“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many?” I repeated, shocked by how my voice boomed through the small space. I sounded downright menacing. One point for me.
“A half dozen, maybe?”
Since Sig was the expert on how to make an assassin feel as puny as a gnat on a horse’s ass, my next response was taken straight out of his greatest hits. I sighed dramatically, burdening the exhalation so much it radiated like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. Like the complications of Shane’s actions would keep me tossing and turning late into my daytime sleep. I groaned a little for added effect.
“Do you understand what you’ve exposed us to? How your stupidity has endangered us all?” I filled my voice with restrained rage, then darted my gaze sideways to see how my colleagues were reacting.
Sig was watching Shane with a careful eye, reading what he could from the man’s words and judging how truthful he found them to be. The full focus of his attention was a lot to bear; I knew that all too well. Beyond Sig, Juan Carlos had propped his chin onto one of his curled fists, but instead of watching Shane, his eyes remained on me. He looked bored, but there was a fire lit in his pupils that showed something other than repressed hatred.
Juan Carlos was proud of me.
I returned my attention to Shane, swallowing the icky feeling of having done something to please the surly conquistador.
“What was your payment to be?”
“A thousand.”
“You will forfeit the payment for this kill, and for the next. You are lucky I’m not having your hands ripped off.” I said it so matter-of-factly I gave myself a chill.
Shane opened his mouth, likely to protest, but I waved one freshly manicured hand towards the door and turned away, telling him he was no longer of concern to me. The bounty hunter stomped over to the big double doors, and as he jerked them open, I couldn’t resist a famous Tribunal parting shot.
“Oh, and, Mr. Hewitt?”
Shane turned, and he must have been mad because he made the mistake of meeting my eyes, something a smart hunter would never do with a vampire unless they wanted to risk being enthralled.
“Don’t disappoint us again.”
Chapter Two
The night air was bracing, cold enough that I’d look insane for not wearing a coat, so I was bundled in a chic Burberry plaid trench I’d splurged on after Christmas. There was one decided bonus to being elevated to a Tribunal seat—a black American Express card with my name on it and no pesky questions about what I chose to buy.
I’d had the card for a few months, and I still tried to avoid using it whenever I could rely on my own money instead. But now that I was no longer hunting rogues, my major source of income had gone up in smoke.
And the coat was so pretty.
Trotting down the steps of the council headquarters, a huge building which mirrored Grand Central Terminal in style and scale, I stopped at street level where my escort awaited.
Holden Chancery could stop my breath in my throat and make any lady with a pulse trip over a few heartbeats. His dark hair was slicked back and teased his nape with its length. The tight set of his chiseled jaw told me he wasn’t in a great mood, and the blazing intensity in his dark brown eyes expressed a deeper emotion he wouldn’t let show on his face. He was pissed.
“Who peed in your plasma?” I asked, standing in front of him, my hands tucked in the pockets of my coat.
He glowered at me, nostrils flaring with barely concealed rage.
What the hell?
“Let’s go,” he snarled.
The sentry could be grouchy at the best of times and was prone to more mood swings than a group of sorority sisters whose cycles had synced up. For once, though, I was certain I hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
He was already a half block away, which made him pretty poor protection. Personally I didn’t think I needed a bodyguard everywhere I went, but I’d been glad to have the option of choosing Holden as my escort instead of any of the warden lackeys Sig could have given the job to.
When I’d first been appointed to the Tribunal, Sig had several warden guards follow me at a discreet distance. I’d subsequently put the kibosh on that system and now it was only Holden who kept an eye on me. I thought he’d been happy with the arrangement, but maybe I should have asked him.
“Holden.”