Venom

"Is there something I can do for you, Roslyn?" I asked.

Roslyn chewed her lip for a few more seconds. Then she nodded. "Yeah, actually there is-"

"I thought I told you to wait in the back for me, baby," a low voice cut through the crowd.

Roslyn’s eyes widened, and she froze. Pure, undiluted fear filled her toffee eyes. The emotion rolled off her the way magic might an elemental. I could feel the cold chill of it just like I could the one emanating from the Ice bar several feet away.

I looked past Roslyn to the man speaking. Seven-foot frame. Pale, albino features. Light hazel eyes. And fists the size of hams. Elliot Slater regarded the lovely vampire with a cold expression that indicated that she’d done something very, very wrong.

Fuck. What was the giant doing here? I palmed one of my silverstone knives under the table. Beside me, Owen Grayson frowned, but he didn’t move or say anything. Smart man. If he even hinted to Slater that I had a weapon, Owen would find himself drinking through a straw for the rest of his life-at the very least. Despite the hot tingle of attraction that still sizzled in my stomach.

Roslyn plastered a fake, strained smile on her face and turned to face the giant. I scooted a little closer to the edge of the booth, just in case I needed to get up and stab Slater in a hurry.

"Hello, Elliot." Roslyn’s voice was as silky as ever, but an undercurrent of fear and stress colored her tone.

Before I knew what was happening, Elliot Slater reached forward, grabbed Roslyn by her neck, and yanked her up against his body. "I told you to wait in the back for me, baby. Not be strolling around out here for every dick to get a good look at you. You’re mine now. Or have you forgotten that?"

His? Roslyn was his? What the hell was going on here?

Roslyn tried to smile, but it didn’t come off very well. "Now, Elliot, we’ve talked about this. You know I have to come out into the club at night and mingle with people. It’s expected of me."

The giant shook her the way a terrier might snap a rat’s neck. "And I’ve told you that nobody sees that hot ass of yours but me. Understand, baby?"

By this point, other people had noticed the confrontation, including Finn. He’d pushed away from the bar and the blond hooker and was headed in Roslyn’s direction. What did he think he was going to do? Other than get beaten to a bloody pulp by Elliot Slater?

Somebody else was also interested in the situation. Xavier, part-time cop and the nightclub’s main bouncer, pushed through the crowd. The giant stepped up to Slater.

"Let her go," Xavier’s voice boomed out through the club. The giant’s hands clenched into fists, ready to lay a hurt on the other man. "You’re not welcome here anymore."

A hush fell over the crowd. The dancers stopped dancing, the smokers stopped smoking, the drinkers stopped drinking. Even the people getting busy under the tables paused in their passionate embraces. Everyone focused on the scene before them, and everyone backed away from the two men. Nobody wanted to get in the middle of a dispute between two giants.

Elliot Slater regarded Xavier with the same cool expression he had Roslyn a moment ago. Then he used his incredible speed to sucker punch the other giant. Xavier didn’t see it coming, and Slater’s fist hit him square in the throat with enough force to kill a cow. Xavier crumbled to the floor, gasping for air. A couple of the club’s other bouncers stepped forward to come to their boss’s defense. Slater snapped his fingers, and two giants shouldered through the crowd so that they stood behind him, guarding his back. They were the same goons who’d held my arms while Elliot Slater had beaten me two nights ago.

Xavier wheezed on the bamboo floor, and Elliot had Roslyn’s neck pulled so far back he could snap it with a thought. I looked at Finn. He grabbed a beer bottle off the closest table and nodded at me. I nodded back. Underneath the table, Owen Grayson’s hand settled on my leg. I glanced at him. The businessman had his hand wrapped around his glass of scotch, ready to use it as a weapon. Grayson winked at me. Whatever Finn and I were going to do, he was up for it. I had to admit the wink was kind of sexy. It made me like him a little more.

Elliot turned his attention back to Roslyn. "Now, baby, we’re going to go in the back and talk about you disobeying me yet again."

Elliot leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on Roslyn’s trembling lips, as though she was the love of his life. As though she was actually precious to him-and he wasn’t an inch away from ending her existence.

I tensed, getting ready to strike while he was distracted.

But before I could move, I heard the distinct click of the hammer being thumbed back on a gun in the hushed silence. Well, that certainly made things much more interesting.

Slater heard it too. He broke off the kiss and turned, moving his body enough that I was able to see past him and get a look at the person pointing a gun at his head-Bria.

Chapter Five

Elliot Slater didn’t seem particularly concerned that Bria had a gun leveled at his head. No real reason to be. Giants had thick skulls. Only way to do much damage was to put something through their eyes and up into their brain. Most people just couldn’t shoot that well under pressure.

As for her part, Bria didn’t seem particularly concerned that Slater was looking at her like he was going to rip her head off her body, scoop out her spine, and eat it for dinner. Instead, she regarded him with a cold gaze, her eyes like sapphire chips of ice in her lovely face.

"I think the lady wants you to leave her alone," Bria said in a hard voice. "So why don’t you do that? Right now."

Elliot released his hold on Roslyn, who stumbled away. Owen slid out of the booth and caught the vampire before she hit the floor.

"Do you know who I am?" Slater rumbled. "Who I work for?"

Bria smiled, and her eyes iced over even more. "Elliot Slater. Head of security for Mab Monroe. And, given what I’ve seen here tonight, a prime-A bastard who enjoys intimidating women."

The giant’s hazel eyes narrowed with malice. Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd. No one could believe what they were seeing-someone standing up to Slater and his goons.

"In case you don’t know who I am, let me share." Bria reached into the pocket of her black leather jacket and came up with a gold badge. She held it up so the crowd could get a look at the shiny metal. "I’m a detective with the Ashland Police Department."

Despite the situation, I couldn’t help the spurt of warm pride that filled me. Not because I had any great love of the police, but because of Bria. My little sister was actually standing up to Elliot Slater, actually trying to help Roslyn, who was so obviously in trouble. It might have been stupid, taking on someone as powerful and well connected as Slater, but I didn’t see any fear in Bria’s face-just cold, hard determination. She wasn’t a pushover any more than I was, which made me like her all the more. Maybe we had more in common than I’d thought. Maybe a lot more.