Venom

"Aren’t you off duty tonight, detective?" Slater asked.

"I was enjoying the music and a mojito-until you started making trouble," she snapped. "But cops like me never really go off duty. So unless you leave the premises immediately, Mr. Slater, I’m going to arrest you for assault, among other things."

Slater crossed his arms over his chest, considering the situation. I gathered my legs under me, ready to leap up and strike. If Slater made a move toward Bria, he was dead. I’d climb on his back, reach around, and slit his throat if he so much as touched her. The giant wasn’t going to hurt my sister like he had me at the community college. I’d deal with the consequences-and Mab Monroe-later.

I glanced at Finn. He still held the beer bottle down by his side. He’d slipped through the crowd so that he was behind the two giants Slater had brought along for backup. Finn and I had tag-teamed more than a few people in our time. He’d deal with the underlings and keep them busy, while I went after Slater.

Elliot stared at Bria a few more seconds, then uncrossed his arms. "Fine. I’ll leave. Wouldn’t want you to have to work any overtime tonight, detective." The giant turned toward Roslyn, who huddled on the floor next to Owen Grayson. Slater put two fingers to his lips and blew a kiss to the vampire. "Later, baby."

People scurried to get out of Slater’s way as he strolled across the dance floor. His two goons gave Bria the hard stare a moment longer, before they followed their boss out into the night.

Bria kept her gun level with the giants’ broad backs until the three men exited the club. Then she lowered and holstered her weapon. Bria let out a breath and tucked her blond hair back behind one ear. Her fingers twitched with the motion. Natural to feel a little shaky after threatening to kill one of the most dangerous men in Ashland.

But Bria put her game face back on and went over to check on Roslyn. My sister knelt down beside the vampire and murmured to her. Roslyn shook her head and hugged her arms to her chest. Once again, that spark of warm pride filled me at Bria’s caring actions. She really was good, strong, determined. Reminded me of me. Well, except for the good part.

Since I didn’t want to get in the middle of the two of them, I drained the rest of my gin, dumped the ice in a cocktail napkin, and went over to Xavier. The giant slumped against the side of a booth, just trying to breathe. His black eyes looked dull and defeated underneath the club’s soft lights. A sneer twisted Xavier’s lips, as though he was disgusted at himself for not being able to get rid of Slater all by his lonesome.

"Here," I said, holding out the ice-filled napkin. "Put this against your throat. It’ll help with the swelling."

The giant still couldn’t talk, but he nodded his head and took the napkin. Finn worked his way through the chattering crowd and hunkered down beside us.

"Is he going to be okay?" Finn asked in a soft voice.

"He’s still breathing, isn’t he?" I snapped.

Normally, I wouldn’t have been so harsh with Finn. But now I knew exactly why he’d dragged me to Northern Aggression tonight and what that little problem was that Finn had promised to help Xavier with-Elliot Slater’s creepy fixation on Roslyn Phillips. Finn had brought me here so I’d see it firsthand, so I’d see exactly how terrified Roslyn was of Slater. Finn had set me up. Brought me here to have my heartstrings plucked.

And it had worked.

I stared at Finn, the knowledge blazing in my eyes. He dropped his gaze from mine. Guilty as charged.

"Is there anything I can do for him?" Finn asked in a low tone.

"Go get that tub of Jo-Jo’s healing ointment you keep stashed in your car. Xavier needs it more than you do tonight."

Finn nodded, got to his feet, and left. I turned back to the giant, who was staring at Roslyn. Concern filled his dark gaze, along with other soft, warm emotions. The poor guy could barely squeeze in enough air through his bruised throat to keep going, and his only thought was the vampire. If he could have, I imagined Xavier would have crawled over to her and cradled her in his massive arms. Xavier’s being in love with Roslyn was going to make all this that much more difficult.

"Xavier."

The giant’s head swiveled back around to me.

"I want you and Roslyn to come down to the Pork Pit tomorrow for lunch so we can talk about some things," I said. "Understand?"

Xavier slowly nodded. Surprise flickered in his black gaze, along with another emotion that made my stomach twist. Hope.

"Let’s make it a late lunch, say around two o’clock."

The giant nodded again.

"Good," I said. "See you then."

It wasn’t long before the music cranked back up, and everyone returned to their previous occupations. Smoking, drinking, dancing, f**king. As though the events of a few minutes ago had never happened. Some folks in Ashland had real short attention spans.

Finn came back in with the ointment, which I slathered on Xavier’s throat. In addition to healing with their hands, Air elementals like Jo-Jo Deveraux could also infuse their oxygen-rich magic into certain products to give them an extra kick, like antibiotic ointment. Xavier sat still while the shiny grease worked its magic. Less than a minute later, the ugly, purple, fist-shaped bruise on his throat faded, the swelling went down, and his breathing eased into a wheeze-free pattern of inhalation and exhalation.

As soon as he could, Xavier got up and went over to Roslyn, who was still talking to Bria. Or rather still not answering Bria. The vampire had pulled herself up into a booth, where she sat staring off into space. Bria perched beside her, speaking in low tones. Probably talking to Roslyn about Elliot Slater and trying to get the vamp to press charges against the giant. But Roslyn wasn’t answering.

Frustrated by the vamp’s lack of response, Bria got to her feet and paced back and forth in front of the booth for the better part of a minute before sitting back down next to the vamp and trying again. Her mojito and night of clubbing were long forgotten. My sister seemed to take her job as a member of the po-po seriously. As proud of her as that made me, I also knew it was something that could be problematic for me later on-for any number of reasons.

Since Roslyn was otherwise occupied, Owen Grayson drifted in my direction. By this point, I’d moved over to the Ice bar and ordered another gin. One that tasted even more bitter than my first two. But it didn’t much matter, since Finn had gone out to get his car and take me home. I’d seen what he’d wanted me to see. No more reason to stick around the club tonight. Besides, I’d never been one to stay and gawk at the messy aftermath and cleanup. My former profession as an assassin had precluded that sort of thing anyway.