might have hired Asher. It was against Brotherhood rules, but they’d been broken before. That always ended badly for the one breaking them.
The truth of the matter was he had no idea where the vampire’s true allegiance lay.
“Thank you, Asher,” the vampire mocked. “So nice of you to join us, Asher. Why it’s nice to see you, too, Maccus,” he continued his solo two-sided conversation. “And since I’m here, I’ll handle this.” He pointed to the men still standing there.
“You sure?” He damn well didn’t need anyone to fight his battles for him. And he had questions for the vamp.
“Take your woman and go home.” When he hesitated, Asher sighed. “If you’re not going to let me have any fun, why did you post on the website? You knew it would make me curious. Admit it. I’ve been following you when I could be home watching reruns of The Bachelor or The Real Housewives of Somewhere.”
He almost smiled. As much as he hated modern culture, Asher loved it, soaking in every nuance and tidbit of gossip. He’d told Maccus once that it made him feel more alive. He could understand needing something, especially something other than death.
“You’re Asher?” They both heard her unasked question: Who or what are you?
The leader of the group of men finally lost patience with being ignored. “Hey. Give me your damn wallets.” To make his point, he fired his weapon. Maccus shot out his hand and caught the bullet in midair. The tattoo of the push knife solidified, allowing the projectile to land harmlessly without piercing his skin. He opened his fist and let the bent metal drop to the ground.
“Fuck me,” the leader whispered. Several of the men with him backed up slowly, turned, and fled, but some of them seemed frozen in place by fear, unable to move.
“Not if you were the last person on earth,” Maccus assured him.
Asher sighed. “You just had to, didn’t you?”
He shrugged and took Morrigan by the hand. “Morrigan, this is Asher. Asher, Morrigan.”
“You were in the alley earlier, weren’t you?”
Shock was followed by a slow smile. “Your hunter is as observant and smart as she is beautiful. It would be a shame to see something happen to her.”
He growled a warning, not sure if the vampire was stating a fact or threatening her. When Asher kept on grinning like an idiot, he took it to mean the damn vamp honestly thought her beautiful.
Done with talking, he strode away, practically dragging her behind him. It bothered him that Asher found her attractive. What did she think of him? The damn vampire was good at drawing women to him.
She hurried behind him, casting a glance over her shoulder. “Just what is Asher? Because he’s sure as heck not human.”
“Vampire.”
“Really?” She looked over her shoulder again. “Where’d they all go?”
“He’ll take care of them.” Whether he’d kill them or not would depend on his mood. It was likely he’d content himself with scaring the shit out of them and probably helping himself to a late-night snack.
“He doesn’t smell like any vamp I’ve ever run across.” She turned back around and kept pace. “They mostly stay away from hunters. He’s one of you, isn’t he? One of the Forgotten Brotherhood?”
He came to a dead stop.
She slammed into his back and bounced away. “Hey, watch it.”
“What did you think of him?” This was not the place to have this conversation. And why should it matter to him if she found Asher attractive?
Darkness swirled inside him, cloaking him, blocking out the sliver of light that remained. The weapons on his body quivered, searching for a target.
He was jealous of a damn vampire.
“Um, he seems like a decent guy. I mean, he came out tonight and watched your back, even though you didn’t ask him to.” Then her gaze narrowed. “If he was in the alley, where the hell was he when we were fighting Gabriel?” Her voice got louder with each word. Her scowl grew darker.