Tes Hilaire - Prince of Shadows

“More like prison guards,” she muttered, but then sighed, pushing off the wall. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Bennett. Hope to see you around,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

Despite the fact that Keon still frowned at him, Bennett watched her sashay down the hall. Hard not to, since she did have a fine arse and seemed to be putting just a little bit of extra effort into making sure he watched it as well. The moment she rounded the corner it became impossible to ignore Keon any longer; the soldier’s concern was smothering him like a damp blanket.

“What is it, mate?” Bennett shifted, trying to relieve the residual pressure in his pants. “You have to admit she’s a looker.”

Keon grunted, but nodded in concurrence. “Just don’t let Jacob catch you looking at her like that.”

“Jacob? Does he not realize that his little sister is a woman?”

“No, I think he gets that Annie’s a woman. But I think that makes it worse.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s not his sister…She’s his daughter.”

Bennett cursed long and hard, his wanker shriveling long before he was done. “Cor blimey, I’m never getting my knife back, am I?”

What the heck are you doing here, other than freezing your butt off, that is?

“Good question,” Gabby muttered to herself as she shifted, trying to ease the tingling feelings in her legs from crouching too long on the roof of the downtown apartment building where she’d made a sport of staring at its overachieving high-rise neighbor across the way. She wasn’t surprised to find that the penthouse windows had already been replaced, and she was sure if she made it inside there would be nothing left of the man she’d spent many an hour watching and wishing she dared get closer to. Her biological father didn’t live there anymore. Which was a good thing, all things considered.

Four months ago the Paladin-turned-vampire, Roland, had his top-floor penthouse broken into by the then coven leader—and her own dear stepfather from hell—Christos. And though Christos had since died—yippee ki-yay, mothereffer—there was no way the former Paladin was going to risk his bond mate’s life by staying, not after all he’d done to claim her.

You mean all he had to go through to save her after you fucked everything up.

Gabby blew out a deep breath, her chest tightening around the empty ache inside it. Her involvement in Karissa’s capture could not be denied, though it certainly hadn’t been what Gabby wanted. But what she was and how she’d come to be was exactly the connection Christos and Ganelon had needed to track down Roland and his mate. The fact that Gabby had been further used to lure Karissa out into the open was another thing she would never live down, especially when it had led to the Paladin female’s capture and eventual turning.

That betrayal, though done unwillingly, was just another mark against Gabby. It was also the biggest reason why, as much as she might want to, she hadn’t tracked her father and Karissa down after they’d moved and done the whole surprise, surprise—welcome to the family, Karissa; oh, and by the way, I’m your new stepdaughter . Nope, not a smart idea when she didn’t think her daddy had yet to wake up and smell the genetic coding in her genes. Not to mention Gabby’s disaster factor. Gabby had figured out long ago that being associated with her was synonymous to inviting trouble. And the last intel Gabby had gotten from her recently deceased vampire spy suggested the new coven leader had no idea where Roland and his mate were. Keeping it that way was the best wedding present she could give them, especially after all the pain she’d given them first, which meant staying far, far away.

Gabby closed her eyes, remembering the intensity of emotions in that mine four months ago. The pure despair that her father had been going through when he’d made the earth-shattering decision to turn Karissa in order to save her life. He hadn’t known at the time if what he was doing was right or wrong, but he had known that he loved her so much he would give anything for her. What would it be like to have someone who would move heaven and earth itself for you? The answer to that was something Gabby doubted she’d ever know, especially given the limited amount of time she had left.

Speaking of time, you really need to get off your frozen duff.

With a groan, she stood, shrugging off the memories as she turned and ran for the backside of the building. The edge came up fast, barely time to gain enough speed, but she managed, thrusting off the lip and arm-wheeling it to the next building across the way. She landed with a thump and a grunt, her hands digging down in the filthy coating of smog, dirt, and whatever else sealed the rubber roofing.

Damn, when had she become a complete wuss? There was a time when she could jump double the distance with no effort.

Standing, she brushed her hands together, ignoring the prickly cry of nerve endings as she headed toward the fire escape at the back of building. Each step brought with it more stinging needles running from her toes up her legs, and her fingers weren’t far behind in their Popsicle status.

She scowled, annoyed. It was a cool evening, but still, she should have been better off than this. Yeah, it didn’t help that she’d run out of her room without grabbing her hoodie, so the fact she was shaking down to her toes right now was her fault. Though, if she were honest, she could admit that even with a down jacket she probably would still be shaking. And she could put the blame for that, at least, firmly on Valin’s shoulders.

Five minutes with the man and here she was, crashing. It was worse than any of the withdrawals she’d experienced after a feeding. Only this time she hadn’t even fed, though she almost had. No, she’d almost taken. And not just his blood. He’d offered to let her feed from him, and the desire to do so had been so overpowering, so blatantly arousing, that she could still feel the throbbing pulse not just in her fangs, but in regions of her body that had laid dormant since she’d been turned. Seventy-nine years was a hell of a long dry spell on desire.

As if you could actually go through with it if he took you up on the offer.

Very true. Sex was for power and power alone. She had no desire to give any man, even one like Valin, power over her again. And if he knew that she was the cause of his ultimate pain?

Gabby rubbed her arms, glancing over her shoulder as if expecting to find him standing there, knife in hand. Obviously he didn’t suspect how she was connected to the night his wife and child had died or else he would have used that knife on her rather than himself. If she were lucky he’d never find out. Which meant after she’d gotten her meal, if he wasn’t gone yet, she’d have to find a way to drive him away too.

“First, dinner,” she told herself firmly, putting her foot down on the fire escape. She was going to need all the sustenance she could get if she hoped to set even half the things her screwed-up heritage had caused to rights.

“Still not back yet?” Annie asked from the open doorway.

Valin sighed, heaving himself upright on Gabby’s cot. The desire to try and track Gabby down was making him jumpy, so to combat that he’d decided to lie down. Waiting was the best thing he could do right now.