Page 44 of Cloak of the Vampire
Her eye was full of loathing for said Lieutenant. “Fine,” she spat, “but just so you know, if that bitch despises her, it just makes me like this mystery girl better.”
“I don’t care about where your affections lie, Eliza,” he grated out.
She made a face and turned back to the paper but found the only things left were the addresses for her old apartment and the store where she’d worked. “You really found nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “What the hell, Ragnor? Who’s this girl?”
“I don’t know,” he said, the words causing him physical pain to utter, “but I have a bad feeling about this. I’ve never met someone so ...”fearless, fascinating, infuriating.
She folded the paper and put it in the pocket of her jeans. “Do you have a picture of her?”
He handed her a small photograph that one of his people had taken of the girl while doing a search on Cassidy. “That should be enough.”
She sipped the rest of her drink. “With what little you have, I’ll have to double my usual fee.”
He might have enough money to last an eternity, but Ragnor had a better plan than to spend an astronomical amount of money. “How about a quid pro quo?”
She studied him for a few long moments. “I wouldn’t recommend it,” she said with the bluntness he always appreciated from her. “As an information broker, I doubt you know anything that can be of use to me.”
She might be whip smart and a friend, but Eliza Wains was still young. Or at least younger than him. “As a gesture of good faith, let me share what I have with you, and you can see for yourself.”
She leaned forward. “All right. Shoot.”
Ragnor smiled inwardly. There was nothing he liked more than to have the upper hand. “A week ago, I got a visit from an old acquaintance,” he said quietly. “The name Luceras ring a bell?”
For the first time since she arrived, Eliza was speechless, frozen in place with her eye wide and her hands clenched into fists. She stared at him with something akin to terror.
Some part of him liked shocking the hell out of her. Another part was far less egotistical. “Luceras and I aren’t friends,” he said quietly. “I keep him close for certain reasons.” Reasons Eliza knew about all too well.
She averted her gaze. “What are you suggesting?”
The question was redundant. He knew that she understood what he was getting at, but she needed to hear him say it.
“I can become his friend,” he murmured, “and dig deep enough to give you what you want.”
Eliza might have access to 90 percent of the information roaming around the world at any given moment, but Luceras belonged to the circle that had the remaining 10 percent to which she wasn’t privy. Ragnor could get her the in she needed.
She turned her gaze to him, lips pursed, and said bitterly, “Quid pro quo it is, then.”
They got off the stools, and he said, “Your services are greatly appreciated.”
Silently, Eliza nodded and left, while he paid for the drinks and hurried back to the compound. Despite what either Eliza or his subconscious wanted to believe, Aileen Henderson wasn’t the only vampire in his League who required his attention.
CHAPTER 16
I had just finished a dinner shift in the kitchen, ready to take yet another shower to wash away the smell of oily food on my skin, when I saw Margarita waiting outside the door to my suite.
The moment she caught sight of me, she strode toward me, her pretty face wearing a menacing look I didn’t like. “Come with me,” she ordered, sending me a loathing look as she started striding down the hallway toward the escalator I’d just taken to get here.
Grimly, I decided to take Hassan’s advice and not piss off the Lieutenant even if she irritated the hell out of me. She took me to an empty classroom on the second floor, closed the door once we were inside, and turned to face me.
Before I could speak, she glowered at me and said, “I saw you with him, you know.”
I arched a brow. “With whom?”
She bared her teeth, her eyes glowing amber. “Don’t act innocent, you bitch,” she snarled. “I saw him before he dragged you into that storage room. You were droolingall overhim.”
Oh.I tried to speak, but I was at a loss of words. How the hell did Margarita see Ragnor and me yesterday? I recalled that the corridor had been deserted ...
But then again, I was too distracted by Ragnor to be able to sense anything else. How much did she see, or hear? Did Ragnor know she had been there too?
