Page 75 of Blood that Burns
“Shh,” I snap. “You’ll give us away.”
He smirks. “You’ve never been to an auction, sunshine. Those vampires are well on their way to inebriation.”
“Vampires can get that drunk?”
He grins. “This isn’tTwilight, Mags. Yes, vampires can get drunk.”
I scowl.
He steps in close to me, leaning down to whisper in my ear. “At this point of the night, the music is pumping, alcohol is flowing, and those in attendance are likely in various stages of fucking.”
I gasp at his crude language. He never speaks like this. At least not to me.
“You shouldn’t talk like that,” I murmur.
“You sure you want to do this, sunshine?”
My body is wound tight, and my breaths are staccato.
Damn him for throwing me off kilter so expertly. Then again, this is probably Law’s twisted way of getting my mind on something else and chasing away the worry.
“We have all the exits surrounded,” Julian begins, but his words go in one ear and out the other. My eyes are fixed on Law.
“Katina, Marina, and Maggie, you’ll go straight to the stage to help funnel the girls to the back exit.”
Julian’s instructions pull me away from Law’s intense gaze as he continues to run down the plan that we’ve discussed ad nauseam.
When he’s done, Law grabs me by the hand, walking us out of earshot. He pulls me in to his chest, looking down at me with none of the playfulness from earlier. He’s back to being overbearing Law, concerned for the helpless human’s safety.
“You don’t have to go in there, sunshine. You can walk around back where you’ll be safe. Shante will look out for you.”
I look up, running a hand down his cheek. He leans in, closing his eyes.
“Shante has another role to play, Law. I’ll be fine. Trust me.”
“Please be safe.”
I nod, pulling away, but he pulls me right back to him, lowering his mouth to my ear.
“You do know that I can hear everything that’s going on in that head of yours. The bond.”
I sigh. “I know. Just like I could see your memories.” He opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “Not tonight. We need to focus, and that conversation will only have us both distracted.”
He closes his eyes, grimacing. For a moment I think he’s going to fight me, but he doesn’t.
“This way,” he says, taking off toward the side of the building.
“Where are you going?”
“We parked here because it’s the back entrance, where they bring in the girls. The auction entrance is around front.”
I wondered if we weren’t being ridiculous pulling right up to the door in plain sight. I should’ve known that Julian wouldn’t do anything to put Marina in jeopardy earlier than he has to.
Law stops, twisting toward me. “I’d do the same for you, sunshine.”
“Stop listening in to my thoughts,” I bark.
“There’s not much of a choice when you leave yourself open to it.”