of them, his dark eyes steely. “Don’t disappoint me.”
“I’m sure we won’t,” Finn said. He followed Keira out of the room.
They were both silent as they left the building, but once they were outside, she rounded on him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He frowned and put his hand up to shade his eyes. Since he was facing west, light from the setting sun was full on his face. He tried to ignore the way it seemed to set her hair on fire, reds and orange lights dancing along each strand. “What do you mean?”
“Joining this group! Why would you do that?” Her voice rose at the end.
This was not a conversation he wanted to have in the parking lot of a trendy, popular club, well within earshot of anyone who cared to listen. “Where’s your car?” he asked.
She sent him a scowl. “I want to talk to you about this, boyo, so don’t be thinkin’ you can just send the little woman on her way.”
“I want to talk to you about it, too, but in private.” He raised his eyebrows. “Now where’s your car?”
“Over there,” she muttered. After they’d gotten in, her behind the wheel, him in the passenger seat, she twisted to face him. “So?”
“Why are you part of this group?” he asked. He couldn’t tell her the true reason he was taking part in the festivities, so if he could put her on the defensive maybe she’d stop haranguing him.
“Why do most prets join the group?” she responded. “There’s something missing from their lives that this group can fill.”
“That’s why you joined?” He stretched his left arm out to rest his hand against the back of the driver’s seat. “You have a void in your life?”
She stared at him. “What does it matter why I joined? Why do you care?”
He shook his head. “Look, I ran out of give-a-fucks about a lot of stuff a long time ago.” He met her eyes. “But I do care about you.” He softened his voice. “What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to be better than all of this.” He made a circular gesture with his right hand.
Her blue eyes widened slightly. “I did. I do. But…” She trailed off and dropped her gaze to her hands. He watched slender fingers twist together. Finally she whispered, “It’s so hard. And I’m tired.”
Finn reached over and cupped her chin. “Get out now, Keira. While you still can.”
For a moment he thought she might take his advice, but then she stiffened and pulled back. He let his hand drop onto his thigh. When her eyes lifted to meet his, they were hard with determination. “What about you? All I’ve been asked to do is a bit of stealing. You’ve been ordered to murder someone. And not just any someone. A member of the council.”
“Like I said, I ran out of give-a-fucks.” He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “I think Liuz is onto something with this plan to keep the rift open longer to allow more prets to come through. Hopefully some of those prets will be demons, because we’re outnumbered as it is.”
“I wouldn’t count on it if I were you.”
“What do you mean?”
She grimaced. “He’s said that it’s his allies, and friends of friends, who have been greasing the palms of Detention Center employees in order to be ‘rifted’ without documentation. Do you really think his cronies, who are probably mostly from his home planet, are going to let a bunch of your people through? I reckon we’ll end up with a lot more vampires.”
“You’re probably right.” He wasn’t overly concerned about the numbers, because Liuz’s plans weren’t going to come to fruition. Finn would see to it. In order for him to succeed, he had to kill Tobias Caine. And everyone, Keira included, needed to believe he was going to carry out his orders.
“Speaking of vampires,” she said now, “don’t kill Tobias and Nix. Please. You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I rather think I do.” He cupped her chin again and leaned down for a quick kiss. “You have your assignment, and I have mine.”
“You’re not a cold-blooded killer no matter what you say. I know you’re better than this.”
He wasn’t a cold-blooded killer, but Liuz didn’t know that, nor did most people, even those who knew Finn. Except for this slender fey woman. Damn it. If she figured out what was going on with him, she’d blow his cover for sure, possibly without even