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Until he suddenly pinched the hell out of me.
“Who let you back here?” another voice asked, from closer in. It was a man’s—literally. Because neither he nor his buddy was vampire.
There was no tingle coming from them, no itch, none of the telltale electricity that the vamp pressed against me was shedding like little bursts of lightning. It hurt—like being groped by an electric porcupine. But not as much as when the bastard pinched me again.
I broke off, out of breath and furious. “Son of a bitch!”
“This is a restricted area,” the first of two business suits informed us.
“So is my thigh,” I snarled, wrenching my head around so I could examine my left leg. And sure enough, under the ladder in my hose was a red mark as long as my thumb. It was definitely going to bruise. “Son of a bitch.”
“You already said that,” Marlowe said smarmily. “And I don’t see anything. Do you?” He glanced at Suit #2. Who came around to check it out.
“These hose cost forty bucks,” I said furiously. “I’m adding them to the bill!”
“And I will take them off again.”
“On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that they were already ripped downstairs.”
“You two need to go back out front,” Suit #1 said, coming up on my right.
I glared at Marlowe. “If it’s on your time, it’s on your dime.”
“And who decided that?”
“It’s called expenses!”
He looked at me consideringly as he let me down. “I’ll go halves.”
“Done.” They’d only cost me twenty, anyway.
“Did you hear me?” Suit #1 demanded, finally coming within arm’s length.
And getting coldcocked by my fist upside his jaw.
“Loud and clear,” I said, watching Marlowe extricate his knuckles from the face of Suit #2. “What was with all the pinching?” I demanded.
“No blood.”
“What?”
“I wanted to remind you to make sure to bruise rather than bloody him. This corridor is protected by a sound shield, but they do not block odors. And nothing is calculated to get a vampire’s attention faster than—” He noticed my expression and stopped.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
“I’m on the Senate,” he reminded me. “It’s Lord Obvious. And I don’t want any mistakes tonight.”
I could have said a lot of things to that, but we didn’t have time. “I’ll see what I can do,” I said sweetly, and squatted by my guy to frisk him.
But other than a .45 that I tucked into the front of my dress, there was nothing of interest. Like detailed plans of the smugglers’ intentions. Or a map of their portal system. Or even a photo ID, none of which the bad guys I met ever seemed thoughtful enough to provide.
“Nothing,” Marlowe said in disgust, throwing his man alongside and then crouching beside him.
“But human.”
“Mages,” he confirmed.
