uld react, the door slammed shut behind me.
“Davy?”
Oops. I smiled sheepishly. “Uh… hey. I didn’t know…”
Kates stared at me, long and hard, and then flicked her cigarette on the ground. “If you tell me that you didn’t know I was here, I will skin you alive.”
“I knew you were and there are three vampires on the other side of this door that know you’re here too.” I’d be awful under torture.
Kates rolled her eyes. “Honey, every vampire in that bar knows I’m here. I’m a branded slayer, remember?”
Okay. This wasn’t going how I thought it would.
“This is Cherry,” Kates introduced with a back wave. “Cherry, this is my best friend, Davy.”
“You’re the Empath.”
The way he made it sound, it was like I was the only one. There were nearly a hundred thousand of us in the world, but I was probably the only one stupid enough to meander into a vampire bar twice in one night.
Kates frowned at him. “Yeah, she’s empathic. What of it?”
His quick eyes snapped to hers and read the warning. He straightened and ran a hand through his auburn curls then he flashed a charming smile. “No, she’s not just empathic. She’s the empath that was cozying up with the Hunter.”
“What?” Kates whirled to me. Her mouth didn’t drop, but I felt her bristling in shock. Kates hated being surprised.
The Hunter. That made him sound like he was famous or something, but then I realized he was famous in the vampire community. All hunters were known. “I—it wasn’t like that.”
“Sure,” he scoffed with a knowing smirk.
Kates looked between us. “Okay.” She turned and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’ll be seeing you.”
He didn’t respond, but seemed to melt into the shadows as Kates grabbed my elbow and walked me out to the street and across to the next block. “Kates, I—” I started.
She hissed, “Not yet. Not here.”
I was left with little choice but to follow. After we walked down another three blocks and hailed a taxi, Kates started as soon as the taxi’s door was shut, “What were you thinking? You don’t show up at a bar like that, not alone.”
“I wasn’t alone and hello—you took me to the first one, remember?”
“I was there! You weren’t alone. And what do you mean, you weren’t alone?”
“I went with the Vam—,” I shot a fevered look at the taxi driver. “I went with Roane.”
“Who?”
“Luke Roane, you know… the one that you wanted me to talk to in the first place.”
Comprehension flashed and she sat back, slightly appeased. “Why?”
“Um… I thought you were in trouble. I felt it. I did my thing and his name came up. I was told to get a hold of him and he’d know what to do. He could help you.”
“I’m not in trouble. What do you mean you did your thing? You didn’t—that’s private, Davy!”
If the taxi driver was listening, he’d think we were both crazy. “I didn’t! Blue did and she told me to call Roane.”
“What? Why?”
I shrugged. “She said that you respect him or something. I don’t know. She said he was the one to call about this.”