Page 32 of Stubborn as a Shadow

“How delightful,” Keenan said. Then the man pivoted toward Nelson. “Please extend my regards to your compatriots in Willow Lake.”

Nelson was fading again.

“Such a delightful spot,” the vampire continued. “Alas, the last time I was in the vicinity, I was unable to linger. Fortunately, I heard everyone escaped their underground confinements.” He whispered the last two words. “Although, rest assured I would have forwarded a memo to your delightful death mage if they hadn’t. I was happy it didn’t come to that, though. I had my hands quite full at the time.”

“How do you know about any of that?” Nelson bristled. His arm, the one closest to the wall and therefore the most shaded, was little more than a tendril of smoke. It curled in a tight coil, then relaxed in a wavy undulation. It reminded me of someone clenching and unclenching their fist. “Were you in league with Robbie?”

“Now, now,” Keenan tsked. He waved at himself. “Do you really think I would consort with someone like that? You clearly don’t know me.”

I had no idea what event they were discussing, but I got the sense Keenan was offended.

“How else would you know about any of that?” Nelson looked murderous—all angry, powerful, and ready to do what needed to be done to eliminate a threat. It was surprisingly appealing. I hadn’t realized I’d be attracted to murder vibes.

“Perhaps I will drop by the next time I’m in the area and introduce myself properly.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Nelson snarled, quite impressively considering he wasn’t a shifter with a beastly side.

Uh oh. I could see right through Nelson’s torso now. That wasn’t good. When I tried kicking him, my foot didn’t connect with anything.

“Not at all. It will be my pleasure,” the vampire said. He straightened his suit jacket. “Enjoy your time with us, gentlemen.”

Keenan moved to the next table. We sat for a moment as our plates were cleared, and the meals were added to our room tabs. By then, Nelson looked a teensy bit less translucent. He really was too uptight.

“Let’s go to the bar for a drink!” I clapped my hands.

Maybe alcohol would loosen him up a bit. And I’d always wanted to try a Dirty Shirley. I loved Shirley Temples and was curious to experiment with the alcoholic version. I’d need itmade with orange juice, not soda, but I was sure a place like this could make that substitution.

“No,” Nelson said. His lips flattened into a grim line.

“Come on. Let’s have some fun!”

If Violet could hear me, she would be so pissed at me right now. Although, given the look Nelson was shooting my way, I had a pretty good idea of what V would look like.

“We need to talk. We can’t do that here.”

“Fine,” I huffed, but I wasn’t really annoyed. If Nelson wanted to get me alone, that sounded like an even better idea than going for drinks. “Maybe we can come back down later for a nightcap.”

It sounded so sophisticated and sexy, right? I hoped Nelson would think I was propositioning him, which, for the record, I was. He definitely made my tail swish.

When we stood from the table, he wrapped his hand around my arm again. He was fully solid now, so that was good. I’d obviously done an excellent job of distracting him. Go me.

A woman with long dark hair and too many weapons studied us as Nelson dragged me by her table. One of her dinner companions cleared their throat. As if that was some kind of trigger, the woman popped out of her chair and grabbed my other arm, preventing me from moving forward. Nelson spun around to see why I’d stopped.

When he saw what was happening, his irises and the white bits around the outside of his irises disappeared—like they weregonegone. His eyes were merely empty holes filled with smoke-like shadows.

Fascinating. How did someone see without eyeballs? I wanted to know more. I wanted to knoweverything.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked me. She rested her free hand on the gun holstered at her hip. “Is this asshole making you do something you don’t want to?”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet?” I smiled, before I remembered Rudy Tada wasn’t supposed to do that. But it was better than laughing. Laughing led to bubbles, and bubbles led to questions. Besides, how was she supposed to know I’d doanythingNelson wanted right now?

And I didn’t think explaining how Nelson wanted to lock me away in my room was a good idea. That’d raise as many alarms as his manhandling.

I mean, even Violet would take exception to how Nelson was behaving, even though she’d done the same thing to me more times than I could count. She often said being with me in public was worse than herding cats. Except there was only one of me, not a whole clowder, so I didn’t see how that was possible.

And really, who herded cats? That was just weird. The fantastical comparison made her whole argument fall apart.

“I can help you,” the woman pressed. She shot a look at her friends. “Wecan help.”