Avery hadn’t allowed him to end her father, but this vampire was about to get her head ripped off.
He leaned in close, wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed. He didn’t care that he was in public, didn’t care about anything but taking away Avery’s agony.
The vampire gave him a smile she probably thought was seductive. “So you do have good taste after all,” she purred.
He tightened his grip as he leaned close to her ear. “You are going to want to be quiet now. You’re simply going to listen to everything I say, you stupid little vampire.” His words were subvocal, so only she could hear him.
A trickle of fear intermingled with her lust. Good. His dragon half was ready to burst out, take out this threat with fire and destruction, and destroy the whole damn bar, but he kept his control.
Barely.
“It would be nothing for me to rip out your jugular right now. Or drag you into the parking lot and burn you alive. You will turn to ash under my fire, as if you never existed at all.”
He let his dragon flare in his gaze now, his beast wanting to do just that, to stop this vampire who had caused Avery even an ounce of pain.
“I am thousands of years old. I know ways to torture that you cannot even imagine.” A solid truth she heard in his words if her jerk of fear was any indication.
She was breathing hard now, not from lust either. She hadn’t tried to yank away, very likely her fight-or-flight instinct telling her to be very, very still or the predator with his hand on her throat would end her life.
“I could drag you into the mountains, shackle you in a cave and torture you for decades for what you’ve done to Avery. Make sure you receive the barest hint of blood so you won’t die. Just exist in pain. Give me one reason why I should not.”
The stench of her fear was acute now, overpowering him and his beast. He did not like weak bullies.
“This necklace,” she whispered. “Take it, give it to her.”
He stilled in surprise. “Why do I care about a necklace?”
“It was her mother’s,” the vampire rasped out, from fear or because he was squeezing her throat so tight she could barely talk, he wasn’t certain.
With his free hand he opened the clasp and grasped the necklace lightning quick before it fell. “You will leave New Orleans—”
“What?”
“You will leave this city and never come back. You have two days to pack your things and find a new place to live.” He wasn’t the Alpha, didn’t have that authority. But he didn’t care. This female was leaving.
“That’s not—”
“I told you to be quiet. If you are smart, Avery better never see your face again. Or I will do everything I said I would. And worse. Do you have anything else of hers?”
There was a long pause, then she tried to nod but could barely move her head at this point. Thankfully no one was paying any attention to them. He’d already waved the bartender off and everyone else was all huddled up in their own conversations, not worrying about the two of them.
He glanced over his shoulder, looking for Avery. He wanted this done before she returned. “What is it?”
“Just some jewelry.”
“You will bring them back to me. And if I have to hunt you down, you won’t like what happens.” His dragon was still in his eyes, watching her.
The acrid stench of her fear intensified but she nodded. “Give me half an hour,” she whispered. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
“Good.” He released her and she practically sprinted from the bar, stumbling in her skinny heels.
His beast wanted to hunt her down, fillet her alive, do all the things that Avery would look at him in disgust for. He was not a good male, not the right type of male for her, but it didn’t matter to his dragon. He would do anything to keep her safe, to make sure she was happy. And if that stupid vampire didn’t listen to him, well…he might eat her as a snack. His dragon rumbled an agreement in his head. With barbecue sauce.
He’d recently discovered barbecue sauce and his dragon half was now obsessed with it.
He glanced around the bar again, looking for Avery. She’d been gone for too long. The place had gotten crowded in the last few minutes, with people caught up in their own conversations, and trying to wave down the lone bartender.
He slipped off his barstool and made his way through the crowd. It was easy enough. Most people moved to the side so it didn’t take long to make it to the little hallway where the bathrooms were. Avery should have come out by now. Maybe she was still upset.
He knocked once on the door. When there was no response, he opened the door. The lights were off and it was empty.
His dragon clawed at him, the foreign emotion of worry spiking inside him. He had never worried about anyone before Avery. He immediately called her, but she did not respond.
To his surprise he received a text from her.
I’ve gone to a friend’s house. Have fun with her. Then she included a red-faced, angry-looking…emoji, he thought the symbols were called.
Have fun with who? He frowned even as he realized what she meant. She must have seen him with the vampire and thought… Hell, she must have assumed the worst. He’d been whispering in the female’s ear, but only so no one would overhear his threats to kill and torture her.
Damn it.
He texted back. Where are you?
Avery didn’t respond.
He wasn’t going to wait or try to text her so he called her again, wanting to clear this up immediately. But it went straight to voicemail. He growled low in his throat as he stepped out into the parking lot.
He understood enough about these cell phones that he knew she’d turned her phone off. He inwardly cursed to himself. He had a feeling he knew where she’d gone at least, especially since she was on foot.
He wanted to rush after her, but he would wait to get the rest of her jewelry. Once he brought this treasure to her and explained everything, Avery would understand.
Twenty minutes later, which seemed to stretch on for an eternity, the vampire was back in the parking lot, a purple bag in her hand. She shoved it at him, her entire body trembling, the fear rolling off her pathetic.
She was a vampire, not completely weak. Yet she had no backbone.
“Everything is in here?” He didn’t bother looking inside. He would have no idea if all of Avery’s jewelry was inside or not.
“Yes. Everything.” She took a step back, her movements jerky.
“Good. Remember what I said? Tick tock. Two days,” he growled, his dragon watching her like the prey she was. Riel had taught him the phrase “tick tock” and it seemed to have the effect he wanted.
More likely, she was just terrified he’d burn her to death.
* * *
Mikael made his way up the long walkway to where he suspected Avery had gone—the mansion where the stupid lion lived. He’d tracked her scent and it was strong here.
The females who lived there were all right. He didn’t like most people, but they had always been kind to Avery. Before he’d made it to the front door, one of the redheaded tiger shifter twins dropped down seemingly out of nowhere in front of him, tall, lean and… She looked annoyed. At him.
She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression pulled into a scowl. “What are you doing here?”