Basil (The Brinnswick Chronicles #3) - Michele Notaro Page 0,5
of humans—it was illegal to kill, and even illegal to drink from someone without their uncompelled permission. It wasn’t surprising that his friends were trying to stop him. If word got out that a vamp in their den was breaking the law, the den leader could be prosecuted, and the den would be under investigation. I didn’t think they realized that the guy had already broken several of their laws and that the BCA was going to be in their business as soon as I brought this guy in anyway.
As I scanned the bar, my eyes were drawn to a figure in the corner opposite me, and as soon as I realized who it was, I muttered, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Hiro Grimsby—also known as Grim The Asshole Hunter, also known as my suspect for the witch murder—pulled his hood off his head and stared right back at me. I could see the anger in his gaze. It was as if his entire body was humming with it.
He took a last swig of his beer, slammed the bottle on his table, and got up, marching right over to me. Without the ghillie suit hiding his body, I realized that he was, in fact, a lot bigger than me. Not only did he have a good five or six inches on me, but he was also covered in muscles. Lots of muscles. He was the sexiest damn thing I’d ever seen. He wasn’t bulky by any means, but it was obvious that the man took care of himself. His body was full of muscle you get from hard work, not from a gym, and even under his shirt, I could see them rippling with every move he made. Every angry move he made toward me. Shit.
I swallowed my tongue as he stopped in front of me, gorgeous and pissed.
“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” he hissed.
And the image was ruined as soon as he opened his mouth. He might be the hottest thing I’d seen in this realm, but he was a total dick, and probably a murderer to boot. “Minding my own business. Now please, get away from me.”
He narrowed his eyes and grabbed a chair, spinning it, and sitting on it backward. He leaned forward, draping his arms over the back of the chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I noticed he had his gloves on so there was no skin showing except from the neck up. “You can’t have this one, Basil Ellwood.”
I stifled a sigh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play games with me, witch. I know you’re here for the vamp. I’ll tell ya again, this one’s mine.”
“And I’ll remind you that I work for the BCA, and I’m here on official business. I don’t give a shit what you’re here for, I’m going to do my job. Just stay out of it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re gonna get hurt if you get in my way.”
“I’m sure that’s a great concern of yours, witch killer.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back. Nothing like letting the enemy know you were onto him. Fuck. This guy had me out of sorts and blurting shit I shouldn’t be sharing.
His eyes narrowed as his head tilted to the side, his brown hair falling over his forehead. “You think I killed that witch up in Owentine.” It wasn’t a question.
“Did you?”
“If I did, you think I’d confess to you?”
“No.”
He stared at me for a few more seconds before saying, “I didn’t kill him.”
I scrutinized his face for a minute. He was either a very good liar or he was telling the truth. Something was telling me he wasn’t lying, but I wasn’t ruling it out.
The guy sighed and leaned back in his chair, tapping the end of it a few times. “If you lose me this bounty, you and I are gonna have a big problem, Ellwood.” He stood and leaned forward so his face was close to mine. “May the best man win.” He patted my cheek, straightened, and strolled away before I could get a word in.
What a fucking asshole.
“I told you I’d only put you on the case if you captured that vamp,” Alec said the next day. We were back in his office with the door shut so he could yell at me. And I could yell back.