Silver-Tongued Devil (45 page)
Read Silver-Tongued Devil Online
Authors: Jaye Wells
Tags: #Romance, #Fantasy, #FIC009010, #Vampires
“If you’ll be excusing me, I’ve got thirsty customers,” the Brit said. “And I’ll be asking you to leave once you finish your pints.”
My mouth fell open at the dismissal. Erron kicked my ankle. I rounded on him but he shook his head with an expression that threatened pain if I caused a scene. “Let’s go.”
I slammed my pint on the bar and grabbed my jacket off the barstool. Erron had already turned to go, trusting I’d follow like a good girl. Adam stood nearby waiting to see my reaction. Part of me longed to stay and show these assholes who they were dealing with. But I could feel eyes on me. Could feel the magic hanging heavy in the air. Powers gathering, waiting for me to try something. These chaps might look like barflies but there was serious magic in that room. Erron, Adam, and I could have probably handled ourselves well enough to survive the brawl, but to what end? We’d still be leaving without the information we needed.
So with my pride dragging behind me like a piece of toilet paper stuck to my shoe, I stalked toward the door.
“Oy!”
I kept going, figuring that whoever had called out was trying to get someone else’s attention.
“Oy! Mixed blood! Hold up!”
That stopped me. I turned slowly, my eyes narrow and my fists ready to defend. The bartender was rushing around the other end of the bar. He waddled toward me, his expression inscrutable but his movements anxious.
“What?” I snapped.
“What’s this then?” he demanded when he reached me.
“What’s what?” I’d run out of patience hours earlier. If he wanted to talk, he’d have to work for it. Behind me, I felt Adam’s presence looming like a threat.
He lifted a hand. My hand shot out to stop what I thought was a strike. He paused and pulled back. “Relax, bird, I was just pointing to your back.”
I frowned. “What about it?”
He frowned as if I was being purposefully obtuse. “What’s your name?”
Jesus, this guy and his twenty questions. “I’m Sabina Kane. Who the fuck are you?”
The bartender smiled. A genuine one this time. “Well, well. This changes things then, doesn’t it?”
“Listen, Mr. Belvedere, I’m tired and my patience ran out about a week ago. You got something to say to me, then say it.”
“I think you and your friends need to come back to my office.”
Adam stepped forward. “Two seconds ago you all but kicked us out of your bar. Why the change?”
“You know what? I don’t give a shit,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“Sabina—” Erron warned.
Belvedere ignored the Recreant and cocked an eyebrow at me. “You got a mouth, don’t ya?”
“So I’ve been told,” I retorted. “Come on, Adam.”
“I got a message for you.”
I plastered my poker face on. “Bullshit.”
“Don’t be like that. Can’t blame a bloke for being careful. These are dangerous times we live in. Can’t trust just anyone who walks in off the street.”
I crossed my arms. “So why do you suddenly trust us now?”
The corner of the Brit’s mouth lifted. “Because Abel told me a female bearing two eight-point stars on her back would be looking for him.”
Cold sweat bloomed on my skin along with fear in the pit of my stomach. “How in the hell would he know that?” I’d received the second mark only a few days earlier and it was hardly common knowledge.
He shrugged. “I’m sure I don’t know. Regardless, he said you’d go by one of two names.”
I frowned. “What was the other name?”
“Maisie.”
My skin crawled like someone had just played hopscotch across my grave. What. The. Fuck?
NIGHT SHIFT
The Jill Kismet Series Book 1
By Lilith Saintcrow
Jill Kismet. Dealer in Dark Things.
Spiritual Exterminator. Demon Slayer.
Not everyone can take on the nightside.
Not everyone tries. But Jill Kismet is not just anyone.
She’s a hunter, trained by the best—and in
over her head.
Welcome to the night shift…
“Jill Kismet is, above all else, a survivor,
and it is her story that will haunt readers
long after the blood, gore and demons have faded
into memory.”
—
Romantic Times
The Jill Kismet Series
Night Shift
Hunter’s Prayer
Redemption Alley
Flesh Circus
BLOOD RIGHTS
HOUSE OF COMARRÉ ♦ BOOK 1
By Kristen Painter
B
orn into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world… and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks
Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.
“
Painter scores with this one. Passion
and murder, vampires and courtesans—
original and un-put-downable.
Do yourself a favor and read this one.”
—Patricia Briggs,
New York Times
bestselling author
HOUSE OF COMARRÉ
Blood Rights
Flesh and Blood
Bad Blood
S
ABINA
K
ANE
N
OVELS
Red-Headed Stepchild
The Mage in Black
Green-Eyed Demon
Silver-Tongued Devil
Blue-Blooded Vamp
Praise for the Sabina Kane series
“A seriously wild ride!”
—
RT Book Reviews
(4.5 Stars)
Contents
Meet the Author
A Preview of
BLUE-BLOODED VAMP
Praise for the Sabina Kane series
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Jaye Wells
Excerpt from
Blue-Blooded Vamp
copyright © 2012 by Jaye Wells
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Orbit
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
First e-book edition: January 2012
Orbit is an imprint of Hachette Book Group.
The Orbit name and logo are trademarks of Little, Brown Book Group Limited.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-316-19209-5
Table of Contents