Читать книгу A Vampire's Salvation - Alexis Morgan - Страница 7

“Cord!”

Livi caught him just before he took a header off the staircase. It was a struggle to stop his fall and keep her own balance. But thanks to her superior chancellor reflexes and strength, she managed to hold on to Cord’s limp body and the railing long enough for Ambrose to give her a hand.

They each took one of Cord’s arms and dragged him the remaining distance to the second floor. Luckily, his room was close by. They heaved him up onto the bed and then stepped back to catch their breath.

Ambrose gave her a narrow-eyed look. “He’d been holding up pretty well, all things considered. What did you say to him that sent him over the edge?”

She flinched under her boss’s scrutiny. “He asked me about the cabin. Turns out he didn’t know about his grandmother’s death. I figured his family and the bitch wouldn’t be bothered to tell him, but I thought the lawyers would have.”

“Maybe you should have kept that particular fact to yourself until he had time to get his head around being out of prison.”

At least Ambrose sounded more disgusted than truly angry when he added, “But then it was probably only a matter of time before it all overwhelmed him.”

She nodded her agreement. “Not to mention the prison had been feeding him only outdated blood for the gods know how long. There are laws regulating how much of that crap they can give the prisoners and how old it can be. It’s just one more thing I’ll be investigating once our boy here is completely in the clear.”

Her boss’s fangs flashed as he spoke, punctuating the anger in his voice. “Damn straight.”

Her own were on display, as well, making her wish she could be alone with that scum warden for five minutes. He’d think twice about mistreating someone like Cord again.

“Do you want help getting him out of those clothes?”

Ambrose shook his head. “I’ll take care of it. You go get some sleep. You’re going to need to be at your sharpest to deal with his clan. I can stay with him awhile to make sure he’s all right.”

“Okay. I’ll be next door if you need me for anything.” Or if Cord did. Especially if Cord did.

She wanted to be the one to stay, but couldn’t risk giving her boss any more reasons to suspect that her interest in Cord’s case was anything more than professional. The truth was she’d been fascinated by Cord Kilpatrick from the very beginning. Fresh out of training, she’d been one of the investigators on his case fifteen years before when he’d first been charged with murdering his business partner. Unlike the head investigator, Olivia hadn’t believed Cord was guilty even then, but hadn’t been able to prove any different.