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We have to talk,my dragon grumbled.We definitely have to talk.
Chapter Twelve
ERIN
It took another fifteen minutes for me to excuse myself from Harlon’s party, though every second was an eternity. The guests were all buzzing about the — bewitching? beautiful? terrifying? — woman Harlon had introduced or tut-tutting about the catering disaster.
“I’m so sorry.” Pippa cried over the mess she’d made. Literally.
My sister was brilliant — in action and acting. She cried so long and so pitifully, the guests forgave her mistake and even helped clean up the mess.
I would have helped too, but I couldn’t risk anyone figuring out we were related. Not when Pippa had used one of her many connections to infiltrate the catering team and act as my backup.
Yep, that would be a little tricky to explain.
Besides, it was hard enough for me to wheedle my way past Harlon.
“It’s been lovely, but I really have to get going. That’s the downside of the balloon business,” I lamented. “Four a.m. wake-ups make for very early bedtimes.”
Harlon nodded as slowly as he released my hand from his possessive handshake.
“Such a pity. I wanted to introduce you to Angelina.”
Thank God she was on the other side of the room.
She looked over, pinning me with a reptilian stare, then making eye contact with Harlon in a way that made me tense even more.
“Truly a pity.” I did my best to sound genuine. “But thanks again for inviting me.”
“Thank you for coming. I hope we can meet again soon.”
He didn’t mention my property, but I sensed the subtext.
“That would be very nice.” Boy, was I was turning into a serial liar. “Good night.”
The moment I stepped outside, I sucked in the crisp night air. Not just to steady my nerves, but to clear my foggy mind too. Was that just the stuffiness of the party or a side-effect of Harlon’s subtle mind games?
I forced myself to walk, not run, to my Chevy and drive away at the speed limit, checking the rearview mirror the whole time.
The security gate took forever to open, and I eyed the cameras capturing me from four different angles. A good thing Nash wasn’t with me. But, yikes. How had he gotten past security?
And, shit. What if he hadn’t?
I tapped my jittery fingers on the steering wheel.
“Good night,” the guard called agreeably.
“Good night,” I called back as innocently as possible.
The moment I turned the first corner, I floored the gas pedal. Five minutes later, I slowed at a traffic signal and coasted into the quad rental parking. The office was locked up and dim, but bright lights illuminated the quads out front. I drove around to the back, killed the engine, and waited.
And waited…
Where was Nash? More importantly,whowas Nash? What was his interest in Harlon — and why had he frozen at the sight of that woman?
Thatvampire,a little voice reminded me.
A good thing Pippa had realized that in time. Of we three half sisters, Pippa was the most tuned in to supernatural beings.Othersupernatural beings, she might say, including herself in that category. Abby and I didn’t, though we didn’t fit in with humans either. We were the unlucky losers of a genetic lottery in which our parents’ different powers had canceled each other out, leaving us with no special abilities.
