“Not going to happen,” I growl at her and she nods her head quickly.
“I swear, I won’t say anything,” she says again and relaxes as I let go of her. However, the only reason I had let her go was to get my own arm out of the way. I bring the left one back with the stake still gripped in my hand and say to her, “Unfortunately, there is only one way I can ensure this stays a secret.” I stake her, right in the heart, shoving it so far into her chest that it buries itself into the wall behind her. Her wide eyes go dead before she drops to the floor as a pile of ash at my feet.
“Liv!” Cole exclaims, grabbing my arm as I let go of the stake, which is still sticking out of the wall. “What the fuck?” he asks me desperately, spinning me around.
“What?” I shrug and dust off my hands and then my pants.
“Was that really necessary?” he cries. “How the Hell are we going to explain this?”
“Explain this to whom exactly?” I ask with my hands on my hips. “I report to no one.”
“Liv,” he says, taking me by the arms and shaking me slightly, “You just killed her.”
“I know,” I say calmly. Does he think I am a dimwit? I am perfectly aware of my actions. “No one hurts my family and gets away with it.” I step back from him and regard him closely. I feel no remorse for the girl. No regret, no sorrow, no doubts about whether I did the right thing. Before the Power boost, if (and that is a mighty big “if”) I had done something like this, I would be in hysterical fits over it. Now, I just feel calm, controlled, and completely Powerful. The Dragon has taken over, and I understand fully now what my mother expected of me when She said I had to let the Dragon rule. She is the exact opposite of my willful, flighty, overly emotional Vampire self and I am liking it.
Cole is still staring at me, so I say, “Look, Cole, I have to protect you, and this was the only way. As the old saying goes, with a slight twist…two can keep a secret…”
“If one of them is dead,” he finishes and sighs. “I still think you went a bit far.”
“Paying off a blackmailer never works. They always get greedy and come back for more. She would have been a thorn in our side. Now, it is over with.”
“Are you feeling all right?” he asks in concern.
“Never better,” I say and try to explain it to him. Fortunately, he gets it, or maybe he is just pretending because he doesn’t want to end up on the receiving end of the stake, either way, he drops it, cuddles me, and then pulls the stake out of the wall. “What do we do about this?” he asks as he indicates the ash with distaste. I sweep my hand over it and it disappears.
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“Wow, you are handy, aren’t you?” he says with a shaky smile and takes my hand. “But we are going to have to explain her absence.”
“Very well, she attacked you and I defended you. Simple,” I say and open up the dresser drawer to poke around. No point going through all of this if there is evidence lying around. I find her journal and pull it out. I flick through it and determine this is going to have to come with us. There’s a laptop and her phone and those are coming with as well. I hand them to Cole, and he puts them under his arm. It looks kind of suspicious, but I’m not too worried. We leave the hotel room and I remember that I haven’t fed since those bottles I downed when I got back from the Underworld. Strange thing is, I don’t feel hungry. Not for blood anyway. I worry slightly as I drop my fangs and poke them with my index finger to make sure they are still there and haven’t disappeared as they do when Xerxei turns up.
Cole eyes me weirdly. “What are you doing?” he asks, as I am still poking at my fangs.
“Making sure they are still there,” I say.
He bursts out laughing at me, but then sobers quickly when he, too, remembers Xerxei and her lack of Vampiric abilities. “Does it really feel that different?” he asks.
“Yep,” I say. “It’s really quite odd. All the hot and cold emotions I had as a Vampire are all calm now.”
“You haven’t lost your bond to me, have you?” he asks, worried.
“No, of course not,” I say, touching him to prove it to him. “I am still a Vampire, she is just…resting,” I add. This is what Tiamat had said to me. Cole pulls me to him in the elevator and I lean on him, enjoying this immensely. We have so little time to ourselves. I am glad that I now have the next month with him. Pity he still has to work, but this late in the day he can’t quit, so we will have to make do.
Back in the car I flip through Tanya’s journal just for something to do. Such a nosey bitch, but I want to know what she had to say about my husband. Holy crap, I think as I read, she was obsessed with him. I scan a few more pages and then stop. “Tuesday night?” I spit out at him, waving the book in his face.
“What?” he asks, as he pushes it out of his line of sight so he can see the road.
“You went to her on Tuesday night?” I yell at him. I am only mad with him because he didn’t tell me, not because he did anything with her.
“Uh, yes,” he says guiltily. “But nothing happened! I got up and left before it went anywhere.”
“It went as far as the bed apparently!” I state in annoyance.
“You know what I mean,” he mumbles. “Don’t be mad with me, Liv. Or do you want me to ask what you were doing on Tuesday night?”
I flush with anger at his attitude, but then I must concede that I was doing far worse on Tuesday night than he was.
“Thought so,” he mutters at my silence and I throw the book at him. It bounces off his head and I stifle the snort of laughter that is threatening to burst out at his wounded look. “At least I know what you will be doing this Tuesday night,” he adds.