AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My library/bus companion’seyes widen. “Nora? What are you doing here?”
“What areyoudoing here?” I repeat.
He ducks his head at all the incredulous looks being thrown his way and mumbles a soft, “I work here.”
My eyes bulge. Oliver is an underworlder.
Before I can ask him any more questions, the woman in the pencil skirt moves to the head of the table closest to me, where Nick is standing. He gives her a nod and moves to take an empty seat near the other end of the table. “Well,” the woman says, eyeing first me, then the random group of underworlders that have been assembled, “this is interesting.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Nick says, smirking.
The woman’s eyes circle the table again. “So who would like to tell me what’s going on?”
“I say we let the pretty human explain,” Ren chirps.
“Sounds good to me,” Nick agrees. “She seems to be both the victim and the witness here.”
“What happened?” Oliver asks. His question is directed at me and oozing with concern.
I still can’t believe he’s here. He’s an underworlder. The quiet geeky guy that had offered to walk me home when I looked sick is part of the world I’ve always been terrified of. I just can’t believe it. I can’t form any words to answer his question.
“You weren’t at the library or on the bus yesterday,” he says. “After you looked so ill, when you didn’t show up the next day, I was worried about you.”
He’s so sweet. My face melts into a smile, and I finally find my voice. “Well, I missed an entire day because stupid Parker kidnapped me, compelled me to sleep for a whole day—for which I’m probably fired from my job, thank you very much.” I scowl at Parker, who sighs in return and mouthsSorry. “Then, his asshole master decided I’d make a good tool and kept me against my will until Nick rescued me. Oh, and for some reason, Henry thinks he can claim me as his mate.”
Director West’s eyes widen, and Nick grins. “See? Told you you’d want to hear this,” he says to her. “Only it gets better. The little spitfire impaled him with a barstool leg when he attempted to turn her against her will.”
“She is human, and she knows of the underworld,” Henry sputters when Director West frowns. “It is my right to deal with her as I see fit.”
“But claim a woman to be your mate against her will?Changeher?” Wulf growls a low, rumbly growl that makes me shiver. “It’s despicable.”
This comment seems to offend Henry on some deep level, because he shoots to his feet and starts yelling at Wulf. Wulf, of course, does the same, unleashing the fullness of his werewolf temper. Terrance and Parker join in the chaos, and suddenly I can’t make out any words among all the shouting.
“ENOUGH!” Director West shouts. She doesn’t have Nick’s badassery, but the command still has punch. Everyone returns to their seats and closes their mouths. Director West’s eyes return to me. “It seems you are the center of the squabble, so why don’t you start by telling us your side of things, miss…?”
“Nora Jacobs.” I shoot a nasty glare at Henry and Parker, then shrug. “What’s there to say? I got abducted at knifepoint by my psycho neighbor last night, and rather than let him assault me like he was planning to do, I passed him off to someone I knew could handle him.”
“Cecile,” Parker clarifies when Director West frowns.
“Is that the succubus?” I ask. Parker nods. “Okay, yeah. I handed him over to Cecile. Trust me, the guy deserved whatever she did to him, and then some.”
Director West nods. “Okay. And then what happened?”
I continue on explaining how handing my neighbor over to a succubus tipped Parker off that I knew about his world. Once I finish with the entire story—where Nick helpfully reminds her again about the improv wooden stake—all eyes turn to Henry. He sits up straight, defiant and prideful as ever.
“Henry?” Director West demands.
“She ishuman, Madison.”
“Gifted.”
“Still human.”
Director West pinches up her face as if Henry’s argument tastes sour, and looks at Parker. “You compelled her and brought her to Henry. Why?”
Parker, unlike Henry, doesn’t look defiant. He looks…resigned. “I didn’t know she was gifted. She was human, she knew about our world, she knew that I was a vampire, and she was associated with my main suspect.”
“Are you a cop, too, then?” I ask. “How come you didn’t bring me here instead of taking me to Henry?”
