Guild Hunter 01 - Angels' Blood

stuff at my place. Girly shit.”
    Which, she assumed, was as good as a marriage certificate to him. “And?”
    “And what?”
    Sensing that line of questioning would get her nowhere, she changed gears. “That’s your plan—to go out and find an easy lay?”
    “You’re the morality police now?”
    The shrug made her muscles protest, threatening to remind her of how she’d overstretched them in the first place. “Hey, none of my business if you and Nyree decide to find new bed partners.”
    His skin turned white over bone. “She lets any other fucker lay a hand on her, he’ll be singing soprano the rest of his miserable life.”
    “Maybe you should let Nyree know.” Elena decided that was about the limit of the advice she was capable of right then. It was time to return to the nightmare of her life. “Now get your cute butt up off there. We need to powwow with Sara.”
    “She’s on her way,” he told her, sprawling back on the bike with an easy grace that made most women drool. “When you called for a retrieval, she told me to haul ass and to make sure you stayed hidden until she knew what was going on.”
    Elena remembered what Sara had implied about spies in the Guild. Raphael’s spies. Her hands fisted. “I hate men.”
    Ransom sat back up, face absolutely expressionless. “What happened?”
    And she knew that if she told him, he’d be ready to go archangel hunting with her. She called him her sometimes-friend because they tended to fight half the time, but when push came to shove, Ransom would stand at her back. But this was a private war. “Personal stuff,” she answered, just as the elevator doors opened to reveal Sara.
    She strode out, a petite woman with skin the rich, melting color of cinnamon coffee and huge brown eyes set off by dark hair cut in thick, straight bangs and twisted up off her neck. Her tailored burgundy suit and white lace camisole screamed executive, but she had her feet perched on what looked like five-inch high heels. “You smell like you’ve been running a marathon,” was her greeting to Elena. “And you”—a glance at Ransom—“look like a reject from a biker show.”
    “Hey!” Ransom took offense. “I’ll have you know I’m a certified biker dude.”
    Sara ignored him to fix Elena with a gimlet eye. “Ellie, my darling, please explain to me why the office has been flooded with calls about, and I quote”—she crooked her fingers in the air—“a vicious vampire on the loose, a crazy knife-wielding maniac, and oh, this one’s my favorite—an assassin carrying a gun!”
    “I can explain.”
    Sara folded her arms and tapped one fashionably clad foot. “Explain why you flashed not only a knife but a gun? I hope to God you didn’t actually use either of them without authorization because if the VPA gets ahold of it, we’re screwed.”
    Elena rubbed the back of her neck. “Exigent circumstances. He was trying to make me his bed buddy. I declined. He gave chase.”
    Ransom choked back what sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Why did you say no? It’s been a dry spell of what, forever?”
    She threw him a dirty look before returning her gaze to Sara. “You know I’d never have considered using the gun otherwise.”
    Sara held up a hand. “How, exactly, did you ‘decline’ his offer?”
    “By slitting his throat.”
    The silence in the garage was broken only by the sound of water drip-dripping somewhere in the distance. Sara just stared. So did Ransom. Then the idiot male started laughing hysterically. He laughed so hard he fell off the bike and onto the scarred concrete of the garage floor. Even that didn’t stop him.
    Elena would’ve kicked him, except he’d probably use the chance to pull her down with him. “Shut up before I do the same to you.”
    He tried to stop laughing. Failed. “Jesus, Ellie. You are awesome!”
    “What you are,” Sara muttered, “is a magnet for trouble.”
    “I—” Elena started to defend herself.
    Sara held up her hand again and started counting off on her fingers. “Because of you, I have messages on my phone from the governor and the freaking President of the United States of America.” Down went one finger. “Because of you, half of New York now thinks there’s a wild vampire on the loose.” Another finger. “Because of you, I got three more gray hairs!”
    Elena grinned at the last. “I love you, too.”
    Shaking her head, Sara finally bridged the distance between them and hugged her with