Page 26 of A Touch of Crimson
“Even if I could afford to reserve one of my men for the purpose of identifying classification for you, we don’t hunt indiscriminately. We police the vampires, but we can’t exterminate them.”
Lindsay’s blood went cold. “Why not?”
“Their punishment is to live with what they are.”
“And we humans are…what? Collateral damage? We have to live—and die—with what they are, too.”
The airborne angels began to land. She watched them with both wonder and fury. These beautiful creatures seemed so magical and powerful, yet they were allowing the parasitic vampires to live.
“We hunt every day,” he said. “We kill every day. Is it such a bad thing that we focus on the ones causing the most damage?”
She looked at him over the rim of her mug. “Fair enough. Maybe I can join you on my days off.”
“Raguel hired you for a reason. What position did he hire you for?”
“Assistant general manager.”
“A big job at a big new property. I’m certain you’re extremely qualified, but I imagine it’s quite a step up for someone your age.”
Lindsay licked coffee from the corner of her mouth. “And he’s paying me too well.”
“Because he expects you to be ambitious, hungry, and willing to put in some long hours.”
She nodded, resigned. The new job alone would take up all her time. That was one of the things that had made the position so appealing—she might actually get to have a regular life, using her livelihood as an excuse for why she wasn’t hunting as much. A cop-out, yes, but she’d convinced herself that she was taking the best option open to her.
As angels alighted all around him, Adrian remained the calm center of activity. But he wasn’t the eye of the storm. He was the storm. He was the dark clouds on the horizon, beautiful from a distance yet capable of great violence.
Lindsay realized she was sitting among angels, drinking coffee, and talking about her new job. Normal, she was not.
“Okay.” She took a fortifying sip. “Wow… All those hours of studying. For what?”
“I can’t believe you would give up your dream so easily,” Damien said, examining her. “Mortals wither without dreams.”
“Hospitality wasn’t her dream,” Adrian explained, sounding so sure. “An ordinary life was, or at the very least, a semblance of one.”
“Is that so wrong?” she asked. She wanted a steady man in her life, the chance to fall in love, hang out with friends, and clock in at a job where she didn’t get coated with ashes. But she also felt guilty for wanting ignorance. What kind of person would rather not know about other people’s suffering just so they could be happy themselves?
“It’s not wrong. Far from it. You’ve never felt comfortable in the mortal world, have you? You’re too beautiful and confident to be a loner, but you never really felt like you fit in.” He looked at her with those knowing eyes, seeing right through her. “There’s no shame in wanting to feel acknowledged for who you are and at ease in your surroundings.”
“I certainly don’t fit in here.” But she couldn’t deny that, deep down, she felt as if she did. And that Adrian was a large part of the reason why. He knew what she did, and he accepted her without hesitation. That gave her a sense of fulfillment she’d never had before.
“Don’t you?”
“Not yet.” But she thought she might.
God… What would it be like to work alongside others who fought the same fight she did, to not feel so utterly alone in this vicious, lethal world she’d been initiated into with her mother’s death?
Reaching up, Lindsay rubbed the back of her neck. “This decision should really be much harder to make—for both of us. I’m going to slow you down and be a liability.”
“Agreed,” Damien said.
Adrian lifted one shoulder in an artlessly elegant shrug. “There’s a use for every talent.”
“I need income,” she pointed out. “Regardless of choosing one life over the other, I won’t accept a free ride.”
“Mortals,” Damien drawled, “are so obsessed with material wealth.”
Adrian’s mouth curved in a ghost of a smile. “Every day, I’m sending teams all over the world. The duty of making those flight and hotel reservations falls to whoever is unfortunate enough to be near me in the morning; I can’t assign it to my office staff at Mitchell Aeronautics without rousing suspicions. Today, that individual will be you.”
