I don't like his tone one bit. "That sounds…interesting."
"It can be."
I stop walking and point behind him, "This is my stop."
He turns around and takes in the massive skyscraper. "You work here?"
"I own here," I say proudly and take delight in surprising him.
"You own it? That's quite impressive for one so…young." He turns back around at his last word, his gaze burning intensely into mine.
I narrow my eyes at him. "Well, I should go. Busy afternoon."
"Of course. I won't keep you. Until we meet again, Liv."
I incline my head and say, "Cade."
I watch him as he goes back the way we came and say to Scott, "Well? Is he who we think he is?"
He hesitates. When I mentioned that Scott is intuitive to the point of it being a supernatural thing, turns out he is a supernatural thing. He is an Empath. He reads people. Their feelings, emotions, thoughts. Always rumbling just underneath the surface, his true ability came about the first time he saw me after I was named Queen of the Underworld. Needless to say, it was quite the shock for all of us – most especially him – and he learned quite a bit about me and mine before I threw up some mental blocks. It's quite exhausting being around both him and Lincoln, who also has this annoying ability with regard to me. Being two different species of the Underworld, their Powers work on different frequencies, and different blocks are required to stop them from entering my head. However, Scott has focused his gift now so that he can use it when he wants to instead of all of the time. Not that I don't trust him, but I have too many secrets – for example, all of the Vampire records – that he is not privy to. So, I keep my blocks up around him.
"Is he the Hunter? Does he know what we are?" I press.
"I'm afraid I can't tell. He’s blocked," Scott says, highly annoyed.
Crap. That is not good news. That more or less confirms that Nico’s information is correct. Sighing, I turn and enter the building, suddenly ravenous. I haven't fed on human blood for two days now, as I keep missing my Feeder.
I must let my blocks slip a little as Scott says to me quietly as we step into the elevator, "I asked Simone to come again after work. I'll send her upstairs if you aren't at home."
I smile gratefully and say, "Thank you." As much as I love feeding from my sire, Vampire blood just doesn't sustain me for very long these days. Not even his. I long for the times when I could go months at a time without human blood, but since turning Cole last year and then this whole Queen malarkey, which saps my energy like a leech, I have to feed every day.
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
T he rest of the afternoon goes quickly. We decided when we came to New York that we would run a complete audit on the offices here. Having both me and Devon out in Los Angeles, the eye has been taken off the ball somewhat and it needed a good kick up the arse. It's tiring work though and I could really use Devon's financial wizardry right about now, but he has abandoned me, so I am left to do this on my own. Not that I'm not capable. I can do it with my eyes closed but he can do it with his eyes closed and his hands tied behind his back and at twice the speed.
Oh, Dev. Why did you leave me? Why couldn't you just stay, and we could have sorted it out? I drop my head onto my desk and contemplate calling him, but I know he won't pick up. I know this because I have already called him seven times without any joy.
"Liv?" Scott says from the doorway.
I sit upright. “Yes?"
"Time to go. You don't want to be late for…" he says and points up even though we are nowhere near the apartment. It's like pointing at God, I think ruefully, remembering Devon's quite astute ‘God complex’ comment to my sire last year. Being the creator of our kind, I suppose the precedent has been set.
I stand and slip my coat back on, sliding my phone into my pocket. I don't need a coat as I don't feel the cold, but it would look rather unusual to be wondering
around the streets of Manhattan in just a sleeveless dress at the end of January. It's all about blending in.
"It's started raining," Scott says and hands me an umbrella.
"Great," I mutter. I am not a fan of rain. Bad things always happen when it starts raining.
Exiting the building onto the dark sidewalk, I open my umbrella and step out into the downpour. Scott, helpful as ever, takes my briefcase from me again and I shove my other hand in my pocket.
"If you insist on walking to work in a New York winter, surely you should wear better shoes," Cade's voice comes from behind me. I turn to glare at him and then down at my already wet Louboutins.
"We have to stop meeting like this, or I am really going to consider getting a restraining order," I snap at him. Bad things, I tell you, damn rain.
He chuckles as he steps under my umbrella. I grimace at his cheek but start walking anyway, wondering what to do about him. "There is nothing wrong with my footwear," I grumble more to myself than him.