AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The sooner the better,” she muttered.
Valen reached to trail his fingers down the curve of her spine. The cool touch sent sparks of pleasure through her, even as it eased the tension that had her muscles tied in knots. Any other time Peri would have marveled at her reaction. This vampire caused grown men to weep when he frowned in their direction. He entered a room and demons fell to their knees. How could his touch restore her courage?
A question that would have to be answered later. She silently chided herself for her distraction as Valen pressed his hand against her lower back, urging her forward.
“I’ll enter her mind. You concentrate on getting her to talk,” he murmured softly.
“Okay.”
They halted in front of the woman, and Valen gestured at the hovering demons. With a shallow bow they turned to leave the room.
“Ready?” he asked, glancing toward Peri.
“Ready.”
Valen reached out, tugged the blindfold off Stella and tossed it aside. The woman blinked, tilting back her head to glare at them.
“What the hell is going on?” Her voice was sharp as a dagger and loaded with authority. A lawyer’s voice. “If you think anyone is going to pay one damned dime to have me returned you’ve lost your blessed mind. I can guarantee that,” she continued. “And if you hope to force me into giving you my bank account numbers—”
Valen leaned down. “Hush.”
Stella frowned. She had an iron will, but it was no match for a vampire.
“Release me or…” Her words faded as she was captured by Valen’s silver gaze.
“There’s nothing to fear.” His voice was soft, drifting through the room like a lullaby. “You’re here with friends.”
Stella blinked again. “I know you?”
“Don’t you remember? I’m Valen.” He waved a hand toward Peri. “And this is my friend Peri.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Stella,” Peri said, her voice equally soft.
“Yes.” Stella unclenched her muscles as a tentative smile curved her lips. “I remember now.”
Valen nodded toward Peri and she cautiously crouched next to the chair. She wasn’t exactly sure how to get the information they needed, but she sensed it would be better to have a friendly chat than to interrogate the woman as if she was a criminal.
“We were hoping to speak with Richard while we were in town. Do you know where he is?”
Stella’s bemused expression settled into lines of concern. “No, he wouldn’t tell me where he was going. He promised he would contact me when he found someplace to stay, but I haven’t heard from him. I’m very worried.”
Her worry was genuine. It was obvious she didn’t know her brother was dead. Which meant she hadn’t been working with Brenda Sanguis.
“He told me he was closing his business,” Peri said. “But I didn’t understand why.”
Stella pinched her lips. “Such a fool. I warned him.”
“Warned him about what?”
The woman reached up to touch the pearls that circled her thick neck. “First of all, I warned him not to get involved with magical artifacts. It’s not only embarrassing to be connected with that voodoo stuff, but who knows how dangerous they might be?”
Peri ignored the insult to magic. Stella wasn’t the only human to be disdainful of witchcraft.
“He wouldn’t listen to you?”
“No, he didn’t care about our reputation. The family auction house was on the brink of bankruptcy and Richard claimed that magic was all a load of horseshit. He didn’t believe the objects were any more dangerous than a lump of granite.”
“If he didn’t believe in magic, then why would he trade in enchanted artifacts?”
