Page 14 of Air of Seduction

I glance at Payton. She looks completely calm. Her hands are resting in her lap, and there’s no tension in her body that I can see, except for the way she’s staring fixedly straight ahead. But that might not mean anything other than exhaustion.

She was unconscious for a few hours after what happened in the alley just before dawn. But apart from that I’m not sure how much rest she’s allowed herself since her friend was kidnapped.

“How are you feeling?” I glance at her again, but she doesn’t turn her head to look at me. “I’ll find you a room when we get back, so you can get some sleep while we try to locate Olivia.”

“No.” She turns angry eyes on me. “I want to hear what that creep has to say.” She points with her thumb to the back of the vehicle.

I nod. “Okay. I’ll give you a full report as soon as I’m finished questioning him.”

“No. I’ll be right there with you. I want to hear it firsthand.”

My hands tighten on the steering wheel as I barely resist the urge to refuse her demand. “Are you sure? It will get nasty.”

She gives me a short nod. “I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Who am I to deny her? She’s the one missing her friend, after all. I just hope she doesn’t end up emptying her stomach on the floor when she realizes how far I’m willing to go to get information from the asshole.

∞∞∞

Payton

I follow the others into a room in the basement below theparking garage. The room is bare except for a cupboard in the corner and several sets of thick chains and manacles bolted to the concrete wall. There are brown stains on the walls and floor.

A shudder runs down my spine. Those stains are old blood, and I have no doubt there will be new stains added to them today.

Lucas drops the rug with the vampire in the middle of the floor and takes a step back. “We’ll leave you to it.”

“Here.” Ronan holds out the phone that belonged to the vampire he killed. “Give this to Aidan. Perhaps one of his competent staff members or his techie friend can pull some information from it. Anything that points us in the direction of Olivia or the master would be helpful.”

Lucas takes it and nods. “I will. Now remember not to kill him too soon. We need all the information we can get.”

Ronan chuckles, his eyes narrowing on the rug. “Oh, I won’t. You can trust me on that.”

Erica suddenly steps in front of me. Her eyes are filled with concern. “Are you sure you want to be here for this? I’d be happy to keep you company until Ronan is done.”

I shake my head. “I’m staying. Thank you, though.” At any other time, I would have loved to take her up on the offer.

The women I’ve met here have welcomed me like I’m not a total stranger who just happened to end up here because I bumped into Ronan. And they seem so genuine, not just being nice to me because they think they can get something from me or make me do something for them.

She wraps her hand around my wrist and gives it a squeeze. “If you’re sure. You can come talk to me afterwards, though, if you need help processing whatever you witness in here. I can handle it, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

I nod, unable to say anything. Her offer makes tears prick at the back of my lids. If only I had a friend like her when I grew up. It wasn’t until I met Olivia that I even knew what true friendship meant. And by then I was already fifteen and generally distrustful toward everyone. It took her almost a year to convince me to trust her.

Erica and Lucas leave and close the door behind them.

Ronan throws a glance my way before he bends and grabs the edge of the rug. Yanking hard, he causes the rug to unroll so fast, the vampire ends up smacking into the wall when he rolls out.

It doesn’t seem to slow the creep down, though. He immediately jumps to his feet and starts for the door.

But Ronan is prepared. He yanks the asshole back and slams him into the wall.

They struggle, but it doesn’t take long for Ronan to have my would-be kidnapper shackled to the wall. Thick manacles around his wrists and ankles render the asshole powerless to fight back.

“Now we can begin.” Ronan fists his hand in the man’s shirt in the middle of his chest and yanks the piece of clothing clean off his body.

I stare at the vampire’s pale chest. I already knew Ronan was exceptionally strong, but tearing someone’s clothes off like that requires a lot more force than you’d think. And for some reason, that just drives the point home more thoroughly than anything else I’ve watched him do so far.

I swing my gaze to my white-blond warrior and see him staring at me with anger tightening his features.