Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(28)

Christian steered me to the left, using me like a divining rod. “Was it him in the red shirt? Or the plonker with the glasses?”

“I’m going to stick a dagger in your leg if you don’t stop this ridiculous macho act.”

“The one with the mole on his face? Aye, he’s the one.” Christian released his hold.

I held my breath, anticipating a bar brawl, but instead, Christian glanced around nonchalantly. “Where’s our sword-wielding companion?”

I blinked in surprise. “That’s it? You’re not going to stick a fork in him until he’s done? That was rather anticlimactic.”

His brows knitted together. “What kind of man do you take me for?”

I shook my head and glanced around. “There are more people here now than when we first came in. Do you think our friend showed up?”

“I already checked the building. No fangholes on the premises.”

The techno song changed to a steady beat, and the main lights dimmed as colored spotlights on the ceiling flashed across the room.

I folded my arms. “Maybe we’re going about this all wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our guy might take one look at me and not like what he sees. He’s the seller, but the buyer’s the only one who counts. It’s possible he’s being selective based on a certain criteria from the buyers.”

Christian herded me to a private corner where we could talk away from the crowd. “If that were the case, don’t you think he’d put out an ad that was a wee bit more specific about the woman he’s searching for? That would save him the trouble of meeting up with skinny women if his buyer wanted voluptuous.”

“True, but maybe he has lots of orders—lots of different requests. It’s not a wasted trip if the girl fits someone else’s criteria. But I have a very specific look, Christian. And that might not be what people are interested in. What if we get Wyatt to pose as a buyer and make a request for a girl with mismatched eyes?”

“Over my rotting corpse,” he snarled. “You’ll have every black marketeer this side of Cognito coming after you.”

“Right, if we post it on the black market website. But he’s visiting human message boards, and I think that’s where we need to focus our attention. It doesn’t take a genius to know that if you have a buyer with specific needs, the value of the merchandise increases. I’m pretty sure he’s not the only Breed on this site, so it won’t be difficult to tip him off that we’re not human. Why waste our one opportunity if I’m not what he’s looking for? We need to play both sides. If he knows what the buyer wants ahead of time, that makes things interesting, don’t you think? Instead of a direct transaction, the seller puts them for auction to squeeze more money out of the buyer. Then he has him by the balls.”

“Jaysus. Who are you?”

“The Shadow,” I said dramatically. “Look, maybe we don’t have to take unnecessary chances. I’m not going to traipse off into the city and do this by myself, even though I could. You’re my partner, so we’ll work on this together. It won’t take that long to catch this guy. At least now we know one of his hangouts. If it turns out we can’t lure him with the shiny bait, then we’ll send him an email and schedule a time to meet. How’s that sound?”

Christian folded his arms. “What if you meet him and he tricks you? He’s a Vampire—that much we know. You’re no match for a Vampire.”

“First of all, he thinks I’m human. If something goes awry and he forces me to drink from him, he’s going to find out real quick how punishing my wrath can be when I’m juiced up with Vampire blood. Anyhow, it won’t come to that. It’s not going to be difficult to spot a Vampire in here.”

“You don’t think he’ll grow suspicious when he happens to meet a girl with your rare condition?”

“Condition?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Affliction.”

I tapped my chin and studied his eyes. “Have you ever worn contacts?”

“If you think that I’m going to be the bait—”

“No, but this is a human club, and another Vampire will notice you.”

“Worry not, lass. I’ve been doing this for years. I blend.”

“I’m used to working alone, so let me think this through. We need to decide if Niko is the best person to help. If our Vampire frequents this place, he’s going to notice people who stand out. Even if Niko wears his hood, it’ll look weird. People don’t come to a club like this to be aloof and drink alone. The last thing we want to do is spook this guy.”

Christian sighed. I couldn’t hear it over the music, but his body sagged and his breath skated across my neck. “There are a hundred other cases we could be working on. This is a shot in the dark, and it puts you at immeasurable risk. I don’t like it. Not one bit.”

“This is what’s going to test our relationship, isn’t it? If I were just your partner, you wouldn’t fight me. This case isn’t any riskier than the others we’ve worked on. It’s nowhere near as dangerous as the situations I found myself in before Keystone. If this is going to work between us, then you have to accept that my job—just as yours—involves taking risks and putting my life on the line.”