Syn merely stared, unfazed, watching the arena empty further. Only the drunks and diehard fight fans remained now, a clot of about forty people still riveted to the match winding down in the cage.
Nathan stared into that crowd and felt his veins go tight as his gaze locked on to a pair of young women in the front row of the straggling spectators.
Holy hell.
Carys was easy enough to spot. Her loose caramel waves bounced around the shoulders of her form-fitted black sweater as she cheered on her man, dark denim hugging her backside. She jumped up and down on high-heeled black boots, clapping her hands and whistling as the clock ran out and Rune’s victory was assured.
The other female was a surprise Nathan neither wanted nor needed tonight.
With her back to him, Jordana Gates stood beside Carys, dressed by contrast in a soft gray pencil skirt and pale pink silk blouse. Her long white-blond hair was gathered into some kind of knotted updo at her nape.
Jesus, she looked like she belonged in a boardroom meeting uptown, not a blood match down in the cages of Boston’s least reputable club.
Except Jordana seemed as rapt as Carys with the match taking place tonight. Neither woman paid any attention as Nathan left Syn standing behind him and made his way toward the pair. He smelled liquor on them even before he was halfway across the room. And now he noticed that the women were less than steady on their feet, even Jordana in her conservative pumps.
When the bell on the match rang out, Carys and Jordana cheered Rune’s name along with the handful of spectators around them. Nathan stalked forward, idly aware that Rune had peeled off his gloves and collar in order to catch Carys as she threw open the cage door and flew into his arms.
He felt Rune’s dark gaze light on him in disapproval for the Order’s interruption of the night’s commerce, but Nathan’s focus was trained elsewhere now.
Jordana went still suddenly, then slowly turned around. Her gaze collided with Nathan’s glower, a connection he felt like a lightning strike that sent heat straight to his groin.
If he’d thought Jordana looked suited for a board meeting from behind, facing her now threw that lame comparison out the window. Her blouse was carelessly untucked in front, the first three buttons unfastened, creating a tempting plunge of bare flesh that ended just between the perfect swell of her breasts.
Her skin there was flushed, a pretty rose hue that traveled up her throat and into her cheeks now as well. He couldn’t help imagining her blood rushing through those delicate capillaries. Hell, he could almost taste it. His mouth watered at the thought, making his fangs punch out of his gums.>If Cassian had anything to say about it, not even his death would assure the queen of that goal.
He figured it was only a matter of time before someone caught up to him—his immortal comrades or the Order’s warriors. There was nowhere completely safe for him now, and so long as he stayed in Boston, his presence alone posed an added risk to the very thing he’d worked so hard to shield and protect.
Which was the reason for his clandestine appointment today. He needed further assurances that his interests would continue to be looked after, even if he was gone from the picture altogether.
Cassian rounded a corner at the end of the block and made his way onto Newbury Street. He headed into a swanky sim lounge, bypassing the hostess before she could tell him what the current offerings were in each of the club’s experience rooms. Cass wasn’t there to spend time or money playing in the virtual reality realm with tourists looking to become spaceship captains or fairy-tale creatures at the rate of a couple hundred an hour.
He walked to the back of the club as had been arranged earlier that day. The individual he’d come to meet was already waiting in one of the private VIP rooms.
Garbed from head to toe in dark, UV-protective clothing, the Breed male waited with his driver, a human—hired help, by the anxious look of him. No doubt the driver’s tip would come in the currency of a mind scrub once the meeting was concluded and his fare was delivered safely back to his home elsewhere in the city.
Cassian strolled in and faced the vampire’s obscured form. “My old friend,” he said, extending his hand to the vampire who knew all his secrets and had kept them faithfully. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me on such short notice.”
“What do you think?” Carys spread her arms wide and gestured around her to the display of French tapestries when Jordana sought her out a few hours later, as the museum was closing for the day. “I had the guys mix the halogens with a few low-watt LEDs. If you think it’s too dark now—”
“No.” Jordana shook her head. “No, it’s perfect like this. Good work.”
Carys beamed. “Thanks. I also picked up the interior signage from the printer. It’s in your office. They said they’ll deliver the digital placards and exterior banners in the morning.”
“Excellent. I have a placement mock-up almost finished for all of the banners and digital signs. I know it’s getting late, but it shouldn’t take me too long to wrap up. You want to wait for me? We can grab some carryout from the Thai place on the way home and a bottle of wine. Seems like we should do something to celebrate your moving in today, right?”
“Oh,” Carys said slowly, her expression wilting in apology. “Jordana, I’m sorry. I made plans with Rune earlier this week that I’d be at the club. He’s got a big match tonight and I want to see him before he goes into the cages. I hate watching him fight, but I can’t bear to not be there, you know?”
Jordana gave a mild shrug. “Sure, I understand. You should be there.”
“Come with me instead. We can celebrate and have dinner there.”
“No. That’s okay.” Jordana was disappointed, but she knew how Carys worried herself sick when Rune was in the cages, despite the fact that the brutal Breed fighter had never lost a match.
Jordana could hardly stomach the fights either. And she hated to support an establishment whose proprietor made his living off the spilled blood and broken bones of others. Besides, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have plenty of work to keep her busy anyway.
“You go on and be with Rune tonight,” she said. “We can celebrate another time.”
Carys frowned. “Are you sure?”