He wanted that lipstick smeared all over his sheets. All over his cock…
“Right,” Dorian said.
Gabriel forced himself to meet his brother’s eyes. “She’s aperson, Dorian. And she’s on our side. For fuck’s sake, brother. You’re the one who forbade me from killing her.”
“I don’t need your justifications, Gabriel. But understand something. These violent impulses of yours, while appreciated in certain situations…” Dorian shook his head, frustration mounting between them, as always. “Rogozin and his demons, however unpleasant, are our allies now. Those alliances don’t come with a no-conflict guarantee. Our arrangement simply means that when conflictsdoarise, we seek diplomatic solutions rather than trial by combat. For fuck’s sake, brother. Our position is precarious enough.”
“I wasquitediplomatic in the ripping out of their throats, I assure you.” Gabriel gripped the balcony railing, the taste of demon blood souring in his throat. “After what they did to her, they’re lucky I gave them such a quick demise.”
He scanned the club once more, his eyes finding Jacinda’s across the dark space. She smiled briefly, then returned her attention to Charlotte, who’d just entered the club.
“Careful.” Dorian fisted the back of Gabriel’s hair and gave him a quick shake, but there was no teasing in his tone.
It was a warning, plain and simple, and it wasn’t about his fondness for assassinating demons.
It was a warning Gabriel should’ve heeded the very first night they’d captured the witch and he’d decided, for somestupidreason, to keep her. Put her to work—on Duchanes, on the curse, behind the bar, anything to keep her in his sights.
But Dorian’s warning had come far too late. And every night that passed, every hour, Gabriel was falling deeper under her dark enchantment.
“Another?” He held up both empty glasses and grinned, some of the tension between them dissipating. Drinking was the only language they both spoke fluently, the common ground that had spared them more arguments than not.
“No, thank you,” Dorian said. “I’ve got a date with my fiancée.”
He’d said the f-word as if he were tasting the finest scotch and turned his attention down toward the bar, where the fiancée in question was currently sharing a secret with Jacinda that had both women glaring up at Gabriel and laughing.
“Hell, she’s beautiful,” Dorian said, practically salivating at the sight of his woman.
“Hell, you’re repulsive,” Gabriel said, but there was no ire in his insult.
“Quite.” Dorian smacked Gabriel’s cheek, shot him one last warning glare, and then he was off.
Gabriel watched him head down the spiral stairs, slowly making his way toward the bar.
Guilt roiled in his gut. Dorian was right, of course.
At this point, it was obvious Jacinda had hit a roadblock with the curse. She needed more information—information that none of them had. If Malcolm was to be believed—and that was a big if—the only vampire alive who knew anything more about the dreaded curse was Renault fucking Duchanes.
Gabriel shook his head, cursing under his breath. The best solution for all of them was to track down Duchanes and break their curse. The sooner he could accomplish both, the sooner Jacinda would be out of his life.
Thatidea unleashed a burn of a different sort.
But Gabriel refused to let it smolder into a flame.
He was the vampire with the coldest heart, the cruelest smile. The vampire whose touch turned women to ice.
He held his breath. Felt the quick thud of his heart.
In all the centuries of his immortality, no one had ever penetrated it.
Fire had no business there. One red-hot little witch wasn’t about to change that.
Chapter Eighteen
“Sapphire and tonic, please.”
The smooth, sultry voice pulled Jaci from her thoughts about dark spells and bloody vampire hearts, and she turned to find a gorgeous female vampire smiling at her across the bar.
Charley, Dorian’s fiancée. Jaci remembered seeing her at the Ravenswood fundraiser the night Dorian had invited her to roam the gardens—felt like a hundred years ago now, though it had only been a few months. Charley had been human then, but she was definitely a card-carrying member of the fanged and the furious now.
