Page 12 of The Vampire Kingpin
“Herds?” He made a choking sound.
He was definitely trying not to laugh.
“Glad I’m amusing you,” I said dryly. But this time it didn’t bother me—in fact, for some damn reason, I was proud of myself.
“It’s called a mischief.” Spider started walking again, me sticking to him like Velcro.
“A what?”
“A mischief of rats.”
“No kidding? Fits.”
“Anyway, chill. A light will go on right about—” A kerosene torch flared to life, scorching my eyeballs, and another half-dozen rats darted off. “Now,” he finished, turning off the flashlight and tucking it into a pocket.
With the rats gone, I couldn’t help appreciating the view prowling down the track ahead of me. His leather jeans and silk shirt molded to his sinewy frame like they’d been sewn on him. The man had the perfect ass for leather—firm, hard-muscled.
Maybe being his thrall wouldn’t be so bad…
I wrenched my gaze from his ass, irritated at myself.
He stopped and took my hand, his fingers warm and firm. “Bend your knees.”
I complied, crouching and walking sideways like him until he released my hand and straightened up.
He slanted me a look. “You’ll have to tell me how you got around our traps.”
“Sure.” I smirked. “But it’ll cost you. Ten thousand oughtta do it.”
He snorted.
A second kerosene torch flared on, making me blink against the brightness.
Spider indicated a wooden tie. “This one you have to jump,” he said, springing a good yard above the track to clear it.
I rolled my eyes. “Like I can jump that high,” I said—and executed an aerial somersault instead, landing on the tie next to his.
His thick dark brows climbed. “Starting to understand how you evaded our traps.”
I grinned up at him, and his rich brown eyes crinkled in return. Suddenly, he seemed like a different man. Someone I could…like.
My heart thumped. I dragged my gaze away.
Put the brakes on, Lark. The man literally threatened to cut out your tongue for lying to him.
He tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “You’re not what I expected.”
“Yeah?” I lifted a brow. “I’m better? Smarter? Freakin’ fabulous, in fact?”
His low chuckle sent an answering vibration through my lower belly. His mouth opened, and I stilled, convinced he was going to say something crucial.
But he didn’t. Instead, he closed his mouth and continued down the tunnel, once again the stern Underworld kingpin.
And no, that wasn’t disappointment I felt.
The entrance to Spider’s lair was a giant iron door crisscrossed with silver straps to repel vampires. Spider greeted the guards in an undertone. They eyed me suspiciously while he spun a trio of cogs set into the iron in a quick pattern, his hands moving too fast for me to catch the sequence. The door swung open to reveal a large, communal space that was a blend of modern tech and fantastical steampunk-y elements like iron pendants with Edison bulbs that cast a warm glow.
I’d been here earlier, of course, but at that point I’d been focused on the job. Now I took in the comfy leather couches, the pool table, the wide screen TV and the thick rugs covering the slate floors. Curtains in warm oranges and reds softened the stone and concrete walls, and a couple of antique trunks serving as coffee tables were piled with magazines and books. At the opposite end of the room was a kitchen with a long wooden table for the dhampirs and humans in the lair.
