A smile flickered across her lips, but never made it to her eyes. The green depths remained cold and calculating. She pulled a small wallet out of her purse and opened it up. The ID inside said MADELINE HUNTER.
The woman in charge of the whole damn Directorate.
Chapter Eight
"NOW MAY I COME IN?" SHE DRAWLED, PUTTING the ID away.
"Not on your fucking life," I muttered. I hit the MUTE button then, swung around, meeting Tao's and Ilianna's curious gazes. "Say nothing. Do not invite her in."
"Why?" Ilianna asked, confusion crossing her features. "I saw her badge—she's Directorate. She's not about to hurt us."
I snorted softly. "You need to listen to some of the stories Rhoan and Riley tell about the Directorate. Besides, she's a vampire. If we invite her across the threshold, she can waltz in anytime she likes."
"So what's to stop her using her vamp mojo on us and forcing an invitation that way?" Tao asked.
"Because the invitation has to be freely given." But that didn't mean she couldn't use her vamp telepathy skills to create other sorts of orders. I walked across the room, retrieved my phone from my purse, flicked it across to vid-screen, and said "Quinn." I knew he'd be up. He might be half Aedh, but he was also a vamp and he rarely slept nights—even if he spent half of them in bed with Riley.
"Risa," he said, the Irish lilt in his voice holding a hint of surprise. "Why are you calling at this hour? Is anything wrong?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Hang on." I walked across to the door and pressed the control screen. As the door slid aside, I said into the phone, "There's a woman outside my door claiming to be Director Hunter. Is this really her?"
I turned the phone around so he could see. Again, amusement flirted with Hunter's lips—and again, the look in her eyes suggested she was anything but amused.
"Madeline," Quinn said immediately, his voice cool and the soft lilt gone. "Do not try anything on her. Do not tamper with her mind. I'll know."
She snorted softly—almost elegantly—as her gaze moved to me. "You have some mighty powerful allies, Risa, but I'm no threat to you."
Not yet.
The unspoken words hung in the air between us. I turned the phone back around. Uncle Quinn's dark eyes glittered like black diamonds in the small screen. "If you don't call back within the hour, I'm coming after you."