Wicked Beauty: Wicked Inked duet, Book 1 (Out of the Fire 2) by Candace Blevins

Author:Candace Blevins [Blevins, Candace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: vampireromance, paranormal, romance
Publisher: Kaleidowords Publishing
Published: 2023-03-29T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Nick followed His Majesty out the door, climbed into the passenger seat of Nathan’s black Sherpa, and fastened his seatbelt. Supernatural or not, His Majesty was big on following the human rules when possible. Drake Security handled contract work for the military, and that meant every interaction with law enforcement had to be pristine.

“The former Master of the City wasn’t terribly concerned about you,” Nathan said. “So long as you stayed in your lane and didn’t pop up on his radar, he was good.”

When Nick had come to town, the Master’s Secundo had met him at the airport for a five-minute conversation, and Nick had never actually met the Master Vampire, nor had he been to the coterie house.

“But Lauren will be living with me, so I won’t have that luxury with Gavin.”

Nathan pulled onto the curvy mountain road and settled into his seat. They’d have to drive to the bottom of this mountain and then climb a different one. “He owns the territory. Any supernatural who lives here does so with his permission. However, you’re a Rex, another leader. You aren’t his equal, but you aren’t a normal subject, either. You’re both in management, he’s just higher up the food chain.”

“So, deference without being subservient?”

“Respect, certainly, but don’t let him bully you too much. Find a balance. Stand up to him if you feel you must, but do so with respect.”

Nick had seen satellite imagery of the coterie estate, and it seemed suitably impressive, perched on top of a mountain, but the forest was so dense, Nick could only catch glimpses of the mansion on the high-resolution imagery taken at an angle, so he should’ve been able to see more. Usually, one pushed the forest away from houses, to protect in the case of forest fires, so Nick assumed the underground of the mansion was vast enough, they could afford the privacy of the forest coming right up to the structure.

After a long and windy drive up the other mountain, the two lions came to a sign that announced this was the visitor parking area, and His Majesty parked and told him, “People who live here have a sensor in their cars that opens the first gate. Everyone else gets to climb the last half mile on foot.”

The fence was fifteen feet tall and made of gorgeous stone. A man in a guard uniform opened the small gate a few feet from the road and motioned them through, welcoming them both by name and proper titles. The Master of the City was starting out formal.

The guard also warned them to stay on the trail, but he didn’t escort them.

Just inside the fence was a mowed strip about thirty yards deep, and Nick had a feeling it was maintained all the way around the property — a security measure making it hard to sneak onto the coterie lands. The rest of their path was a well-maintained trail that snaked back and forth as it climbed through a lush, beautiful forest.

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