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Tittwell’s eyes bounced back and forth between us. “Tittwell doesn’t know. Source DNA for psychics. He was moved to Greenland.”
“Can you show us the schematics for the Greenland lab?” I asked.
“Tittwell doesn’t know.”
“I think we’re done here,” Sam said.
“One last thing,” I said, leaning over the creature. “You will no longer do anything amoral. You’ll refuse on ethical grounds even if you get fired. Now forget about this visit.” I turned and marched back into the elevator with Sam beside me.
He stared at me on the way down, so intently it made me blush.
“What?” I hissed.
“That was impressive,” he said, looking away. “I mean, I knew you were a psychic, but I hadn’t really watched you in action till now. No offense, but you’re so sweet I hadn’t expected the level of take-charge you unleashed on that imp’s ass.”
“Thanks.” I shifted my stance. “I need to go meet Lydia for dinner. Then I’ll see if I can find any information on the lab’s exact location.”
The doors opened, revealing Gladys reading the latest book club romance, this time with a shirtless vampire on the cover, blood trickling from his mouth. I frowned at it as she quickly shoved it to the side.
“Don’t judge,” she said. “You might know what it’s like, but the rest of us have to daydream.”
My cheeks burned as I headed out of the base, flustered. I had no good response to that. They might be fun in bed, but they were jerks. At least Julian was.
“Do you need a ride to town?” Sam asked, kind enough not to comment.
“Sure, thanks.”
Sam lifted me into his truck and took off through the forest for what he called a “short cut.”
“So,” he said, pointedly watching the trail lit by the moon. “Since you and the blood sucker are no longer an item—”
“That got around fast,” I muttered.
“No pressure, but if you feel like a second date at some point…” He cleared his throat.
I looked at him. Sam was sweet, honest, and temperamental. He wanted to do the right thing always. He was handsome and had the kind of body that made women swoon. I’d seen the goods that night behind his house. But he felt more like a brother than a lover. Too bad, since it would be hard to replace Julian’s skill in bed and Sam stood an actual chance.
“Sam, you’ll find the right woman. But she isn’t me.” I sucked in a breath and bit my cheek waiting for his reaction.
To my surprise, he grinned, reached over, and squeezed my hand. “I figured. But I wanted to be sure you turning me down before wasn’t because he’d glamoured you or something.”
I laughed with relief. “No. He can’t glamour me. I have my—” I reached toward my chest and stopped. He’d crushed it, hadn’t he? I’d been avoiding thinking about that night in detail, probably because it hurt so much. “Well, I won’t get close enough to him ever again to let him try,” I finished, slightly unnerved. What had he done to me? Had he made me have sex with him like that? Why else would I have done it?
Throwing a hand over my mouth, I fought the bile that threatened to rise up. Had he raped me? My gods. I couldn’t process this information. No. I had to believe even he wouldn’t have stooped that low. A sickening memory of him kissing me as I wished I could break away surfaced in my mind, but an image of Silas with his mouth pressed to my neck replaced it. Then all of it was gone and I was left with a dull throb in my temples, not sure what I’d been mulling over.
Sam pulled to the front of the Rusty Shifter and leaned across me to open the door.
“Thanks,” I said weakly and hopped down. I remembered hopping down from the general’s hummer earlier. How had I gotten back to base? I…I couldn’t remember.
“Are you okay, Char?” Sam asked, rushing to my side of the vehicle.
I nodded. “It’s been a lot,” was all I could manage.
“Come on, I’ll take you inside.”
“But your truck—” I protested.
“Let someone try and give me a ticket,” Sam said, eyes flashing silver, and I laughed with as much gusto as I could manage, which wasn’t a hell of a lot.
