“What did they do to the door?” Rick asked ashe took in the dented door.
“Apparently battered it with something to getoutside,” Cassidy lied smoothly.
“Why would they do that? It’s an emergencydoor.”
“Who knows why anyone does anything. He alsotrashed the room for no reason. Some people are destructiveassholes,” Kyle said.
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest as hesurveyed the room. Then, his eyes landed on Aida and Julian. Aidashoved the towel into Julian’s hands. “Wipe your knuckles off,” shewhispered from the corner of her mouth.
“What are you two doing back here?” Rickdemanded of them before focusing on Aida. “And what happened toyou?”
She’d just been tossed around by a vampireand was still suffering from the effects of pepper spray; she hadto look awful. She was at the bar often and friends with two ofRick’s star employees, so they knew each other well enough to talkwhen they ran into each other. However, judging by the way his eyesnarrowed on her, he didn’t trust her.
Aida started to respond when Julian said,“You never saw us.”
The calm tone of his voice and the swell ofpower oozing from him caused Rick’s eyes to take on a glassy lookthat made Aida’s skin crawl. She hated the way vampires couldmanipulate the minds of others. It was such a horrible invasionthat people were helpless to fight.
“We were never here. Someone came into thisroom in search of something to steal. When they finished, theytrashed the place before battering the door and fleeing.”
Julian pushed open the battered door, andclasping Aida’s hand, he returned to the alley. Blood stained thebricks across the way, but it was one of many stains in the alley,and it was already dry. He doubted the police in a city as big asBoston were going to do much investigating into a vandalism androbbery case where no one was injured and nothing was taken.
They’d probably want to search the alley, buthe would take care of it. He drew Aida against his side as he tookup a position outside the door and waited for the police to comeout. He couldn’t take the chance they might find the body, and hedidn’t want Aida anywhere near the thing.
She trembled as she leaned into him andrubbed her eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she replied, even though she wasmiserable. She yearned for a shower, the coat she left inside, and…“Oh, my purse! It’s in the back room, and so is my pepperspray!”
Cassidy and Kyle were stepping outside whenshe announced this. “I’ll get it,” Kyle said and retreatedinside.
He returned with her purse and handed it toher along with her empty can. She dropped the pepper spray into herpurse; she had more at home. She also had some other knives, buther favorite one remained buried in the vamp’s foot. No matter howmuch she loved that knife, she was happy to leave it where itwas.
“What about the pepper spray in the backroom, it’s probably still lingering on the air?” she asked.
“We’ll take care of it,” Julian said.
She was still wary of allowing herself to getemotionally attached to him, but she couldn’t resist resting herhand against his chest to soothe him. He’d killed for her tonight,and she had no doubt he would do it again.
She’d sworn she wouldn’t let him in again,but it was growing increasingly difficult to keep her heartprotected. He brutally murdered that vamp, yet his touch was tenderas he rubbed her arms to warm her.
“We’ll take care of everything,” he promised.“I’m going to keep you safe.”
She didn’t doubt that.
“What happened?” Cassidy asked.
At the end of the alley, a police car andfire truck sped past with their lights flashing. Doors slammedshut, and the crowd fell further back as the officer approached toherd them away,
“I’ll tell you later,” Julian said. “For now,we have to keep them out of this alley.”
CHAPTER 23
“I have no idea who he was,” Aida said over an hourlater. She sounded as if she’d eaten sandpaper, and her throat wasraw, but she was alive.
All the emergency personnel had left. Ratherthan deal with trying to get everything reopened, Rick allowedeveryone back inside to get their things before closing the bar forthe night.
Kyle and Cassidy had finished helping toclose the place and rejoined her and Julian in the alley. Becausethere were no dumpsters in the alley, it didn’t stink. Julianwanted her to go home, but she wasn’t leaving him alone to dealwith this.
He hadn’t encountered any difficulty insending the police away, but he remained wound too tight. She couldsense his barely leashed control, and while she didn’t fear forherself, they might be in trouble if someone else wandered thisway.
