Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
“Don’t be surprised if they’re not excited by the news,” Carmen advised. “They never react well to change.”
Maddox sighed. “So I’ve noticed.” He looked at Hector. “We need to step up the security around here for a while—you know what measures to put in place.”
“It’ll be done,” said Hector.
“Warn everyone to be extremely alert. They’re already on their guard due to the number of descendant lairs that have been targeted recently, but that’s not enough.”
“I’ll make sure they all understand the need for vigilance,” Hector promised.
“Do you think it might be better if you ask Raini not to come here until all this has blown over?” asked Carmen carefully.
Maddox’s demon stiffened. “It’s not necessary. She’d be safe within these walls. And if any trouble did break out, one of us can teleport her home. Who’s on her right now?”
“Duncan and Hoyt,” replied Carmen, referring to the two most experienced members of the lair’s Force.
“Good,” said Maddox. “After tonight, I’ll be teleporting her to and from the club on days she’s due to come here. If for some reason I can’t personally collect her, I’ll ask one of you to do so. There’s no point in me doing it tonight, because she’ll already be on her way here. Hector, I want you to be the one who escorts her from the parking lot to the club and back again tonight. No one from our lair would harm her, but they also wouldn’t be mindful of her safety. I would have continued to trust Gunther to escort her if he wasn’t … indisposed.”
Hector grimaced. “That’s the third time this year we’ve had to put him in the mausoleum. I know it’s better that he’s there, but still.”
Maddox nodded. “But still.”
The mausoleum was situated in the cemetery of the private land he owned. There was also an old monastery, which he’d updated and modernized so it looked more like a hotel. The entire lair lived there—it was their idea of a private joke, really, given that they were far from holy. There was also a cathedral, which was where they held lair meetings.
He’d considered taking Raini to his land a time or two. He’d thought of showing her around the monastery, and fucking her in his bed. But he couldn’t guard the secrets of his kind if he brought her so fully into his world. That his kind drank blood was only one of those secrets, and it wasn’t even the worst.
Well this guy’s new, Raini thought as she locked her car with the key fob. Maybe her usual escort had a night off. This descendant was big and broad and carried an air of authority. Probably a sentinel. His eyes scanned the lot, searching the shadows.
“They’re in the Charger near the exit,” she told him.
He looked at Raini. “Who?”
“My from-afar-guards.”
His eyes narrowed. “You made them?”
“I grew up among imps. One of the first lessons my dad taught me is how to know when I’m being followed. He has that down to a science. It’s necessary for imps to learn that kind of thing, considering they often end up under police surveillance at some point. We use a lot of ‘code’ when speaking over the phone, because we don’t always know if the lines are being monitored.”
The descendant looked at her for a long moment. “I really don’t know what to say to that.”
Raini shrugged. “People often don’t.”
He grunted. “Maddox is waiting for you.”
She followed him to the side entrance and into the building. Her demon straightened at the sight of a woman standing near the elevator, clothed in a slinky “fuck me now” dress that beautifully complemented her every curve.
The male descendant’s shoulders went stiff. “What the hell, Marcella?”
The woman blinked. “Hector, hi. I wanted to go see … ” She trailed off as she noticed Raini. “Oh, hello.”
Was Raini really supposed to buy that overdone look of surprise? Apparently so.
“A succubus,” she observed. “You must be Maddox’s anchor.”
Raini’s demon did not like the proprietary way in which this heifer had spoken his name. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t a heifer. She could be a wonderful, compassionate, kind-hearted person … though Raini doubted it. She’d grown up around imps—she knew when someone was trying to fuck with her. Marcella was doing exactly that and so, yeah, the whole “heifer” thing was looking likely.
Hector made a sound of disgust. “You knew Raini was coming. The whole lair knew she was coming. And everyone knows that Maddox doesn’t like his time with her to be disturbed. So, I’m assuming there’s an emergency, because surely there’d be no other reason that you’d try to go up to his office now.”
“Really, Hector, it went right out of my head that she was coming,” Marcella swore—well, lied. “I just wanted to see if Maddox was busy and … it’s fine, I’ll come back later.” And it was perfectly obvious by the sexually suggestive hint to her voice that she wanted Raini to believe that Maddox and Marcella would do the dirty “later.” Ugh.