Page 8 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
Was the vampire already celebrating his kill? Antonio had been lurking in the shadows of his life for years. Shane hadn’t figured out the purpose behind the vampire stalking him despite some hefty research and tracking of his own.
"I don't like this guy. Let me take over. We can get free and protect ourselves against him,"said Baku.
Shane ignored the demon. He tugged at the handcuffs locking him to the bedframe. He yanked and pulled, ending in a solid full-body shake and growl. "Son of a mother trucker!"
"For you, this is una mirada caliente." A hot look. Antonio scanned his body. "Those insane workouts you do to outrun your innerdemonhave paid off. But I suspect you lycans were born without body fat."
Was heinterestedin him in that way? Shane didn’t experience an ounce of shame being naked, nor did he care about the vampire’s sexual preferences. Maybe Madeline hadn’t been protecting him. She could’ve been preparing him to get slaughtered by Antonio.
"Why are you stalking me?" Shane maintained a nonconfrontational tone.
"I wouldn’t saystalking,per se. Maybe watching. I’ve saved your life a few times, not that you noticed. About to do it again it looks like. We’re interested in you now that you’ve gone rogue." Long puff of cigar and exhale. "But you’ve gone a tadlocosince you faked your death and ditched your brothers. Then this tontería with a witch? Why the hell would a lycantangowith a witch?"
"I’m not rogue." He went cold. The vampire knew way too much about him. How did he know about the jerk demon possessing him?
"I thought we were friends of sorts,"the demon said.
"We’re not friends. We're coexisting until I get you out of my head."
"Soooo, I assume your, uh…shall I call her a hookup? She was the reason you’re in Puerto Rico, yes?" Antonio released a long puff of smoke and grinned a wide expanse of even teeth and sharp canines. "I hope you at least got a goodtangoout of it."
Shane blew out an agitated sigh and glared.
Madeline hadn’t been the evil witch he expected. She’d acted vulnerable, more like a victim being hunted than an all-powerful witch who did the hunting. Why would MI6 be after her, and why didn’t she have any money?
Maybe she’d been exiled and cut off from all funds. The British people didn’t know about her. Oddly, her existence had been erased from public record. Witch skills were genetic, not acquired, which meant her father had to have been a warlock. Her mother was human, the deceased queen’s half-sister, and it was a family secret that her mother had existed. But why had they gone to the trouble to erase her entire family and now hunt her?
"This isn’t like you, Shane," Antonio said. "First,youtango-ing with any woman is unheard of. You steer clear of any interested in you. Seems there are a lot of ladies who want you." He chuckled. "Second, for her…for anyone to get the jump on you is an amateur mistake you don’t make. I think I kind of like thisbruja." He moved to the nightstand and lifted a folded over piece of paper. "She left a note."
Silence as he read.
More silence.
"For crying out loud, what’s it say?"
The vampire held the note behind his back. "How about we make a deal?"
Didn’t feel like he had a choice. He answered with a glare.
"I assume you’re still cursed to the Crown of England despite the new king thinking you’re dead," Antonio started.
Of course he was. He felt the curse's pull even now. However, he didn't seem to be under its press to show up when a meeting was ordered. He figured so long as the monarch thought him dead, when an order was placed for his brothers he wasn't included in the monarch's calculation of who he could order about.
"Here’s my offer. You’ll come work with the Alliance as a…" He rocked his head back and forth and rolled his eyes upward. "Let’s say as a consultant."
"What does your Alliance do?"
"Several of us nonhumans have banded together to police the world. Unlike you and your brothers, we’re not out to protect humans. We’re safeguarding ourselves against exposure to humans. Big distinction. We fix the slipups by those of us who spiral out of control—erase human minds and stop the nonhumans from madness. Sometimes we must eliminate one of us if the being swan dives into insanity. Although…" He paused and sighed. "We’re not as good at the elimination part as you and your brothers, especially if magic is involved."
An annoying sense of déjà vu hit. He’d seen this moment in a precognitive vision last month—and also what came next. Thank you, demon, for the bizarre foresights that came at random in bits and pieces. He could try to reject the vision and change his fate. Had his attempts to subvert predictions in the past from coming true ever worked? No. Never.
He had no choice but to accept what came next.
"You need me as more than a consultant." With a long sigh, Shane said, "I’ll lead the Alliance."
He only felt partially committed to the statement. Yet, protecting the world from nonhuman paranormal dangers had resonated in his soul his entire life. He'd learned the business from his father and his brothers well before they got cursed to work exclusively for the Crown. It wasn’t something he could shake loose simply by faking his death and disappearing. He’d probably still do it when he got free of his curse.
Antonio’s shook his head. "That’s my job. I run it."
