Archangel’s Shadows (Guild Hunter #7)(47)
Author: Nalini Singh

Ashwini hid an inward smile. It was becoming clear Lacey and Rupert were a perfect match. “Well,” she said, hoping these two would make it, “my friend never got her name, but she had a tattoo like this on her ankle.”

She showed Lacey the picture of the tattoo, having had the Guild techs work with it so it now appeared to be an image she’d downloaded off the Internet. Easier than trying to explain why her “friend” would have a photo of the girl’s tattoo but not her face. “Have you seen it before?”

Lacey frowned, shook her head. “But you should ask Flynn. He knows everyone, I swear.” Getting up, she said, “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

“Thanks.” She followed the brunette out the door, keeping an eye open for Janvier.

Her Cajun wasn’t on the first floor. When she headed upstairs with Lacey, it was to see him sprawled in one of the groupings of sofas on the mezzanine, talking to a vampire with yards of red hair and skin like cream, her body poured into a black evening gown with plunging cleavage. Sitting in the center of her impressive breasts was a diamond that glittered even in the soft light up here.

But that wasn’t what held Ashwini’s attention. It was the fact that the redhead had her lips to Janvier’s ear, her hand stroking his thigh, and his arm around her shoulders.

21

“There he is. Flynn!” Lacey called out to a square-jawed black man who immediately headed over to them. Dressed in jeans and an untucked white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to show off strong forearms, a heavy watch his only decoration, he didn’t fit the hedonistic atmosphere of Masque except for the fact that he had the looks of a movie star or a model.

He and Lacey squeezed one another like best friends.

“This is my friend Ash,” Lacey said when they broke apart, her face open. “She’s with that super cute vampire who’s sitting with Adele.”

Neck prickling at the feel of Janvier’s eyes on her though she had her back to him, Ashwini couldn’t avoid Flynn’s hug. The man’s cheek touched hers as he held on tight and the contact made her ability come to life, as it did without warning at times even with people so young. But the resulting slap of knowledge wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. Vivid and strong and with a hint of darkness, Flynn was more dangerous than Lacey, but that was a matter of degrees. A puppy would be more dangerous than Lacey.

“Ash is looking for a donor who hooked up with a friend of hers,” Lacey said with a pursing of her lips. “Do you know a girl with a tat like this? Ash, show him the photo.”

Flynn looked at the picture for almost a half minute, a small frown line between his eyebrows. “I’m sure I’ve seen her, but not here. She’s more low-key.” He handed back Ashwini’s phone. “I think she used to go to Hinge, but that was a while ago. I haven’t been there for a year.”

“Of course not.” Lacey hooked her arm through his, her dimples peeking out. “As if Ko would let you go there.” Her eyes grew huge the next second, her gaze focused past Ashwini’s shoulder.

She didn’t need to turn to know Janvier was behind her. “Cher”—he slid his arm around her waist—“introduce me to your beautiful friends.”

Lacey giggled, blushed prettily, while Flynn’s handshake was friendly.

“Ah, Rupert,” Janvier said when Lacey told him the name of her vampire. “He is a good man. Try not to take advantage of him.”

“Oh, I would never.” Lacey dimpled again, adorably smitten. “Do you know Ko as well?”

“Benita Ko?”

Flynn nodded.

“Yes, I know Benita. Tell her Janvier said hello.” He squeezed Ash’s hip. “I feel restless tonight, sugar. Let us walk outside, find another bar.”

Ashwini said good-bye to Lacey and Flynn, both of whom gave her a thumbs-up when Janvier momentarily glanced away. “You didn’t say Ko was a good woman,” she said once they were outside, winter gear back on.

“Ko is a sadist,” Janvier murmured. “But as Flynn’s breath caught when I applied too much pressure on his hand, enough to cause a tiny bit of pain, it appears he must be a masochist. Therefore, the two are a perfect match.”

Ashwini realized he was talking about sadism in the sexual context, rather than in relation to Ko’s personality. Or maybe it was both, since he clearly wasn’t judgmental about the lifestyle itself. “Is she a sadist out of the bedroom, too?”

“Yes, she can be ugly.” A shrug. “But she only ever has one donor at a time and treats each well. How long did the boy say he’d been with her?”

“A year—implied.”

“So, she’s unlikely to be the one we search for, but I’ll do a little digging, see if her tastes have altered.”

“Why do immortals fixate on sex and pain? It’s sad they don’t seem to see everything else life has to offer.”

“My darling Ashblade, your view is skewed. You see the Made who patronize such places because that is where your work takes you.”

“Vamps in suburbia?”

“Complete with minivans and white picket fences.”

“Flynn,” she said, putting the conversation back on track, “thought our victim may have gone to Hinge at some stage in the past.”

“Adele, who keeps an eye on everything in her establishment, is certain the girl wasn’t a regular, so Hinge it is.”

“You seem friendly with her,” Ashwini said before she could stop herself. Turned out that while naïve Marie May hadn’t set off her jealousy, the gorgeous, experienced Adele had turned the dial to blazing red.

“I am. She is a lush and sensual creature, Adele,” Janvier said, his lips curving as if he spoke from personal, intimate experience.

“If you go for overblown and obvious.” God, she needed to staple her mouth shut.

Open delight in his expression. “I’ve told you, I go for the unique and the dangerous.”

Realizing he’d been provoking her on purpose, she elbowed him.

He touched his fingers to her nape, curled his hand gently around it when she didn’t push him away. “Your body was thrumming with the music the entire time we were in the club. Shall we dance tonight?”

“Let’s see what we discover first.” Dancing with Janvier wouldn’t be like dancing by herself or with any other man. Dancing with Janvier would be a prelude to sex. He’d touch and stroke, whisper things in her ear as he flirted with his body and his mind both. With her resolve already on increasingly shaky ground, Ashwini had no confidence in her ability to withstand him.