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"My my my," Ivy said. "And a weatherman, too?" She turned with a snide look. "I'm not dead yet, Detective Gle
Gle
At Edden's name, Ivy spun. It was a blindingly fast motion, and I started. This wasn't going well. She was starting to pull an aura. Damn. I glanced out the window. The sun would be down soon. Double damn.
"I heard about you," the officer said, and I cringed at the arrogance in his voice, which he was using to cover his fear. Even Gle
"You're Tamwood," Gle
Ivy stiffened, and my mouth dropped open. He was that stupid.
"It was worth it," Ivy said softly. Her fingers were shaking as she set the bag of marshmallows gently on the counter.
My breath caught. Shit. Ivy's brown eyes had gone black as her pupils dilated. I stood, shocked at how quickly it had happened. It had been weeks since she vamped out on me, and never without warning. The angry shock of finding someone in an FIB uniform in her kitchen might have accounted for some of it, but in hindsight I had a sick feeling that letting her walk in on Gle
His sudden fright had filled the air with pheromones. They acted as a potent aphrodisiac only she could taste, jerking into play thousand-year-old instincts fixed deep in her virus-changed DNA. In a breath, they had turned her from my slightly disturbing roommate to a predator that could kill both of us in three seconds flat if the desire to sate her long-suppressed hunger outweighed the consequences of draining an FIB detective. It was that balance that frightened me. I knew where I was on her personal scale of hunger and reason. Where Gle
Like flowing dust, her posture melted and she leaned back against the counter on one bent elbow, hip cocked. Deathly still, she ran her gaze up Gle
"You're tall," she said, her gray voice pulling remembered fear from me. "I like that." It wasn't sex she was after, it was dominance. She would have bespelled him if she could have, but she'd have to wait until she was dead before she had power over the unwilling.
Swell, I thought as she pushed herself from the counter and headed for him. She'd lost it. It was worse than the time she found Nick and I snuggled up together on her couch not watching pro wrestling. I still didn't know what had set her off then—she and I had a concrete understanding that I wasn't her girlfriend, plaything, lover, shadow, or whatever the newest term for vampire flunky was these days.
My thoughts scrambled for a way to bring her back without making things worse. Ivy drifted to a stop before Gle
She leaned into him, almost touching. He was only a few inches taller than she was. She tilted her head as if to give him a kiss. A drop of sweat slid down his face and neck. He didn't move, tension pulling every muscle tight.
"You work for Edden," she whispered, her eyes fixed on the line of moisture as it pooled at his collarbone. "He'd probably be upset if you died." Her eyes darted to his at the sound of his quick breath.
Don't move, I thought, knowing if he did, instincts would take over. He was in trouble with his back to the wall like that. "Ivy?" I said, trying to distract her and avoid having to tell Edden why his son was in intensive care. "Edden gave me a run. Gle
I willed myself not to shudder as she turned the black pits her eyes had become to me. They tracked me as I put the island counter between us. She stood unmoving but for a hand tracing Gle
My request seemed to break through, and she took a quick, clean breath. Bending her elbow, she pushed herself away from the wall.
Gle
Ivy turned her back on him and went to the bag of forgotten groceries. It might look as if she was ignoring him, but I knew she was aware of everything down to the wasp bumping about at the ceiling. Back hunched, she set a bag of shredded cheese on the counter. "Tell that bloodsack of a captain I said hi the next time you see him," she said, her soft voice carrying a shocking amount of anger. But the hunger—the need to dominate—was gone.
Knees weak, I let my breath out in a long puff of air. "Gle
His eyes flicked to Ivy before he holstered the weapon. He stayed in the archway, breathing hard.
Thinking the worst had to be over, I opened the fridge. "Hey, Ivy," I said lightly, to try and get everyone back to normal, "toss me the pepperoni?"
Ivy met my gaze from across the kitchen and blinked the last of her runaway instincts from her. "Pepperoni," she said, her voice huskier than usual. "Yeah." She felt a cheek with the back of her hand. Frowning at herself, she crossed the kitchen with what I recognized as a deliberately slow pace. "Thanks for bringing me down," she said softly as she handed me the pouch of cut meat.
"I should have warned you. I'm sorry." I put the pepperoni away and straightened, giving Gle
I shuffled through the groceries and pulled out the perishables. Ivy leaned close as she put a can of peaches away. "What's he doing here?" she asked, loud enough for Gle
"I'm baby-sitting."
She nodded, clearly waiting for more. When it wasn't forthcoming, she added, "It's a paying job, right?"
I glanced at Gle