a dazed air about him. Rafe lounges in an upholstered chair near the door, watching him carefully.
“What the hell happened back there, Vivian?” Antiono asks. “Why did you tackle me?”
His expression appears a bit dejected and petulant, as though I’ve taken away his favorite toy. His shoulders are rounded and his posture has lost the stiff arrogance he’d had when he arrived.
“Before I answer your questions, I want you to answer one of mine.”
I stare this incredibly good-looking man square in the eye. I’m not going to compel him to answer me yet; I want to see how he does on his own. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go in and get the information, which would not be a good thing for him.
“Were you born this attractive or are you enhancing your looks?”
I’ve caught him off guard, that is, if the slightly fish-eyed look he’s giving me is any indication.
“Uhh…umm…why is it important?”
My temper flares close to the surface and I don’t care to pussyfoot around. “Answer me, dammit, or I’ll drag it out of you and believe me, you won’t like it!”
Rafe reaches out, placing a hand on my arm.
Let him try to answer. I think he’s scared. Back down a bit.
I step closer to my husband, breathing in a deep, calming lungful of Rafe-scented air. Close proximity to my lover helps me obtain a better mental balance and maintain it. He’s right, of course. I’m having a hard time seeing the situation from Antonio’s point of view. Rafe catches sight of the ripped skirt from my position at his knee and reaches a hand out to gently caress my bottom.
It’s just the trick to pull me back from the edge and give Antonio a moment to collect himself. Rafe cups my cheek and gently moves his hand up and down in a soothing motion. As Antonio watches me from across the room, the tension ekes out of me slowly, helping my face smooth back out to calm.
Antonio’s voice sounds whiny when he finally responds to my question about his appearance. “I don’t understand the big deal. Lots of vampires use glamour to look better. It’s not much, only enough to give me this olive skin tone and appear slightly more defined.”
Hah! I should have known when I saw his naked body that it couldn’t all have been natural. I hate missing a detail like that —look where it has gotten me now: a vamp high on my blood with the power to use glamour. I thought after the murder, tonight couldn’t get any worse!
“Do you understand the complexities of glamour?” I ask Antonio as Rafe continues to pat my ass.
“I know the basics. My maker taught me a little.”
“Using glamour is a form of mind control—like you use on humans when altering memories. It’s a sustained version of your thought, projected out to others for their view. The level of your power determines the types of complex images you can project.” Antonio nods in understanding. “Personal appearance ranks low on the scale because it’s attached to you and you project it out with nothing other than a desire to look better. Creating more detailed images to send out, ones that are not attached, takes years of practice.”
“Really? I was unaware there was more to it than altering my looks.” Antonio looks deep in thought, like he’s trying to piece together how this applies to what happened in the bar. “I thought you said the old vamp blood I had was an empath and I would be able to read people. That was happening back there—I saw Olivia imagining she was with me when that other vampire began pawing her.”
Rafe pinches my right cheek, a clear poke at me to see if I can backpedal out of this one. It will be a fine line, trying to convince Antonio that the mess in the bar is related to his ability to glamour rather than me projecting anything to him.
“Uh…umm…” I clear my throat and try to angle my stance away from those grasping fingers. “Yes, that’s normally the case but I think with your abilities, you may be an exception.”
“How is that?”
I hear honest curiosity in him now.
Crap, how much do I want to tell him and how much am I going to have to wipe from his mind? Time to re-direct and spin some bullshit. Usually, bullshitting is Rafe’s area of expertise. Why isn’t he helping me here?
“Okay, I’ll try to explain. How long have you been using