Storm of Sin - Patricia D. Eddy Page 0,51

and ensure nothing ever happens to her flares white hot. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I glare at the vampire with as much power as I can summon.

“I do not give demonstrations, Velma. Everything a Bureau agent needs to know about the talents of incubi and succubi can be found in the handbook. You think because the commander is preoccupied, you can do whatever the fuck you want? Hardly.” Keeping Zoe close, I edge closer to the telephone mounted on the wall, then dial security. “We have a situation in the break room. Agent Velma Mont Clare just attacked and threatened my partner. Bring the silver cuffs.”

By now, the Yeti and two of the witches have flanked us, ready to lend aid. The vampire is a new transfer, and has rubbed almost everyone the wrong way in the past two weeks. This…will be the end of her.

“You will regret crossing me,” Velma says, her fangs lending a slight hiss to her words.

I snarl at her. “And if you ever put your hands on my partner again, I will personally stake you through the heart with a silver dagger.”

If I were alone, I would bait the vampire further, but I will not risk Zoe’s safety. Nor the others standing with us. Velma swears and curses us as the Bureau’s security team drags her away in cuffs.

“Where are they taking her?” Zoe asks softly.

“She will be detained in the underground holding cells for a day, perhaps two, until she is sentenced.”

She sucks in a sharp breath and wriggles free from my hold, her slight body still trembling. “Sentenced?”

“For attempted murder. There are certain crimes that are not tolerated in our world, Zoe. A vampire exposing your neck, fangs bared, eyes blood red? She was seconds from biting you, and she would not have stopped until she had drained you dry.” I should be more delicate. Considerate. Gentle. But our world is full of dangers she has yet to learn, and I must protect her at all costs.

Even if we can never be together—if she never accepts me—she will always be mine.

Zoe

My neck aches from the vampire’s fingers around my throat, and my legs aren’t all that steady, but I refuse to let Sin help me back to my desk. I force myself to walk ahead of him, then as he pulls out my chair, I meet his gaze. “What the hell were you doing back there anyway?”

His brows shoot up. “I was getting coffee.”

“And letting a vampire feel you up.”

He grunts something that might be “fuck,” before taking a seat at his desk and glaring at me. “You made it quite clear this morning that there was nothing between us. Is there some reason you care who I let ‘feel me up’?”

Because I was wrong.

That’s what I want to say. Instead, I brace my hands on the desk and force strength into my tone. “Because she’s going to jail. And she almost killed me.” I swallow hard and keep my stare locked on Sin’s very blue, very stormy eyes. “Is it too much to ask that my partner act like a fucking professional?”

He leans halfway across the desk, close enough I can smell his cologne. Or maybe that’s simply his natural scent.

“Watch yourself, Zoe. You have seen a part of me I do not show to anyone. But this face? This side of me?” His lips curl into a snarl, and his eyes churn with emotion. “I am a demon, and I have killed more than I have ever saved. Do not test me.”

Oh, I want to test him. A lot. Until this cold, calculated demeanor of his cracks and the real Sinclair comes back. The one who held me all night last night. Who stopped a vampire from killing me.

Arousal warms my core, and Sin’s nostrils flare. Shit. I have to change the subject. Or get the hell away from him somehow. “I’m still waiting for the bill for the clothes,” I say as I shove my hands under the desk so Sin doesn’t see them trembling. “I won’t be in your debt.”

A muscle in his jaw ticks for a full thirty seconds before he finds his words. “I have more money than I can spend in a thousand of your lifetimes, Zoe. Keep the damn clothes. And gather your things. I believe I tracked down one of the missing men. His name, at least. And we have an appointment to speak with his brother in twenty minutes.”

I don’t want