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Keeping his gaze locked on her wide eyes he reached beneath the seat to offer her a handgun si efficiency she un in her hand, before ser his finest ruby it was not the first occasion she held a gun

Not precisely reassuring

At least she wasn’t about to accidentally shoot off her foot, or worse his own, he wryly acknowledged as he rolled down the opposite

"Ai out theand steadying his hip against the door He paused, sighted, pulled the trigger, and took out the front tire with one shot On the other side of the car Shay sprayed a line of bullets, at last puncturing the other tire The pursuing car pulled hard to the right and Viperthe driver although it was ied off the road and Viper sent his thoughts to Pierre as already slowing the limo He wanted those men He wanted them in his clutches to drain theht possess

And then he intended to just drain the to be more than merely a pest

He needed to know precisely what he was up against

The thought had barely crossed his ht pole He muttered a curse, and then another as the car promptly exploded into a ball of flames

Well, devil’s balls

Didn’t that only happen in the ave a rap on the divider On cue the limo sped easily into the darkness

Viper watched as Shay lowered herself back in her seat Closing the s he held out his hand for the gun There was only the faintest hesitation before she placed it in his hand and Viper bent down to place both guns in the hidden cabinet

Settling ainst the leather he flashed her a faint sht"

His smile widened "Yes, I know"

Her eyes slowly narrowed "You thought I ht turn it on you?"

"Was it not a teun can’t kill you"

"The bullets are silver and would have at least causedthat she wanted to do tads e

"You said that you trusted me"

"I have not survived sothat I can occasionally be wrong I fully embrace the motto ’better safe than sorry"’

She tossed herself into the corner of her seat, yanking at the long raven braid that was draped over her shoulder She had been angry when he had dee not to offer him harm, annoyed that he had easily read her noble spirit Now she was angry that he remained cautious

Part demon or not, she was as contrary as any woun" she muttered in low tones

Chapter Three

Shay wasn’t entirely stupid

She knew that baiting a va Russian roulette with a fully loaded pistol Especially when she was coht warn her to keep her mouth shut and disappear into the butter soft leather seat, her raw pride si a va she disliked

He was too beautiful, too obscenely rich, and worst of all, too brashly confident of his oorth

That grated worst of all

Deep within her she envied that cool, stately arrogance Even if she lived a millennium she would never attain such a sure belief in her oorth

She was ain either world And never would

The vaarded her with a steady gaze

"A fascinating discussion, pet, and one ill no doubt explore in depth at some point But for the moment I prefer to concentrate on who, or what, is so desperate to get their hands on you"

"I don’t know," Shay retorted with complete honesty She didn’t have a clue as after her She had spent her life in the shadows, never drawing attention to herself It had been her only means of survival

"No bitter past owner?" he demanded

"Besides Evor who holds my curse, Edra was my one and only owner" Her lips thinned with annoyance "Until you"

"No past lover who e?"

Stupidly she felt her face ith embarrassment "No"

"No past lover?" His lips twitched with ill-concealed ae?"