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Tess took care of my wound, she said. Gabrielle and Savannah fed me and gave me some fresh clothes. Savannah said it would be all right if I came up here for a swim...
Tegan shrugged, watching her tread water, lithe arms and legs moving sinuously beneath the surface. Do what you want. You don't need to explain anything to me.
She held his gaze across the pool. Then why do you make me feel like I do?
Do I?
Instead of answering, she pivoted and started swimming at an easy pace, putting more distance between them. Were you able to find out anything about the journal?
Looking to change the subject, are you? He watched her retreat toward the deep end, and for some absurd reason, it took every ounce of impulse control for him to not pe in and follow her. We might have a lead on something in Berlin. I'm heading there tomorrow night.
Berlin? She reached for the lip of the pool and turned a frown on him. What's in Berlin?
Someone we might be able to persuade into giving us information. Unfortunately, our best lead right now is a Rogue. He's been cooling his jets in a holding tank for the past few years.
A rehabilitation facility? Elise asked. At Tegan's nod, she said, Those places are controlled by the Enforcement Agency.
So?
So, what makes you think they'll permit you inside? I'm sure you are aware that the Order doesn't have a lot of admirers in the Darkhavens. They have never approved of your methods when it comes to dealing with the problem of Breed vampires going Rogue.
He had to give the female credit: she was up on her politics, and she was right about the Enforcement Agency intending to block the Order's access to the captive Rogue. Tegan's call to his old ally in Berlin, Andreas Reichen, had only confirmed what he and Lucan expected. The only way they were getting near Petrov Odolf was through a lot of red tape and bureaucratic bullshit.
Assuming Reichen could get Tegan an audience at all.
Elise knew that too. I have connections in the Agency. Maybe if I went with you...
Tegan scoffed. No way.
Why not? Are you so stubborn that you would refuse my help even in something like this?
I work alone, that's why.
Even if it means banging your head against a wall? Now she laughed, stunning him with her open mockery. I would have thought you were smarter than that, Tegan.
Anger pricked at him, but he held it back, refusing to let her bait him. With a shake of her head, Elise pivoted around and headed back for the shallow end, swimming with determined strokes. I should leave, she murmured.
Tegan kept time with her, strolling along the edge of the pool. Don't let me interrupt your swim. I was just on my way out anyway.
I mean, I should leave the compound. It's obvious I don't belong here.
You can't go back to your apartment now, he informed her curtly. The Rogues will have turned the place inside out. Marek will have his spies embedded all over the neighborhood, looking for you. I know that. Her slim body glided through the water, nearly to the end of the pool. I'm not foolish enough to think I can return there.
Tegan chuckled, satisfied that maybe she had come to her senses at last. Then I guess Harvard has convinced you to go back to the Darkhaven?
Harvard? Is that what Sterling goes by now that he's one of you?
One of us, Tegan said, hearing the accusation in her clipped tone.
Not that she tried to conceal it.
She swam to the steps and came out of the water, evidently too piqued to care that Tegan was staring openly at her wet body. His eyes homed in on the birthmark riding the inner edge of her thigh, drawn there unerringly like a heat-seeking missile locked on target.
Saliva surged into his mouth as he watched rivulets of water slide down her smooth, bare thighs. His skin felt tight all over, heat moving in his veins, and in the dermaglyph markings that covered his body and declared him one of the Breed. His gums ached with the sudden press of his fangs. He clamped his jaws together, curbing the startling jolt of hunger.
He didn't want to look at the female, but damned if he could tear his eyes away from her now.
Sterling hasn't convinced me of anything, she said as she grabbed her towel and covered herself with it. He won't even speak to me, if you want to know the truth. I think he must hate me after what happened last fall.
