“You, too.” And then, even though he’d only seen the back hall that led him here, he wanted to piss Julian off so he added, “You know, your other joint was better.”
“Bloodlust. Yes. Shame we had to abandon it.” Julian sneered. “Far too much riffraff and uninvited guests.”
It wasn’t lost on Adam that the Nightwalker nightclub was shut down right after he and Wolfe had discovered it.
“What can I help you with, Corporal? I doubt you’ve come to my establishment for the pleasures we offer your wretched kind, so I’m wondering what it is that would have you coming all the way out here on your own.”
“I represent the Grayson PD. This building is in my jurisdiction.”
Adam didn’t expect Julian to throw up his hands and gleefully accept being arrested. He’d expected some resistance; he’d hoped for it, because there was a lot of leeway when it came to a Para resisting arrest.
What he hadn’t expected?
The laughter that burst out of the Nightwalker.
Adam’s lips thinned. “You think I’m funny? ‘Cause I’m dead serious.”
The black vampire lounging against the wall that butted up against the edge of the dais snorted. “Dead something,” he muttered.
Adam ignored him. He had his eyes on the bigger score. Julian was the one he wanted. The other vamp could wait.
The third Nightwalker in the room was female. He’d barely paid her any attention. She was pretty, sure, but she was another blonde. Short, too. Petite, maybe, but Adam had always had a weakness for a gorgeous, leggy, brunette.
He shook his head.
Eva. He had to take down Julian for Eva’s sake.
The Nightwalker didn’t know who he was messing with when he went after Evangeline Lewis—Evangeline Wolfe. A cop with nothing left to lose was like a ticking time bomb.
He took a step forward.
Julian’s laugh stopped. Just like that, as if it was a recording and he’d pressed pause, it stopped.
The female vampire moved so that she was standing within arm’s reach of Adam. She looked imploringly over at Julian.
“Alexis. You have something you want to say?”
“Yes, Julian.” She turned, pointing at Adam. “I want him.”
The Nightwalker cocked his head slightly to the side. “Is he your betrothed?” he asked.
“I… he could be.”
Adam held his breath. What the hell was going on?
Julian eyed him for a second before shaking his head. “No.”
“But—”
“Not this one, Alexis. If he was meant to be yours, I might’ve allowed it. This Ant has caused too much trouble for us. Just because you want him, that’s not good enough for me. There are plenty more humans. The Ants infest this whole godsforsaken world. We’ll find you another one.”
“But I want this one,” she pouted.
Julian’s pale grey eyes glittered. “Do you dare to defy me?”
The blonde didn’t have to breathe. Vampires were dead and necessary acts like breathing or using the bathroom were useless to them. Still, out of some kind of reflex, she took in a deep breath that caught in her throat.
She shook her head. “Never, Julian.”