Claire giggled as she rounded the desk. He pulled her down into his lap and she leaned in to his chest. “You sort of make me sound like a gourmet meal when you talk about me that way.”
“I could devour you like one,” he murmured against her throat as he breathed her in.
Her previous pleasure evaporated under worry that soured the air and Mikhail tightened his grip, encircling Claire’s waist. “I know this is going to take some adjustment, but you’re through the worst of it.”
“It’s not that.” Claire worried her bottom lip between her teeth and one sharp fang nicked the skin. She licked the blood away and Mikhail was disappointed he hadn’t beat her to it. “It’s Vanessa.”
He stroked a loving hand over the silky length of Claire’s hair. “I told you, love. She can stay with you.”
“There’s something wrong with her,” Claire blurted. “No. Not wrong.” She paused as though searching for the right word. “Different.”
Mikhail had sensed it, too, but he hadn’t said anything. Didn’t want to pile anything more onto Claire’s plate. “The Sortiari ordered Gregor to spare her. They think she’s important. And that she plays a part in their plans is, at the very least, disconcerting.”
Mikhail had managed to thwart Fate more than once in the course of his existence, however, despite the Sortiari’s grand schemes. There was undoubtedly something otherworldly about the girl, though he couldn’t put a finger on just what it was. Perhaps her father had been other. The world was thick with supernatural beings. If not her father, there was a possibility that someone in her bloodline had passed down whatever traits she now exhibited that not only piqued his enemies’ interest but worried his mate as well.
“We’ll keep her close, Claire. Care for her. I’ve arranged for her mother’s care and we’ll see this through. I promise you, this will all work out.”#p#分页标题#e#
Claire graced him with a soft smile and leaned in for a kiss. “Have you always been such an optimist?”
An optimist? Mikhail thought back over the centuries, the many years of war and excess. The taking of physical pleasures in search of the one thing that would banish the emptiness that had swallowed him whole. He thought about that gods-forsaken tomb. The hole that Gregor had left him to rot in and the wound that still pulled at his chest after all of these years, a permanent reminder of the emptiness and despair that he thought would have no end.
“No, love. I have not been an optimistic male. Until now.”
“Oh really?” Claire teased the strands of his hair, her nails scraping against the back of his neck. “And just who could have possibly instilled such a sunny outlook in such a broody vampire?”
Mikhail cupped the back of her neck and kissed her, coaxing her mouth to open for him with gentle flicks of his tongue. She responded, deepening the kiss as a purr vibrated in her chest. Ah, his mate. So full of fire and passion—
“Mikhail.” Ronan burst into the room like a force of nature. A raging storm about to ravage the land.
Mikhail didn’t pull away but kept his head bent close to Claire’s. “As usual, Ronan, your timing is—”
“I’m leaving, Mikhail. Tonight. Now. I just came here to tell you in person so you wouldn’t think I was committing treason.”
“Treason? Ronan, what in the gods’ names are you talking about?”
“It’s Chelle.”
Ronan’s twin was a wandering spirit, a dhampir hell-bent on uncovering all of the secrets of the vampire race. So many times he’d flown to her rescue when she got in over her head. Mikhail had hoped that she would settle down. Stay closer to her brother and out of trouble. “What’s she done?”
“I don’t know.” Ronan raked his hands through his hair and his agitation burned Mikhail’s nose like sulfur.
Claire placed a tentative hand on Mikhail’s forearm, also in tune to the male’s distress. She’d only been awake and alert for a few hours before she’d needed to rest and Mikhail had no idea how long she’d be able to sustain this time. He didn’t want to waste a single moment on Chelle and whatever trouble she’d brought to her brother’s door.
“What can I do to help?” Just because Mikhail didn’t want to deal with Chelle didn’t mean he wouldn’t. Ronan might not have been Mikhail’s brother by birth, but he was the closest thing Mikhail had ever had to one. He was part of the Collective now, an Ancient One in his own right. Ronan’s problems were now Mikhail’s and he was honor bound to give aid.