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Chapter One

I WAITED OUTSIDE THE LARGE, FOUR-STORY home in Manhasset that ned by a Mr Lia at un and shoulder holster clearly visible, as wasand so was my blouse, to hide the twenty pounds of silver weapons strapped to s

My knock was answered by an older ent Catrina Arthur," I said "Here to see Mr Flannery"

Catrina wasn't e The doorave me an insincere smile

"I'll see if Mr Flannery is in Wait here"

I already knew Liam Flannery was in What I also kneas that Mr Flannery wasn't human, and neither was the doorman

Well, neither was I, even though I was the only one out of the three of us with a heartbeat

A few reed to see you"

That was his firstto say about it, it would also be his last

My first thought as I entered Liam Flannery's house was, Wow Hand-carved wood adorned all the walls, the floor was so marble, and antiques were tastefully littered everywhere the eye could see Being dead sure didn't mean you couldn't live it up

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as power filled the room Flannery wouldn't know I could feel it, just like I'd felt it froe as the next person, but I had a few secrets up my sleeve And lots of knives, of course

"Agent Arthur," Flannery said "This must be about my two employees, but I've already been questioned by the police"

His accent was English, which was at odds with his Irish na that intonation lish accents held memories for me

I turned around Flannery looked even better than the picture in his FBI file His pale crystal flesh alainst the tan color of his shirt I'll say one thing for vaeous skin Liam's eyes were a clear turquoise, and his chestnut hair fell past his collar

Yep, he was pretty He probably had no trouble scaring up dinner But theabout hi, power-filled waves A Master vampire without a doubt

"Yes, this is about Thomas Stillwell and Jerome Hawthorn The Bureau would appreciate your cooperation"

My polite stalling was to gauge how many other people were in the house I strained houl doorman, and myself

"Of course Anything to assist law and order," he said with an undercurrent of amusement

"And you're coet more of a look around "Or is there somewhere private you'd prefer?"

He sauntered over "Agent Arthur, if you want to have a private ith me, callother than boring Jerome and Thomas"

Oh, I had little intention of talking as soon as I got Liam in private Since he'd been implicated in the deaths of his eh I wasn't here to arrest hihouls, so there wasn't a legal process for dealing withones No, there was a covert branch of Homeland Security instead, and my boss, Don, would send me There were rurown during my tenure at this job, but only one vampire kneho I really was And I hadn't seen him in over four years

"Liaating you in a double homicide, are you?"

"Catrina, an innocent man doesn't fret over the wheels of lahenever they ru you to speak with me, beautiful woh I' you before"

"You haven't," I said immediately "Trust me, I would have remembered"

I didn't mean it as a compliment, but it caused hi

"I'll bet"

You s you'll keep that smirk

"Back to business, Lia here, or somewhere private?"

Hethis path, we may as well be comfortable in the library Come with me"

I followed hinificent, with hundreds of new and old books There were even scrolls preserved in a glass display case, but it was the large piece of artwork on the wall that caught my attention

"This looksprimitive"

At first glance it appeared to be wood or ivory, but on closer inspection, it looked like bones Human ones

"Aborigine, nearly three hundred years old Given to me by some mates of mine in Australia"

Lialint with eaze for what they were Lust and feeding looked the sas pop out Lia to satisfy any of his cravings

My cell phone rang "Hello," I answered

"Agent Arthur, are you still questioning Mr Flannery?" my second-in-command, Tate, asked

"Yes This should be wrapped up in thirty minutes"

Translation: If I didn't answer again in half an hour, Tate and my team would come in after me

Tate hung up without further cos alone, but too bad Flannery's house was as quiet as a to time since I'd battled with a Master vampire

"I believe the police told you that the bodies of Thomas Stillwell and Jero And not any visible wounds on theht in

Liaed "Does the Bureau have a theory?"

Oh, we had more than a theory I knew Liam would have just closed the telltale holes on Thomas and Jerome's necks with a drop of his own blood before they died Boo card to rally the villagers-unless you knehat tricks to look for

Flatly I shot back, "You do, though, don't you?"