Hunted, The Complete Edition: A Full-length Steamy Vampire Romance (New England Nightwalkers) by Chloe Cole

Author:Chloe Cole [Cole, Chloe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Frog Prints Publishing
Published: 2016-05-29T18:30:00+00:00

12

Chapter Twelve

Gabriel scanned the room with a dispassionate eye, taking in the scene. And man, was it a scene. Vampires decked to the nines. Some wearing steampunk garb from their own collections that they'd been keeping packed away in old cedar chests for centuries, some in barely there mini-dresses from the modern era. But each nightwalker down to the last had brought their human familiars with them.

He glanced at his watch and wondered for the first time if Zara hadn't changed her mind. He couldn't deny a part of him hoped she had. But as midnight approached and his solitude garnered more than one sidelong look from Irena, he knew that would be worst-case scenario. He was about to reach for his cell phone to check on Zara when his boss sauntered over to him, her hostess party-smile fading as she approached.

"Gabriel. Having a nice time tonight?"

He offered her a clipped nod but said nothing.

"The others are used to you standing there, sober and alone as a priest while the party goes on around you, but you and I...we know this year is different, don't we? So where is Zara?" Her sherry-colored eyes drilled into him and he cocked his head at her, keeping his face impassive.

"She had another party to attend but will be here shortly."

Irena nodded her head slowly before adjusting the plunging neckline of her black gown. "I'm glad to hear it. How are things progressing there?”

“Well.”

“So well that you weren’t able to come to work yesterday or the day before?”

He’d hoped to put off this discussion until tomorrow, when he would be gone and Irena would be forced to have it with someone else as she lamented how she hadn’t seen the signs of his imminent departure. Backed into a corner, he had no choice but to take the offensive.

“Exactly,” he said, his voice ice cold. “Make up your fucking mind, Irena. You wanted me to tell you if she was a vampire hunter. She’s not. You wanted me to dig deeper, find out why she came to the club that night, who she is, where she came from. I’ve done that. She’s no one. Nothing. But still, you want me to keep pressing. The woman fancies herself in love with me now, and in order to maintain the illusion that I feel the same way and do the job you’ve tasked me to do, I’m sticking close. Now, I’m spending too much time with her?”

Irena’s lips went tight and she ran a hand through her dark hair. “You’re making me sound like a hard to please bitch.”

“No. I’m making you sound like a paranoid, grieving woman who needs to take a step back and reevaluate.”

She looked both wounded and taken aback by his words and he almost felt bad saying them. But just because she was right about Zara didn’t make them less true. Irena was in a downward spiral and needed to take some time to deal with her emotions of guilt and sadness over Melissande’s death.

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