Page 46 of Kiss of Light

“As long as it takes.”

He looked exhausted. Tala dimmed the lights and left him on the sofa, hoping he would recover soon.

The bathroom was white and pristine, and she almost felt guilty sullying the shower cubicle with the grime and gore of the past few hours. She rinsed her hair out, watching the dirt swirling around the drain. Then she let the spray play over her head and neck, the pummelling motion of the water gradually soothing her stiffness.

She couldn’t bear to put her dirty clothes back on. For one thing, they were covered in fae blood and guts. She soaked them in soapy water and rinsed them out, hanging them over the radiator to dry.

She poked around the den and found a stack of T-shirts in a drawer. On her, they were long, reaching mid-thigh. She dragged on a baby pink one and belted it at the waist. With her docs and leather jacket completing the outfit, she was the very image of grunge chic.

Lemar was still lying with his eyes closed when she emerged. She put a hand to his forehead, not really sure what she was looking for. Too hot? Too cold? He felt cool, which she supposed was normal for a Vetali.

“Sleep well,” she murmured. Then she went upstairs to find Avery.

Nineteen

He’d opened a bottle of champagne.

“The good stuff,” he said with a small smile. It was what they’d drunk the last time they’d been together. She didn’t have the heart to tell him she preferred whisky.

“So how’ve you been, Avery? Any more trouble with Boris the Troll?”

Boris was the client who’d hired her to track Avery after the fae made the mistake of stealing from him.

“He hasn’t sent any more bounty hunters after me. I suppose that’s something.”

“Well, he got his money back. Probably thinks it’s not worth the hassle.”

“Thanks to you.” He tipped his glass against hers and they both took a sip.

“Letting us stay here makes us square. I won’t ask any more favours from you.”

“It’s no problem.” He hesitated, and then asked what she knew he wanted to ask. “So. The Vetali. Is that Count Darian Lemar?”

“What if it is?”

“The one with the contract on his head.”

“It’s a political play. Salaq’s doing. With help from your psycho king.”

“Aelfric’s not my king.” Avery’s face hardened. “My family left Nush’aldaam because of him.”

Avery had told her a little of his history the last time they’d met. He was fae, probably from one of the lowland tribes. His family’s dispute with the elven had forced them to move to the human realm. He’d lived here for most of his life, blending in perfectly thanks to cosmetic surgery.

He couldn’t hide his fae charisma though. Or his virility. She ran her eyes over his toned body. Part of the reason she hadn’t followed through on the contract and taken his hand was because he’d been very, very good with his fingers.

An X-rated memory of their last meeting shot through her head and she hastily took another sip pf champagne.

“Yeah, well, he’s in league with the plot to kill Lemar. And if I can save him, then I might just be able to put Shadeed on the throne instead of Aelfric’s best mate.”

“So this is about doing the right thing for Nush’aldaam?” Avery’s lip curled. “Not about saving the handsome vampire?”

Tala kept her face expressionless.

“Ask anyone who knows me. They’ll all tell you the same thing. I hate bloodsuckers.”

Avery raised a sceptical brow.

“Okay. So what’s the plan? Have you managed to patch him up?”

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