Page 25 of Hunted

I glance at it despite myself. ‘So daylight really is just an inconvenience for you?’

His mouth curves faintly. ‘Still thinking about that?’

‘Hard not to. I grew up believing sunlight was one of the few mercies humans had left.’

‘Humans believe many comforting things.’

‘Do you practise sounding ominous, or does it ooze out naturally after the first century?’

‘The first century teaches restraint. Ominousness is merely a consequence of surviving long enough to stop explaining oneself.’

‘That’s tragic. I love explanations.’

‘No,’ he says softly. ‘You love information.’

My pulse gives one hard kick. I smother it.

He catches the smallest change anyway, or maybe I only imagine the slight narrowing of his eyes. Either way, my skin tightens beneath his attention.

He’s cataloguing me. Strength. Balance. Threat. Value. His gaze lingers a beat too long on my mouth, my throat, the collar I forced myself to wear even though I hate every fucking inch of it, then the line of my jaw.

I don’t flinch. I won’t give him that. ‘You’re staring,’ I say.

‘So are you.’

‘I’m assessing.’

‘As am I.’

‘Great. Mutual objectification. Very professional.’

‘Is that what this is?’

‘What else would you call it?’

‘Instinct.’

That creeps too close to things I refuse to name.

My bedroom. Darkness. His voice. The way my body reacted before fear swallowed everything else.

I crush the memory flat.

This is a job. A dangerous one, yes, but also a lucrative one, if the potion holds and I keep my head. Enough money to buy time, reinforce anonymity, stay hidden longer than I could’ve managed on mediocre retrievals and spite.

I haven’t been given much of a choice. Fine. I can turn a trap into freedom. I hadn’t known that useful but terrifying information about vampires and daylight, that age and power change the rules.

‘That fee buys results,’ I say, letting Eira Cross settle fully into place. ‘It doesn’t buy obedience.’

His expression remains smooth. ‘I don’t recall asking for obedience.’

‘No. You just assumed it came included.’

‘You mistake certainty for assumption.’

I swallow a snort. Barely. ‘And you mistake money for leverage.’

‘Money is leverage.’