.

lingering, as if wanting to imprint his mark for the world to see every time her smile curled.

      She’d been imprinted once already. Lyric twisted her head away from Vail’s touch. She didn’t want another imprint, and needed one like a bullet through her brain right now.

      “It was good, Lyric. But I don’t think either of us should beat ourselves up trying to figure the whys and hows of it. It happened. We enjoyed it. Now we step back into our roles.”

      “You bad guy, me fleeing you?”

      “Something like that. Let’s go.”

      “Where?” The dress was a loss. She scanned the floor for her shoes. “Oh right, your place. Why do I have to go along?”

      “You think your place is so swanky?” he teased. “The bed was … fragrant.”

      She slid off the thing, stunned she’d made love on it, and had snuggled next to the man for a good part of the morning. Yuck. Well, it had been a means to hide out. It wasn’t that she’d intended to live here.

      “Fine. I’ll go along for the ride. But you’re not going to trick me and drive me home to Mommy, are you?”

      “Can’t. You’re staying with me until I can figure out what deal Charish Santiago made with Zett. Unless you want to make it easy and just tell me?”

      “Can’t tell you what I don’t know. Why is knowing the deal important?”

      “Because I know Zett,” he said, walking into the bathroom to retrieve her duffel. He dug out the shirt and black pants she’d worn last night and tossed them to her. “The Lord of Midsummer Dark has no interest in vampires. Vampires are the lowest of the low to faeries.”

      Lyric tugged the shirt on, then bowed her head. Lowest of the low? Tell her about it.

      “Which makes me wonder what mommy dearest was supposed to get in return for the dress. I can’t imagine Zett would have been too generous, even for such a valuable dress.”

      “Gown.”

      “Whatever.”

      Lyric was about to explain that her mother had gotten the immunity to step into Faery and take as she pleased, but then she stopped herself. As Vail had mentioned, faery items were of little value in the mortal realm.

      Why did the Santiagos need to steal from Faery? True, they were nearly bankrupt, but it wasn’t as though any item taken from the Faery realm could be fenced to any but the sidhe. And sidhe currency had no value among the mortals.

      “What’s going on in that pretty skull of yours?” Vail asked.

      Lyric turned a discerning gaze to him. “I’m not sure anymore. I think you’re right. My mother is up to more than I can imagine.”