Delilah Devlin - My Immortal Knight 04 (7 page)

“Max,” Dylan said.

“Is
she
the solution?” Joe’s dubious glance swept her from head
to foot.

“We have a problem other than the werewolves that requires a solution?”
Emmy asked.

“Navarro’s diabolical,” Joe said, a smile stretching his sexy mouth.

If Pia hadn’t already met Max, she might have melted into a puddle,
this man was so handsome.

“I think I need a drink,” Dylan said. “You’re still in a hydrated
state, Pia—so I assume your meeting wasn’t a total disaster.”

Joe glanced at his watch. “You work fast. It’s only an hour past dusk.”

Pia looked from one curious male face to the other. How could she admit
she’d been a dismal failure? “Well, I-I met him last night.”

Joe’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, I see.” His gaze turned speculative. “I take
it, he didn’t know you were a vampire.”

Pia wished they’d change the subject. “Not at first,” she said, her
teeth grinding with annoyance.

“But he does now, and you’re still standing.” Joe glanced at Dylan.
“I’m impressed.”

Dylan shrugged. “Seems our girl here has found a chink in the tough
guy’s armor. Tell me why you’re so eager to leave? Looks like your work’s just
begun.”

Pia blew out an agitated breath. “He made it quite clear he didn’t want
to see me again.”

“You!”

Pia jumped at the familiar voice and her stomach sank.

Quentin Albermarle—the bane of her professional existence—filled the
door, a look black as thunder on his face. “What the devil are you doing here?”
The large, blond vampire advanced menacingly.

Pia refused to back up a step. “Hello, Quentin. Don’t worry about me.
I-I was just leaving.”

“Do I detect a bit of animosity?” Emmy asked, her eyes too wide and
guileless to be believed.

“She’s a menace!” Quentin said, pointing a damning finger in Pia’s
direction. “A walking disaster!”

Annoyed he could still hold a grudge when she’d obviously done him no
lasting harm, Pia straightened to her full height. “How was I supposed to know
you weren’t killing that woman? She sounded hysterical.”

“I was tickling her—she was laughing
hysterically
!” he said, his
face turning purple. “Besides, if you thought I was killing her, why didn’t you
aim higher?”

Pia glanced at the others to see whether a rescue was imminent, but
Dylan merely coughed, and Joe’s lips twitched.

She scowled at them both. “Who said I missed?” No way would she tell
these arrogant assholes she’d been aiming for his heart. She couldn’t help it
her palms had been moist, and the crossbow slipped.

“You
meant
to shoot me in the ass?” A tic pulsed next to his eye.

Pia decided discretion might be the better course. After all, she
didn’t ever have to see this odious vamp again. She crossed her arms over her
chest and glared. “I apologized. It was a natural mistake.”

“Natural?” He leaned down, so close his nose nearly touched hers. Then
his face grew still. “Bugger me. Tell me Navarro didn’t send this chit here.”

“’Fraid so,” Joe said, his tone mild.

“What the hell was he thinking?”

“She spent the night with Max.”

Quentin drew back and stared. “Fuck me. And she’s still standing?”

“Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?” Dylan said dryly.

Quentin looked her up and down, and then walked around her. When he’d
finished his circuit, he frowned. “I need a drink.”

“Drinks all around, it is!” Emmy said gaily.

“Make a note, Dylan,” Quentin said, his voice still hard. “She’s never
to hold a weapon within a hundred yards of me.”

“Looks like you’re staying,” Emmy whispered in her ear as she handed
her a tumbler of amber liquid.

Pia didn’t even sniff to see what she’d been given. She tossed it back
and then coughed. The whiskey warmed her all the way to her belly. “Who says
I’m staying? He knows what I am. If he sees me again, I’m potting soil.”

Emmy pressed her down into a chair. Then her gaze turned mean as she
surveyed the men. “So is someone going to tell me what this is all about? What
problem is Pia supposed to solve with Max?”

“Now, love,” Dylan said, reaching for her.

Emmy held a hand out to block the move. “Don’t you dare ‘Now, love’ me
and pat me on the head. I’m not a puppy.”

“No, love,” Dylan purred. “You’re my pussy kitty.”

“You are not going to distract me.” Emmy’s nostrils flared. “What are
you guys up to?”

“Ballocks!” Quentin said. “That wife of yours never keeps a secret.
Darcy will have my ass.”

Dylan sighed and reached for Emmy’s hand. “Haven’t you noticed Max’s
intense dislike for us?”

“Max just needs time to get to know us,” Emmy said. “Darcy says he’s a
great guy when he’s not being an asshole. Look at Joe,” she said with a nod
toward the Cuban. “He hated our guts.”

Joe raised an eyebrow. “Who says I still don’t?”

“Lily says so,” Emmy said with a nod. “Did you tell her a lie?”

Joe muttered under his breath and slumped into a chair.

Emmy turned to Pia. “What exactly were you supposed to do with Max?”

“Not what she did, obviously,” Quentin muttered.

Pia squirmed in her chair. She knew Emmy wouldn’t be pleased to hear
the details of her mission, or that Navarro’s first inclination was to kill Max
outright.

“I take it you slept with him?” Joe asked, his expression closed.

“Yeah, that was kind of the problem.”

“Why?” Emmy asked. “What were you supposed to do?”

Pia glanced around the room.

Dylan sighed and shrugged.

Pia took a deep breath. She may as well get this over with. “Um…I was
supposed to seduce him or turn him.”

“Turn him?” Joe’s brows drew together in a frightening scowl. “Over my
dead body.”

“Too late,” Quentin murmured.

Dylan frowned at both the male vamps. “Well, you almost got the first
part right, Pia. So what happened?”

“I fell asleep.”

Joe snorted.

“And when did you wake up?” Dylan asked.

“A couple of hours ago.”

Dylan stood still for a long moment, and then a grin teased the corners
of his mouth. He turned to Joe. “He’s going to be surly as a grizzly bear.”

Joe’s expression didn’t betray his thoughts. “Yup.”

“I want you to stick close,” Dylan said. “See if he says anything about
our girl here.”

Pia bristled at the “our girl”. “And what am I supposed to do in the
meantime?”

“Stay here,” Quentin said. “Out of trouble.”

Pia had the urge to click her heels and salute, but Quentin’s fierce
expression didn’t reassure her she was out of the woods yet.

“Let’s head to the station,” Dylan said.

“Try not to make it too obvious we’re sussing him out,” Quentin said,
looking at Joe. “Do you suppose he’ll put two and two together and figure out
we’re responsible for her being here?”

Joe rose from his chair. “Max is so ready to think the worst, he’ll
probably jump straight to believing it was a setup.”

“Then we have to make sure he never makes a firm connection,” Dylan
said. “Keep him doubting.”

“Pia,” Joe said, turning back to address her. “I want your promise you
won’t attempt to turn him.”

Pia lifted her chin. “I can’t do that.”

His face turned menacing. “Then I’ll have to tell him why you’re here.”

“Let’s see if she can win him over first,” Dylan said. “She may not
have to resort to draining him.”

“You’re not to move a muscle until we return,” Quentin said. “Got
that?”

Pia didn’t try to hide a scowl. Her hot stare should have blistered
their backsides as they swept out of the room.

“Whew!” Emmy said, fanning herself. “Was the testosterone stinking up
the place or what?”

Pia felt her lips twitching at the outrageous remark. “They are a bit
overwhelming.”

“Did you really shoot Quentin in the ass?” she asked, her face alight
with laughter. “God, what I wouldn’t have given to see the look on his face.”

“It was a Kodak moment, all right.”

The two women burst into laughter. Pia felt the tension drain away. For
the moment anyway, she was safe—and it looked like she might be given a second
chance to redeem herself. She’d worry about how to keep her body solid around
Max later.

“Did I miss a joke?” a feminine voice said from behind Pia.

Pia whirled.

“Not a joke. But you’ll be sorry you missed it,” Emmy said. “Meet Pia.
Pia, this is Quentin’s wife, Darcy.”

Pia nodded to the woman, then her gaze trailed downward. Darcy was
reed-thin except for her very round belly. Quentin’s wife was pregnant. Pia
gasped. “Are you a breeder?”

“Not the kind you think,” Emmy said quickly. “The baby’s not
Quent’s—but that’s a long story.”

Pia looked from one woman to the next. They couldn’t be more different.
One blonde and voluptuous, with a face that sparkled bright as Christmas
lights. The other brunette, slender, and serene. But there was no mistaking the
bond between them as they traded meaningful glances. Pia felt a twinge of envy
for their friendship.

“Pia is here to take care of Max, Darcy.”

Pia nearly groaned aloud.

“What’s to take care of?” Darcy said, stiffening.

“That’s a very good question.” Emmy turned back to Pia, her eyes
narrowing. “You’re gonna have to spill, girlfriend.”

“Shit.”

*
* * * *

“So what was-sh Max like?” Emmy asked, her reddened eyes alight with
curiosity.

Pia wished her glass wasn’t empty, she could use another shot before
she answered that one. She glanced over her shoulder to where the bottle sat on
the kitchen counter—too far to walk. She sighed. “Intense.”

“I bet.” Emmy burped and then giggled. “He looks like the kind who
would walk through walls to get at a woman.”

Pia’s cheeks filled with heat. “He is relentless.” She pursed her lips
to keep from giggling, guessing it was probably time to stop drinking. She
never giggled.

Darcy’s mouth turned up at the corners. “Well, well. I always knew he
had it in him.”

Emmy leaned over the kitchen table and spread a generous daub of
liverwurst on a cracker and popped it into her mouth. “Mmmm. Love organ meat.
So’s Max…hung?” she asked, her hand covering her mouth.

Darcy tilted her head back and groaned. “She’s obsessed.”

“I’m not the only one,” Emmy snapped. “Lily carries a measuring tape.”

Pia intercepted Darcy’s swift headshake and a glare in Emmy’s
direction, and alarm bells rang. That was the second time she’d heard that
name. Wasn’t it? She shook her head—
big mistake
, the room swirled.
“Lily? There’s another woman in The Compound?”

“Oops,” Emmy said, eyes rounded with guilt.

“Joe’s wife,” Darcy said. “She’s ill.”

“Oh.” The secretive glance the two women shared only heightened Pia’s
curiosity. She tried to sit straighter in her chair. “Is she a vamp or human?”

“Human, like me,” Darcy said, quickly. “So is Max…hung?”

Her attempt to change the subject was too obvious to be casual, but Pia
let it drop—Max’s penis was a much more interesting subject. “He’s
impressive…especially for a human.”

“I knew it!” Emmy said, slapping her palm against the table so loudly
Darcy jumped.

Pia, on the other hand, guessed her nerves were too well insulated. Not
so much as a flinch. She lifted her glass to her mouth, then cursed when she
remembered it was empty.

“The guys are always saying they’re just un-ush-unusually large for
vampires.” Emmy smiled. “The braggarts. So tell me, have you ever had a vamp
who couldn’t wield his cock like a weapon?”

Darcy spluttered with shocked laughter. “Em!”

Pia grinned. Whatever the two were trying to hide, it wasn’t any of her
affair. Nope! She was strictly short-term. “Vamp cocks are the biggest.
Although…” she leaned over the table to whisper, “I’ve heard werewolves are
just as impressive.”

“Werewolves!” Darcy shuddered. “Monsters, every one. You should have
seen what they did to those people.”

Having heard the story of the botched raid earlier, Pia could
sympathize. “Not that I have any personal experience, but I have heard things.”

Darcy’s gaze sharpened. “Is it true they’re hard to kill?”

“You have to destroy their hearts or their brains,” Pia said.

“Why do they hate us so much?” Emmy asked, looking like she was about
to cry.

“Well, like I said, I can only tell you what I’ve been told—strictly
third-hand info. But werewolves are like vampires—they can be made or born.”
Pia shrugged. “But the ones that are made, usually from a bite, are very
unstable and vicious.”