dramatic Judge. Only your thoughts, not your soul. And sometimes, your desires.” But still, Miranda let her hand drop. “Do you have my fee?” She directed this toward Brody, but it was Judge that held out an envelope.

It didn’t look like it held cash, so I wondered what the payment actually was. I didn’t want to ask in front of the Witch, though. Walker moved closer, subtly putting himself between me and Miranda, which was actually quite impressive considering we were standing face to face. There was nothing offensive in the gesture, and I now knew why the Council let him go on diplomatic visits to Brody’s pack. He was effortlessly diplomatic, while still getting the outcome he wanted.

Miranda’s lips quirked, and I had the impression she was a hell of a lot older than her early thirty-something appearance.

“Welcome to Dark River. I regret the need for subterfuge, but at the moment everyone in town is a suspect,” Judge said solemnly.

Another lip twitch from the witch. I couldn’t even appreciate that my thoughts managed to rhyme. “Surely, not everyone?” Her eyes swung back to Judge. “Not your oh-so-revered Council?”

Well, you didn’t need to be a diplomat to get the subtext in that statement. Judge narrowed his eyes, but Walker remained pleasant.

“Everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise. It is why we needed to call you in, I’m afraid. Shall we go?”

Miranda nodded, and snapped her fingers, disappearing.

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