In that, they were exactly the same.
Though tonight, neither of them was following orders.Two weeks, and even if they were given orders to kill the other, the truce couldn’t be broken.
“Did my family honestly break the peace?”
“More than once, Orlan.”
“Lance…at least for the next two weeks.”
“Nix.”He held out his hand as though they were meeting as friends.
Lance shook his hand.The lilac tattoo marked him as the enemy, but the touch of his hand only sparked desire.Nix grinned.His thumb swept over Lance’s skin and made his heartbeat quicken.There was something in Nix’s blue eyes that Lance didn’t know if he should fear or want.
Nix leaned closer.“Tell me, Lance, do you top or bottom.”
Nix’s grip was too strong for Lance to pull away, but he tried anyway.They’d been having a serious talk, and Nix had spun the conversation into the personal.Heat burned Lance’s cheeks, and he couldn’t keep the snap out of his voice.“What makes you think you’ll get to find out?”
He didn’t want to know Nix’s preference, but now he was wondering.He shouldn’t be thinking of Nix in that way.This was a truce, nothing more.
“I was curious.”He gave a careless shrug.“I don’t care either way.”He released Lance’s hand, his fingertips brushing over the tattoo on his palm as though it no longer mattered.And maybe for the next two weeks, it didn’t.
ChapterSeven
In daylight,the truce lost its shine.The lust that blinded him had dimmed.He could not get involved with the enemy.It was bad enough he’d agreed to the truce.Lance tossed the wine bottle in the trash and wiped a couple of drops of blood off the kitchen counter.They’d made the truce properly.They were the highest-ranking vampires from their respective families in the area, so it was binding.
But Nixon’s—Nix’s—words haunted him.The Orlans had broken the last truce.If that were true, then what else was lies?Nix certainly wasn’t the savage killer he’d been led to believe.If the Hadleys had been looking for more legal avenues before the latest outbreak of violence, there was no reason for blood to spill at all.
Nix could’ve been lying, but he’d claimed it was the truth as he’d drunk the bloodied wine and sat in his kitchen unarmed.If everything Lance had been told were true about Nix, he should have been dead a dozen times over in the last twenty-four hours.But it wasn’t fear he felt when he looked at Nix.
Fear he could understand.
Lust?
He couldn’t want the man who’d been his enemy since birth.But over the last six months, he’d gotten to know his enemy, and if he were honest with himself, he’d known for a few months that there was more to Nix than the official dossier.Last night’s talk had solidified that belief.
It was only two weeks.His family wouldn’t care.
They’d never know.But he knew they were oath breakers.No, he didn’t know for sure.All he had was Nix’s word.How good was a Hadley’s word?He picked up Nix’s glass and held it to the light.Several crack lines ran through the base and up the stem.It was only a matter of time until it shattered.
Lance dropped it in the trash, and the glass broke.There was no sign he’d had a guest, but he was sure another vampire would be able to smell that Nix had been in the house.There wasn’t anything he could do about that.And if he was being watched that closely, it was already too late.
He’d kill some time doing what he did best, research—though he didn’t know what he was looking for, before going to the winery to see if Nix had kept his word or fled.He wasn’t sure which outcome he wanted.Nix, the honest but reluctant killer, or Nix, the liar on the run.
If Nix were a liar, then his family weren’t the oath breakers.
* * *
At noon,Lance parked at the winery and got out of the car.It was supposed to be autumn, but the weather hadn’t gotten the memo, so it was still warm and sunny.Enough to make most vampires stay indoors.In Melbourne, it was raining and overcast—he’d checked the weather app.He should have hated all this sun, but he couldn’t.He was sucking it all up for when he could no longer take a long walk in the sun without taking precautions.He wanted to feel the burning of his skin.If he waited long enough, it would happen.But he was far more human than vampire.He pressed the cut on his thumb as he steeled himself for what he’d find inside.
The gravel crunched beneath his feet, his steps slowing as he reached the door.
There, Nix was chatting to a customer, convincing them to buy more wine.The glasses were perched on his nose, his hair was tied up, and the knife would be in his boot.And he looked utterly charming.Lance would buy a case from him just to see him smile.
Nik lifted his head and glanced at Lance.There was no smile, just a flicker of a frown that was gone as soon as it had formed.Then his attention was back on the customer.
So he hadn’t run.He’d kept his word.
Damnit.
