Addict (Hunter #2)(30)

“That’s good,” I said, smiling at the English vampire. “I can use a lawyer in house. I’ll probably need a good defense for some of the crap I’ll pull.”

Hugo smiled broadly, obviously enjoying the drama of the evening. I was glad someone did. “As your counsel, I would say the first, best line of defense is to not get caught. I suppose tonight will be a field test in our charge not getting caught.” Hugo sat forward and explained my situation succinctly. “She needs to go to a club called Brimstone. I had not heard of it. According to her client, it is brand new.”

“And apparently very exclusive,” I added, thinking about the demon earlier in the day. He’d said I would need him to get in. At least I wasn’t going to have to lie to Marcus to do it. It looked like academics stuck together.

Marcus contemplated the situation. “Do you know where the club is?”

I gave him the address and knew what was coming next. “I’ve been told I won’t be allowed to bring you.”

“Ms. Carey did not mention you wouldn’t be allowed to bring a friend,” Hugo said, puzzled.

Moment of truth. Either he trusted me or he didn’t. I’d gone back and forth and finally decided I wasn’t going to lie to Marcus. “Liv isn’t the only reason I need to go.”

I briefly related the story of my caffeine-loving demon and his claims that I needed to go help out a friend in trouble.

“Who is this friend?” Marcus’s dark eyes narrowed. His voice was one big heaping dose of suspicion.

“Grayson Sloane.” I reached for his hand. “Do you want to talk about this privately?”

“Should I be worried?”

“No, I want you,” I assured him. “But he was important to me once. Can you understand why I would want to make sure he’s safe?”

“We’re talking about the demon Kelsey was involved with before she began her training?” Hugo asked.

“Yes, though he is only a halfling,” Henri replied, watching me with no small amount of sympathy. “He managed to get past her defenses. A spell was used by another demon. I’ve been told Mr. Sloane had no knowledge of the spell at the time, but I’m certain Kelsey was hurt all the same. He’s under a contract, a legacy.”

“Ah,” Hugo breathed, understanding the predicament.

I’d been told that Gray had been bred in the hopes his father could pass on his psychic powers to a son. Gray had the power, but he refused to use it the way his father wanted him to. I doubted he would have that luxury when he lived in his father’s world. Gray’s dad wasn’t satisfied with him, though. He’d offered Gray a deal. Gray could have forty more years on the Earth plane if he produced a child with a Hunter. As I was the only Hunter in the world as far as anyone knew, and Gray had started seeing me before the deal was struck, Gray accepted, thinking he could use the time to find a way out for all of us.

I had not taken the news well.

“Kelsey, tell me you do not wish to start an affair with this man,” Marcus said, his voice quiet, and I could feel his vulnerability.

I hugged him. “I don’t. I told you. I want you. If you say the word, I’ll pack up now and go straight back to Italy with you. I’ll forget everything about this place and I’ll be happy just being your mistress.”

Marcus’s lips quirked up briefly. “I doubt that seriously, cara. Somehow, I think you would be bored. Now, if you are going to go, do you intend to inform the king?”

I was surprised he hadn’t put up a fight. “You’re going to let me go?”

Marcus’s palm came up to cup my face. “If you feel it’s important, then I’m willing to trust you. We’ll consider it a field test. I, personally, do not believe the king needs to be involved.”

“Not at all,” Hugo agreed. “This is a matter for academics. We need only call the king in if things go terribly awry.”

“I doubt that will happen,” Henri said. “We have handled many dangerous situations without the aid of a king. It raises the question, however, of how our Hunter is going to get out of the complex. Regardless of what he said tonight, I believe the king will attempt to monitor her. If he finds out she’s left, he’ll sic that wolf on her.” He said something in Dutch, his lips curling up.

Marcus frowned and replied in Italian.

“What?” I asked.

Hugo chuckled. “Don’t mind them. Henri is simply teasing your trainer. You’ll find after a few hundred years of friendship, it’s easy to poke at each other. We know all our soft spots.”

And that was all I was going to get. It was easy for them to tease each other privately since they seemed to know each other’s languages. “I’ll find a way out without informing the king.”

Marcus stood up and helped me off the couch. He went to the front closet and pulled out a jacket. I let him wrap it around me. He reached back into the closet and came out with a Browning automatic and two extra magazines. It seemed we had our own mini armory. “Knives?”

“Just the small one.” It was only surveillance after all. It might have been hard to get weapons into Ether, but I doubted this place had the same rules. Marcus knelt down and strapped the knife around my ankle then helped me into my boots. It was cold outside and the boots were warm and allowed fairly easy access to the weapons hidden there. I zipped up my jacket. Marcus stood back up and his hands went to my waist.