Devil's Cut: Immortal Keeper Vampire Paranormal Romance Series

by L. A. McGinnis

  Hours later, I was still trying to explain it to him. “I can’t stay here, Forge,” I said, for what felt like the hundredth time. “I have a life. I have to go to work.”

  If it was possible, his face was darker than I’d ever seen it. He’d given up arguing with me an hour ago, so now I was basically explaining over and over why I couldn’t possibly live here with him while he glowered at me.

  For the freaking hundredth time.

  “Have the car brought around—or whatever—and take me home.” I had my bag in a death grip and was seriously frustrated. “Let me out of here, Forge.”

  If I didn’t see the faint rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought he was a statue. One minute he was unmoving, the next, he was right beside me, hand wrapped around my arm.

  With those unsettling eyes boring into mine, he asked, “What will you do if the Elder comes after you?”

  My lower lip snuck between my teeth before I settled my face so Forge couldn’t read my emotions. Not that he’d be able to, since my emotions were all over the place right now. Forge was offering me safety, but safety with Forge presented several problems. Not the least of which was that I wasn’t looking at Forge like a mentor or a patron or even a friend. Somewhere around that table filled with vampires, he’d become something more.

  Somehow, that scared me more than facing the Elder on my own.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said, feeling anything but. “You won, right? It’s over?”

  “If he does come after you, Selena, there will be casualties. In fact, the Elder enjoys killing more than is natural, even for a vampire. People could get hurt. People you love.” His eyes softened. “Stay here. Let me keep you safe.”

  “Way to lay on the emotional blackmail, and a slightly over-the-top warning, Forge.” I sighed. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t want anyone to get hurt on my behalf. But even if I do stay here, the distillery is non-negotiable. I have to go in and work. Even though you bailed us out, there are still things to take care of, and we have to get ready to make the next batch.”

  His warm eyes and his speech about keeping me safe were doing weird things to my insides. Getting my way on work would at least mean I didn’t have to be around him twenty-four seven.

  He inclined his head. “That is acceptable.”

  And that was how Forge and I became roommates.

  21

  The tightness in my chest loosened as Selena agreed to stay here, where I could protect her. While I doubted the Elder would personally attack me, since we’d enacted the blood oath, he’d been looking too closely at Selena. I didn’t trust that bastard, nor the rest of my power-hungry clan. They were too ruthless for me to turn my back on, which was why I had to keep her with me.

  But most importantly, I had to win back her trust. I’d broken it, but I hoped having her here would give me time to do just that. To prove to her I was not only honorable, but she could rely on me without question.

  “I’ll show you to your room,” I said. Temper flared in her eyes, then flickered out just as quickly. She was tired, confused and angry. I wasn’t thinking too clearly myself. Right now, she was my only concern, but I didn’t know how to wipe away the past twenty-four hours.

  I didn’t know if I wanted to. Having her see me in my most natural state—however violent—had satisfied the most male part of me. When I’d transformed in the car, there had been a definite flicker of interest in her eyes, as well as a burst of heat.

  The faint brush of her lips against mine had ignited something primitive inside of me, something that was getting stronger by the hour.

  I gestured to her door, realizing too late that I hadn’t said a word the entire way up here. She waited indecisively, looking between me and the door, so I pushed it open. This room had been unused, but it was on the same wing as mine, in case the Elder—or anyone else—got through my security.

  I wasn’t going to spook Selena by telling her that, but then I changed my mind. Concealment and lies had gotten us nowhere, so it was time to change tactics. “I’m on this wing as well,” I said. She drew in a breath, as if she was going to argue, but stopped herself. “If anyone attempts to hurt you, I’m right next door,” I explained, even though this wasn’t the real reason I wanted her close. “The other wing of the house is in some disrepair, as it hasn’t been open for a long time. I managed to get this room renovated in time for our return.”

  “You knew we’d return?” she said, shaking her head. “I wasn’t sure that was a given.”

  “Have a little faith in me, Selena. I won’t allow anything to happen to you.”

  She gave me a quizzical look before she drifted into the room, holding her bag tightly. The room was adequately prepared, light and clean, which was all that was necessary. I suddenly wished the carpets were deeper, and the comforter warmer as she ran her fingers over everything while circling the room slowly.

  “This is beautiful.” I barely caught the words, muttered as they were, but the look on her face was reverent. “You got this ready for me? Knowing we’d be back?”

  “Of course,” I said impatiently. “While I hoped your abilities would escape the Elder’s detection, I also prepared for the possibility he’d discern what you were.” I gestured to a pile of boxes and the clothes over the chair. “I took the liberty of having some of your belongings brought over.”

  That brought a sour look to her face, and she gave me the evil eye, but the Elder may have someone watching her house, and eliminating all possible threats took preplanning. I didn’t have time to ask permission.

  “Let’s talk terms,” Selena said, bouncing nervously on the edge of the bed. “So there’s no confusion.”

  “Such as?” I knew what her terms were going to be, but for once, Selena was not going to get her way. Not entirely.

  “I drive myself to and from the distillery every single day. I can go anywhere on the property, and I stay until I’m done.” By the end, her head had taken on a stubborn tilt, her eyes flashing.

  I nodded. “We will make that work.”

  She blinked and stroked the blanket beneath her, clearly unsure how to handle things after I’d agreed so readily. Her safety was important, but so was her happiness. Cooping her up would do no one any good, and she’d only resent me more than she already did. If we were to make any progress, she had to trust me. Which meant I had to tell her the truth.

  “Of course, it occurred to me I’ve been an absentee partner.” I smiled at her, and her eyes went straight to my fangs. “An oversight I mean to correct. Which means you can spend tomorrow showing me around the distillery.”

  I suppressed my chuckle at the look of horror that came over her face.

  “Including my office, since, from now on, we’ll be working closely together, Miss Langston.”

  22

  Any other time, sleeping in a gorgeous room outfitted with exquisite antiques and super-plush bedding would have thrilled me. There was something decadent about silky, clean sheets that I just loved.

  But tonight, it was all I could do to sort through the clothes he’d had brought over, setting aside work clothes versus casual clothes. A baggy sweatshirt in my hand, I stood there for a minute, wondering what Forge and I would ever do that was casual, finally deciding to cross that bridge another time.

  Sleep eluded me, as I spent most of the night stewing, dropping my shield and hoping Forge heard every single word. He’d been pulling the strings all along, and it irked me. He’d lied to me, then proceeded to manipulate me yet again into staying. Now I was fuming, and replaying everything in my head over and over. Whatever temporary fondness I’d developed for Forge was long gone.

  When my alarm dinged, I rubbed the sand from my eyes and stumbled to the bathroom, praying there were clean towels. I needn’t have bothered. Forge had everything set out, toiletries—the extravagant sort I’d never buy—mirrors, brushes and a dizzying assortment of makeup and lotions. As if he didn’t know what to get, so he just bought everything
at the store.

  Best of all was the stack of fluffy towels.

  I gathered my dripping hair into a band, ruing the fact it would be huge by lunchtime, a big, blond, bushy mess on top of my head. But I didn’t have time to blow-dry it and get to the distillery on time. Emerson had already called three times this morning, and I’d let them all go to voicemail. I didn’t know what to say to him right now, when I still had Forge to deal with this morning.

  Forge and his crazy notion to go to work with me.

  I tugged my collar into place, then slipped the pendant beneath my shirt. All anyone could see was the chain, which was…a good thing? Since enemies and allies would look the same to me, concealing it made the most sense. At least until I figured out the rules.

  I was headed for the front door, no intention at all of gathering up Forge, when the rustle of paper stopped me in my tracks.

  “Good morning, Miss Langston.”

  My mouth went dry. Like middle-of-the-desert dry.

  He was dressed in a sleek, dark blue suit, the slight stretch of the wool accentuating the width of his shoulders. When he set the paper aside and rose, it was as if he was a flag unfurling, the white shirt and bright red tie complementing his paleness, the dark hair and eyes. In short, Bastian Forge in a suit was devastating.

  “You were serious,” I said, wondering how this would go over in a company where he’d become something of a legend. People would certainly have something to talk about today.

  “Deadly serious, Miss Langston.”

  “Forge…”

  “Mr. Forge, if you please,” he said, his voice pleasant, almost playful. “We will be working together, and I assume familiarity in the workplace is still frowned upon?”

  “Okay, I agree. If we’re going to do this, Miss Langston and Mr. Forge will work.”

  “Oh, this will work.”

  I did a double take. Was Forge making a joke?

  Then all I saw was the brand-new Land Rover as it rolled up to the door. The driver and Forge exchanged a few words, then Forge climbed into the passenger seat and looked at me expectantly. Cursing, I made my way to the driver’s side.

  “Where is my car, Forge?”

  “Mr. Forge,” he corrected me.

  “When I said I would drive myself to work,” I said, holding the wheel in a death grip, “I meant my car. Not this”—I looked at the dashboard, completely thrown off my snark game—“marvel of technology,” I finished lamely, noting the speedometer went up to one hundred and fifty. Yes, I would drive Forge’s manipulative ass to work today and see what kind of a backseat driver he was.

  Twenty minutes later—record time—we pulled into the employee parking lot at Langston-Forge. The lot was behind warehouse number four, and somewhere beneath the gravel was the old asphalt, but I still had the same parking spot I’d used since I turned sixteen and started coming to work.

  The tires slid before grabbing, and it was totally worth almost hitting the chain-link fence just to see a flash of dismay cross Forge’s face as I skidded to a stop, right in the center of my spot.

  That expression might just be worth driving him to work every day.

  “We’re here,” I said brightly as he glowered at me. “Have a great first day at work, darling.”

  I’d totally meant it as a joke, but something cut through his scowl when I said it. Almost a look of pleasure, which I totally ignored. I’d really have to watch my snark game around Forge, which was definitely going to be hard, if not impossible. Feeling somewhat better, I slammed my door and headed for the main building.

  “We can begin the day by you showing me to my office, Miss Langston.”

  I should have known I wasn’t going to shake him that easily, but surely he wasn’t planning to stick with me all day? We did a quick circuit of the warehouses, since they were the closest, then headed back to the main building.

  “I remember when Ambrose built this building,” Forge…Mr. Forge…murmured as I set my hand on the heavy outside door to push it open.

  “That’s the sort of thing you’re going to want to keep to yourself,” I told him. “Otherwise, you’re in for an interesting day.” We wound through the main floor, then down the steps to the basement, knots of employees gathering in our wake, the whispers deafening. “I’ll have the office across from me cleaned out for you today. That way you can get set up.” I had no idea what, if anything, Forge was going to set up, but if he had his own space, then maybe he wouldn’t be hovering around me all day.

  We’d almost made it to my office when Emerson Holloway stepped through my door into the hallway. I made a mental note to have him give me poker lessons, as a faint look of surprise wrinkled his forehead before he quickly smoothed his face out and offered his hand to Forge.

  “Mr. Forge. A pleasure. Is Selena showing you around today?”

  Emerson always struck the perfect balance. Polite, yet requiring an answer.

  “She is.” Forge’s gaze seemed to fall on everything at once. Me, Holloway, the office he’d exited from. “I’ve decided to take a more active role in the company.”

  Now Emerson didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “Is that so?” Only I heard the slightly bitter note undercutting his politeness. “We will need to notify the board.” His gaze cut to me. I could already hear him warning me again about taking the money from Forge. But neither could I explain to Emerson why, exactly, Forge was here. Nor my newly discovered abilities. Not if I wanted to continue running this company. If my near-dismissal from the board had taught me one thing, it was that appearances counted.

  Since both my sex and my youth counted against me already, I couldn’t afford anyone to doubt my sanity.

  “Mr. Forge expressed interest in learning the whisky business,” I explained. “As he was gracious enough to bail the company out when we most needed it, I thought I should return the favor and show him what we do here.”

  Emerson was looking at me like he’d never seen me before.

  “Besides, his name is on the building. Are you really going to tell him no?”

  “Of course not,” Emerson immediately replied. “It’s just a shock, after all this time. Selena’s right, of course. Make yourself at home and let her show you around. She knows more about this place than anyone else.”

  The day spun by at a dizzying speed. Even though I had piles of backlogged work to catch up on, Forge expected me to show him everything along the way. Between his curiosity and my three-day absence, it was almost seven before I realized how exhausted I was.

  Of course, had I actually slept last night, things would have been different, but I swayed slightly on my feet as I took Forge’s picture down off my wall. It was my final task of the day, since it seemed beyond weird to have it hanging in here, while the vampire himself was in an office right across the hall. I would have taken it down first thing, but he’d already seen it. Awkward.

  I pushed it behind the file cabinets before I pulled my door closed for the night. Forge was waiting outside in the hall, staying a few steps behind me as we wound our way through the old building, then outside.

  “It’s interesting,” Forge said as we made our way between two of the warehouses toward the parking lot. “You haven’t really changed anything in the main building.”

  “We moved the offices to the basement to make space for a conference room, and a tasting room for tourists, of course. There’s been talk of expanding that, but yeah, it’s pretty much the same as when Ambrose built it. A few new roofs and modern upgrades, but it’s served us well for years.” I unlocked the vehicle, shuddering at how much it must have cost, and climbed in.

  When Forge was buckled in beside me, he commented, “It felt good to be back there.” I thought I detected a note of regret in that statement.

  “Your distillery in Scotland. How long had it been since you’d visited?”

  “Quite a few years. I hardly even recognized the driver, it had been that long. But it felt good. As if I’d gone home, if onl
y for a short time.”

  “You meant what you said about staying in America?”

  “I did.” He shook his head. “It’s a balancing act, staying alive in my world. One of the best ways to ensure a long life as a vampire is to put as much distance between yourself and other vampires as you can.”

  While that didn’t seem like a solid long-term plan, I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t know anything about vampires, anyway.

  “When the telephone was invented, it became significantly easier to communicate. And now…” He brandished his cell phone. “Push of a button, and it’s almost like being there.”

  “But not really.” I backed out of the spot, skirting a large delivery truck coming in.

  “No, not really. But it’s the best I can hope for, given the circumstances.”

  “What would it take for you to go back? Permanently?”

  “Trying to get rid of me so soon, Miss Langston?”

  “Not trying at all. I’m just curious. The dynamics between everyone at the meeting…they were very similar to human interactions.” Without all the blood and gore. “It stands to reason you’d like to return to Scotland, and something is preventing that. What would it take for you to go home?”

  “The Elder would have to die and the rest of the clan would have to swear loyalty to me, which I don’t want. Which means my return will never happen.”

  “Why not? You’d be a better leader than that desiccated old fool.”

  Forge smiled faintly. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. I don’t want it. I don’t want any part of the shitshow that is my old clan. They live by antiquated rules. Rules I’d be obligated to enforce, if I were in charge. No thank you. Besides, the Elder will never forget. Not that I killed his offspring, nor that I escaped his judgment.”

  God, and I thought humans knew how to hold a grudge. I couldn’t imagine how long vampires could. Probably forever.