“But you just said you haven’t seen him.”
“I haven’t. Not tonight. I only just got back myself.”
The Master locked eyes with Hawke, and Kohl soon felt his friend probing in his head. He rolled his eyes, playing the game for all he was worth. “Master, I’m not hiding anything from you. And you know Hawke can’t read me.”
A smirk turned up the corners of his mouth but didn’t reach his eyes. “Guess I’m going to have to take your word for it.” He waved a hand, as though shooing away the bad vibes in the air. “In any case, it appears the human is no use to us. Take care of her.”
Take care of her.
He wanted him to kill her. “Master, as I’ve said, she poses no threat…”
The Master leaned forward, bringing him eye to eye with Kohl from his raised dais. “Is there something else you need to tell me, Kohl?”
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Steady. Hold it together. “No. Not a thing.”
The Master sat back. “Good. Go help Andrew upstairs. I heard Shelby disappeared to eat a human.”
With a nod, Kohl turned on his heel and went to his rooms to change. Devon was safe for tonight. The Master wouldn’t expect him to do anything until the bar was closed. However, he was in deep shit. The Master had never used that tone with Kohl before when asking him to help out. Without so many words, he was testing him. Testing Kohl’s loyalty to him.
Well, let him test it. The good thing was, he appeared to have given up on Jaz and was leaving Devon’s fate up to Kohl. Now he just had to figure out how the fuck to fake her death and take the target off her back.
Chapter 16
“Dev, where the hell are we going?” Frank pulled up the collar on his coat as he waited for her to unlock the passenger side door.
“You don’t have to come,” she told him for the fourth time as they got into the car. “Actually, I’d rather you didn’t.”
“I thought you loved me.”
She cranked the engine and got the heater going. Typical of Texas weather this time of year, the temperature had dropped in the hour since Kohl brought her and her car back home. And it was only supposed to get colder. “I do. That’s why you shouldn’t come with me.”
“Well, that ain’t gonna happen. According to tall, dark, and scary, I’m supposed to stay with you at all times until he lets me know otherwise.” He held up his cell phone. “And call the emergency number for the club you programmed into my phone if I so much as see someone look at you funny.”
Devon rolled her eyes. “You’ve never even met him. How do you know he’s tall? Or dark?”
“Because all vampires are tall, dark, and scary. All real vampires, anyway. Otherwise, why even bother?”
“He’s not scary.”
“Oh, honey. He’s scary. Trust me. You probably just haven’t seen that side of him, yet.”
Oh, honey. If you only knew…
After Kohl had deposited her back at her apartment with Frank, she’d filled him in on everything that happened the night before. Well, not exactly everything, but everything he needed to know. Once he’d gotten over his initial pissyness at being left out of the loop for so long, and the fact that he “no-way no-how” believed nothing had happened between her and Kohl (I always give you details…you’re holding out on me), he’d stuck to her like a bur and announced he was calling in sick to work until this had all settled down.
Devon did eventually convince him to go home and crash for a few hours, keeping his phone with her and promising she’d wake him first thing in the morning. But, sleep had eluded her as she’d paced from one end of her apartment to the other, worrying her lower lip, and checking Frank’s cell every thirty seconds to make sure it was on.
She must’ve eventually dropped off, though, because the next thing she remembered was waking up on the couch with a foggy head, still wearing the clothes from the night before.
Once she’d showered, Devon took a cue from Frank and called in sick to her employer at the pottery shop. The deliveries she did on the side were on her own schedule. It hit her that tomorrow was only Monday. While Frank got his seatbelt on, she said, “I’ve only known him for four days, Frank. Four days. And look at me. Look at all that’s happened.”
Frank turned the heater down. “That’s a whirlwind love affair if I ever heard one.” Then he smiled. “But it’s so romantic.”
“Ha! Crazy, maybe. But not romantic.” Throwing the car into reverse, she backed out of her parking spot. “One thing is for sure. I’m no damsel in distress, and I’m not waiting around for some man to save me. I can save myself, and him, too.”
