Besides, he’s invisible. Maybe they won’t know he’s gone if I put al the stakes back where they were.”
Although I worried about Sebastian coming after Devon, I had to trust Bo. This was his God-given job to do, his birthright and sole purpose for existence. He had to have a wisdom that no one else could understand.
So, after slipping my shirt back over my head, Bo and I headed back through the house toward the door. Annika emerged from the den just as we were passing.
“I see Cade must’ve gotten a little taste of our fair Ridley, or rather she got a taste of him,” she said smugly. “Looks like he’l be sleeping it off for a while. Did you find out anything useful?”
“Ridley saw that they were keeping a friend of ours in a mine shaft.”
“Where is it?”
“We don’t know the exact location, but we know someone who can probably help us. We’re going to go start looking now.”
“Mind if I come? I’m going to need to feed before too long and I can help you search. You might need an extra hand.”
She couldn’t have been more casual, but I could see intent in her eyes that was anything but. As usual, though, Bo was oblivious to what I believed were Annika’s conniving ways.
“That would be great. We can use al the help we can get.”
“It’l be just like the night we had to go find Scabs when he tried to run away.”
Bo looked confused for a few seconds before his faulty memory gave way to a clear recol ection.
“Yeah, I remember that. Poor kid didn’t expect it to snow so much, did he?”
Annika laughed. It was a dainty, feminine sound that set my teeth on edge. Her eyes twinkled merrily as she watched Bo.
“Poor Scabs was almost frozen solid so we had to stop at that old cabin and spend the night. He slept on the floor in front of the fire and we had to share that rickety bed.”
Although Bo continued to smile in reminiscence, I saw his eyes dart nervously toward me and then back to Annika. He looked guilty in a way that left me wondering how he and Annika had spent the night.
He cleared his throat and tugged my hand.
“We’d better get going then. Are you ready?”
Annika’s smile was vaguely predatory.
“Very.”
The three of us made our way through the cooling night toward woods that seemed to hold a lifetime of memories already. I ran on one side of Bo, Annika on the other.
Repeatedly, she tried to engage him in conversation, bringing up tantalizing tidbits of their history, tidbits that seemed designed to make him remember her in a more romantic light. I had no idea how wel it was working, but if his evasiveness was any indication, I thought pretty wel .
When we arrived at Lucius’s cabin, the three of us mounted the steps. Before Bo’s knuckles could even make contact with the door, it swung open to reveal a smiling Lucius standing on the other side, wearing nothing but blue jeans and a big smile.
“Wel , wel , wel . To what do I owe this glorious pleasure?”
he teased in his thick brogue. His jewel-like eyes flitted from me to Bo and on to Annika who stood at Bo’s other side.
There, they stopped and immediately began to sparkle with masculine appreciation. “Sweet Lord, lad, where do you find
‘em?”
Bo smoothly ignored Lucius’s question, choosing instead to state the reason for our visit.
“We need your help to find an abandoned mine shaft.”
“Don’t be rude. Introductions are in order first.”
Lucius stepped toward Annika and reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips. His eyes never left hers and I could tel by Annika’s expression that she was far from immune to Lucius’s considerable charm.
“Lucius, Annika. Annika, Lucius,” Bo obliged sharply.
“Annika. What a beautiful name. Swedish?”
Annika beamed at him.
“Yes.”
“And the voice of an angel to boot. The pleasure, lovely Annika, is al mine.”
Annika continued to smile at Lucius, clearly flattered and enchanted by him, as most any woman would be.
“Now, wil you help us?” Bo asked.
Lucius smiled his most winsome smile, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from Annika.
“Of course I’l help you. I’m always,” he said, sliding his eyes back to Annika, “at your service.”
“Do you want to put some clothes on?” Bo asked irritably.
Lucius winked at Bo and then returned his gaze to Annika.
“Nah. I might find a real y tasty bite while I’m out and this wil just leave me with less to take off.”
He grinned rakishly at Annika and she had the good grace to at least blush. As I watched color flood her cheeks becomingly, I thought wryly that at least she was good for something. She’d answered my question about whether or not a vampire could blush. Apparently, we could.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Bo and I fol owed Lucius through the woods. Annika was by his side, as he was determined to entertain her with stories of his long, ful life as a vampire. To her credit, she managed to look as if she was hanging on his every word.
I wondered about her, about her motives and her true feelings for Bo. Was she just an opportunist, a girl who latched on to the nearest man? That didn’t real y make sense because she’d searched furiously and diligently for Bo. Was she trying to make Bo jealous by showing Lucius some attention? That could be it.
As we made our way slowly through the woods, I watched Annika to see if she glanced at Bo for his reaction, but I didn’t see her do it even once. She laughed and responded to Lucius in what appeared to be a very genuine manner. It was then that it occurred to me that Annika might just have fal en under Lucius’s charismatic spel . It was easy to see how that could happen. Lucius was something else after al .
After what seemed like an eternity of walking, Lucius stopped at the foot of a smal hil . He swept his arm out with a flourish and announced that we’d arrived.
“You stay here,” Bo said, directing his order to me. “I’l be back in a few minutes.”
“But you didn’t see what I saw. How wil you know where to find him without light?”
“He should answer me if I cal out, right?”
“Oh,” I said, feeling foolish. “I didn’t even think of that.”
Bo grinned, brushing a quick kiss across my lips.