I drop the empty vial back in my purse right as Easton comes over.
“This is my hot girlfriend,” he says, really driving in the point to make this hunter see me as his ideal “hottie.” Sexist? Maybe. Effective? Definitely.
“Hey, babe,” Easton says, pushing the hunter down where he’d been sitting. “This is the guy I was telling you about.”
“Hi,” I say, giving my best flirty smile. “I’ve heard so much about you and how brave you were, going after a witch.”
The hunter’s eyes go right to my chest, and I resist the urge to button my shirt all the way up. “Yeah, it was brave.”
I look at Easton and then at the beer, silently telling him the potion is in it.
“Let me buy you a beer,” Easton says, clapping the hunter on the back.
“What’s your name?” I ask, batting my eyelashes.
“Roger. Who are you?”
“Betty,” I blurt, saying the first thing that comes to mind. Easton hands him the beer, and Roger takes a big drink.
“Who hired you to go after the witch?” I ask.
“Some rich vampire,” Roger says and tips his head. He knows he’s spewing the truth even if he doesn’t want to.
“We kill vampires,” Easton says and side-eyes me, warning me to go along with him. “Why would you work with one?”
“He offered me a lot of money. Said he doesn’t like witches, either. I said it was something we can both agree on. Witches are bitches,” he laughs, and I have to look away and roll my eyes.
You’d think they’d come up with a better rhyme…
“Did you get the vampire’s name?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.” Roger sways a bit and takes another drink.
“What did he look like?” Easton presses.
“Tall. Gray hair. Wore a fancy suit and had an accent. French, maybe? He had a pin.” Roger points to his chest, eyes widening, shocked as the words keep tumbling out of his mouth. “A VC pin.”
“He’s a member of the Vampire Council?” I repeat.
“Yes, but he didn’t seem to like the rules they put in place.” Roger puts his hand over his mouth, trying to make himself stop talking.
A vampire who doesn’t like the rules. Sounds familiar. They’ve been going after Lucas since before I even met him. But being on the council…this should be enough to go on.
A tall VC member with gray hair and an accent. Lucas will be able to figure it out…and then he’ll take care of it.
“How old do you think this vampire is?” I rush out.
“Old.” Roger’s eyes meet mine, and I see the fear in them.
“You were scared, weren’t you?”
“Scared shitless,” Roger blurts and tries to clamp his mouth closed.
“Were you scared of the witch, too?” Easton presses.
Roger puts both hands over his mouth. “Yes.” He turns, and if he wasn’t drunk already, he’d be onto us.
“You should be,” Easton goes on, taking my hand and tugging me up. “Because you didn’t kill the witch. You just pissed her off.”
Roger looks from Easton to me and then to his beer. He’s just about to figure it out, and one of the hunters he was sitting with stands up, gaze zeroing in on us.
“Somnum,” I say, holding out my hand. Roger slumps down against the bar. Easton grabs his beer and looks at the bartender.
“He’s had too much.” He brings the beer to his lips and pretends to take a sip. He gives my hand a squeeze and pulls me away from the bar. “We need to get out of here.”
“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.”
Easton tosses the beer in the trash on the way out, getting rid of the evidence that Roger was spelled. The truth potion will have worn off before the sleeping spell, and he’ll wake up groggy, chalking this all up to too much alcohol.
A few hunters give us weird looks as we walk through the parking lot, and for a second, I think they recognize me. But then I realize they’re staring at Easton.
Right. Word travels fast in the hunter community. Easton has been outcasted. The whole supernatural community needs to come the fuck together. Witches aren’t evil. We’re much more efficient at killing demons than hunters are, and if they’d get their heads out of their asses, we could work together.
But that’s not going to happen.
“Is that enough to go off of?” Easton asks, finally letting go of my hand when we get to his truck.
“Yeah, and it actually makes a lot of sense.” I grimace, putting my hand over my stomach again. The taste of beer in my mouth is making me feel even worse than before. Easton looks at me with concern, but I hold up my hand, letting him know I’m okay. “There’s a group of vampires who are against assimilation and go after vampires who abide by the VC’s rules. They think they’re better than humans and shouldn’t have to follow their rules.”