Vanity Scare by H P Mallory

Author:H P Mallory [Mallory, H P]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: urban fantasy, paranormal romance, Fantasy, fantasy romance, vampire romance, romantic fantasy, supernatural romance
Publisher: HP Mallory
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Bram

Dagan beamed at Agent James. “Couldn’t find the time to go back to Dromir until recently.”

“And the thing you forgot,” Christina went on, holding up the scarf she had confiscated from him. “You brought it here to hide it, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Originally.”

“Originally?” Christina asked. “Did something change?”

“Yes.” Dagan considered himself for a moment, then apparently decided not to complete the thought because he said nothing more.

Christina continued in his silence. “Okay. So, why risk everything for a scarf?”

“It’s not just a scarf.”

“It looks like a scarf to me,” she argued.

“It’s a magic scarf.”

Christina raised her eyebrows. “A magic scarf.”

“Yes,” said Dagan. “Put it on.”

“Why?” Quillan suddenly interjected. “Why do you want her to put it on?” And the expression he gave Christina told her not to do so.

Christina looked dubiously at the scarf, then back at Dagan with the same expression.

Dagan sighed theatrically. He leaned forward, elbows on the table, and dragged his hand up Christina’s arm to the scarf in her hand, where he wrapped the silk around his fingers. Quillan reached forward and pushed Dagan away from her, but Christina glanced up at him and shook her head, as though to let him know she could fend for herself.

“What’s the matter?” Dagan asked, looking her up and down, shoulders back, poised like a tiger in the underbrush. “Don’t you want to experience the feeling of disappearing?”

Christina, completely unfazed, stared Dagan down as a matador stares down the nose of a snorting bull.

Quillan looked very much like he wanted to pop Dagan’s head off like a bad bulb on a rosebush. Agent James held him back.

Christina smiled. “Is that what the scarf does? Makes you invisible?”

“Completely,” Dagan crooned. “Think, sweet lady, of all the terrible, wonderful things you could do with this in… more favorable circumstances.” He squeezed her hand and started to pull himself closer, onto the desk. “You can pretend I’m anyone in the world, sweetheart. Better than having the lights off.”

Agent James very suddenly let go of Quillan, who surged forward, grabbed Dagan, and pushed him forcefully back into his chair. Christina mouthed a thank you.

Dagan laughed.

“Hey, easy,” he said, and he beamed up at Quillan. “It’s open invitation. All you had to do was ask.”

“I’m not going to punch you because we’re in a professional environment, and I don’t want to lose my job over you,” growled Quillan, “but know that, if I could, I’d break your fucking teeth.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“Quill, it’s okay,” said Christina. “He was just fooling around. Weren’t you, Dagan?”

Dagan spread his arms wide, gesturing to himself. “Am I capable of anything else?”

“Definitely not,” replied Christina, who was making a grand charade of enjoying the conversation. I could sense the tension and discomfort radiating from her like heat off the horizon, but Dagan gave no sign that he could tell. If he could, perhaps he was trying to manipulate it, or was simply basking in the energy of her unease.

“The scarf makes you invisible, then,” she stated, returning to her more business-like tone.

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