Free Vampire State of Mind by Jane Lovering Page A

very “need to know”.’
    Malfaire looked at Liam with his head slightly tilted. ‘You are very protective of Jessica, aren’t you? You care a great deal.’
    Liam flared red. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, making a spluttering noise, and finally managed to breathe. ‘She’s my
boss
. I just want to make sure I get paid!’
    â€˜Of course.’ Giving off stylish yeah, pull-the-other-one vibes, Malfaire set to flicking imaginary fluff from an immaculate trouser leg. This drew my attention to the slender length of his thighs and his perfect, form-fitting, tailoring. My mouth should be watering, but wasn’t. Dear God, don’t tell me Sil had ruined me for other men; I’d be doomed to a life filled with cats.
I’d turn into Rachel …
    The telephone rang and my brain pinged back to reality with an out-of-proportion gratitude. While Liam dealt with the call, my visitor smiled his honeyed smile. ‘So. Can I tell them that your answer is yes?’
    â€˜I …’
    â€˜Is something worrying you? You seem very hesitant, Jessica. Surely you wouldn’t want the vampires to think you are afraid of them and their kin?’
    This made me bridle. How dare he imply that I’d ever be
scared
of a bunch of overly image-conscious, dentally challenged creeps? But he was right. If the word got out that I’d turned down an invite, then someone somewhere would draw that conclusion, and the next step might be an
en masse
attempt to give me something to be scared of. ‘Malfaire – I – look, it’s just that … I had a warning. About some kind of danger? At the time I thought it was stupid, but with what happened with Enforcement, this invitation, and the Run and everything … are you
sure
it’s safe?’
    The lazy smile died from his face, his eyes hardened. ‘Danger? To you? Where did you hear this?’
    â€˜Vamp called Daim Willis. His demon is Tezrael of the Asgarths. I once did Tezrael a favour and the other day he returned it.’
    Malfaire put his coffee mug down very carefully and leaned towards me. I noticed that he smelled of lemon-water and something smoky, and that his skin was very cold when he touched me, cupping my chin in his hand and brushing his eyes over my face to take in all my features. ‘If anyone wished you danger, Jessica, then they would have to go through me first.’
    â€˜That’s,’ I had to stop and clear my throat, ‘very kind of you.’
    He released my chin, but his fingers trailed over my skin slowly before he pulled back. ‘I must leave now, so much to do. Take care, and I hope we shall see each other tomorrow.’
    And he was gone. Disappeared out of the office as though he’d never been; apart from the half-drunk coffee and the biscuit crumbs, he could have been an illusion.
    Liam hung up the phone. ‘Enforcement. No-one there has a clue what happened or how anything got past the shielding. They’re “investigating”, for which read “ignoring the whole thing”’. He stared at me. ‘God, Jessie. You look like you’re going to pass out.’
    I touched my face, feeling the cold ridges Malfaire’s fingers had left. ‘Is he, or is he not, totally freaky?’
    â€˜Dunno about freaky, but he’s a bit too smooth for my liking. No-one can be
that
smooth without having a whole load of weirdo under the surface. He looks like one of those guys you start talking to at a party only to find that they’re a secret train spotter and you have to listen to the lists of “engines that got away”.’ He sighed. ‘Shame they won’t let us shoot train spotters on sight; the Treaty wasn’t all good news.’
    â€˜And still nothing?’
    He shook his head. ‘Nope. I was trying like crazy, but, it’s like he’s metal or something. Impervious.’
    â€˜Did you