Free A Forever Mate: Vampire Assassin League #18 by Jackie Ivie

having trouble with that at the moment. His mate was giving off the most amazing sensation of warmth, and her scent had gotten more enticing. Intense. She definitely smelled like a sun-warmed field of lavender.
    “Nigel. Cease wasting time on frivolities. Have you reached Cole yet?”
    “Yes, Sir. He’s on the line.”
    “Good. Sebastian?”
    “Sir?”
    “Listen up. I appear to have made a few miscalculations in your last assignment.”
    Sebastian frowned.
The private investigator?
“Bracket’s dead,” he informed them.
    “Yes. I know. That’s not the part I’m referring to. Let me start by saying I’m rather grateful you used a new pilot this trip... especially one who is too young to worry over the effects of smoking. I’m also grateful that you gave him our number in the event of trouble.”
    “Ivan... had trouble?”
    “Yes. Well. Apparently, your new pilot, Ivan, stepped out for a smoke just after you landed. He is a very good man. You did well in selecting him. He noticed a lot of strange men about. Men who were wearing an odd shade of camouflage and carrying strange-looking weapons. Sound familiar?”
    “Hunters?”
    “Exactly. They have now surrounded the hangar. They’d have Ivan in interrogation if he hadn’t been sharp enough to call us... after you failed to pick up, of course. I don’t suppose you checked your messages lately?”
    “No.”
    “Well. I’ll just continue, then. That was my first miscalculation on this assignment. Pity. I really like that airfield.”
    “My failure to pick up the cell?” Sebastian asked.
    Akron chuckled. “No. No. I underestimated the amount of intelligence the Hunters actually possess. And sometimes even display. At the strangest moments. That was mistake one. They are now in control of your plane. And they know you are in the vicinity. Care to know what mistake number two was?”
    “What?”
    “Believing my associates when they say they detest a place. I actually took that to mean that a certain fellow actually did detest Paris. And wouldn’t still be encamped there.”
    Sebastian colored slightly. “I... found my mate.”
    “No way!” Nigel inserted. “He did
not
—.”
    “Nigel. Please. Hasn’t it ever occur to you that I might have a slight foreboding that something like this might happen? And that, maybe – just maybe – I make certain associates are in the exact place they need to be? Even if they claim to detest it?”
    “You...
know
?”
    “Oh. Dear. That sounds like a harbinger to future harassment. Perhaps I shouldn’t have given you that information.”
    “You mean... you know when my mate is going to show up?”
    “Perhaps.”
    “Really? Oh, Sir! That is so... totally cool! Where is she? What is she like? What nationality? Is she cute? Stacked? Can I meet her? See her? Check her out? Come on, Sir! Can’t I get just a hint?”
    “You know, Nigel. I am perfectly capable of avoiding this conversation until any mate of yours is well into her middle years. It might be considered by some to be a favor, since you did mention something about being cougar bait. Yes?”
    “What? Oh, please Sir. No. Not over forty-five. Please? I’m begging here. I can’t handle saggy boobs.”
    Akron laughed heartily. Sebastian’s ears rang. He had to move the phone away.
    “I do enjoy your company, Nigel. I really do. You are so... refreshing. You haven’t much in the way of sensitivity training, and zero sense of political correctness, but you are honest. Direct. And endlessly amusing. Sebastian?”
    “Yes?”
    “We’ll call you back. New phone.”
    The line went dead. Sebastian pitched that phone into the wreck of room behind him and slid another one out. Opened it. Pressed the “call” button. It went live instantly and Akron was already speaking.
    “...and if she’s a toddler? What then? You don’t want to know. Trust me, Nigel. Ah. Sebastian is back. Do you have your mate with you?”
    Sebastian glanced sidelong at Jill’s