“Who is that? Are they in Mexico City? I thought you said something about Ensenada.”

“Who runs Mexico is not important. Yes, Ivan runs things in Ensenada, and he’s the one who I’ll have to talk to if there’s a vampire ou hea vampit of control in Northern Mexico.”

“Ensenada’s only a few hours away. Shouldn’t he be taking care of something like a vampire on a rampage?”

He tried not to roll his eyes. “He should be. But Ivan often does what he wants. I’m curious how your friend got his name. She shouldn’t go talking to him. Can you persuade her to leave this alone?”

“Natalie?” Dez snorted. “Not likely. And she never mentioned his name to me, so I can’t warn her without making her even more curious.”

“You’re going to have to stall her.”

Now it was Dez who sounded exasperated. “Look, you don’t know this woman. She’s like a really friendly bulldog. If she gets her teeth into something, she’s not going to let go. And she has very little sense of self-preservation.”

He frowned, unaccountably irritated with the human reporter. “Is she stupid?”

“I thought you said you met her. Did she seem stupid to you?”

No, she seemed clever. Persistent, obviously. Funny. Tempting. He willed away the image of the reporter stumbling into her little house and immediately stripping off her dress before he could escape. The light dusting of freckles on her pale skin was scattered… everywhere. He cleared his throat. “No, she didn’t seem stupid, but she needs to stay away from Ivan. Other than his mistress, he has no regard for humans. They’re food and entertainment, that’s all.”

“Wow. He sounds like a peach.”

“She needs to stay off his radar, Dez. Give me some time to investigate this without having to worry that your friend is going to trip into something that will get her killed.”

“But, Baojia—” Dez sighed after Matt whispered something to her. “I’ll do what I can. I’ll try to distract her, but if she finds out, she’s going to be pissed.”

“Better pissed off than drained in the desert.”

“True,” Matt said. “And if there’s anything we can do on our end, let us know.”

“I will.” He wasn’t going to pass up that offer, not while he was stuck in San Diego. Matt Kirby could be a good ally in Los Angeles. “And Matt, I’d appreciate your discretion in all this, if that’s possible.”

In other words, don’t tell Vecchio.

A tentative alliance existed between Matt’s employer, Giovanni Vecchio, and Baojia’s sire, Ernesto Alvarez, mostly because Vecchio was married to Ernesto’s favorite granddaughter. But like most in-laws, there was tension. A vampire of Vecchio’s age and reputation didn’t exist in any city without tension. He was a fire vampire and a powerful one. It was only through Beatrice’s influence and her mate’s desire for a low profile that Giovanni and Ernesto could exist in the same city without killing each other. For Ernesto to look weak to Beatrice’s husband would tilt the alliance in Giovanni’s favor, which would throw off the delicate balance of power.

Matt heaved a sigh Baojia could hear from 120 miles away, even without the phone connection. “I swear vampires are like kids in high school some days.”

Baojia chuckled, knowing exactly what Matt meant. “Some of us act our age, human.”

“That’s because you’re the guy who has to clean shit up when things get messy.”

He smiled. Matt was human, but Baojia still considered him a peer, and a competent one at that. He’d tried for years to get Matt to work for him, but the human preferred his more low-key role underspay role the fire vampire’s aegis.

“We have to make sure Beatrice doesn’t hear about it,” Dez said. “She and Natalie were friends, too. If B hears that Natalie may be in trouble—”

“She and Gio will step in,” Matt added. “And if they step in—”

“I won’t have to worry about being stuck in San Diego anymore,” Baojia said. “Because Ernesto will kill me.”

“You said it, not me.”

“All right. Let me dig around down here.” He walked to the giant windows that looked over the water and crossed his arms. How was he going to poke around without raising Ivan’s ire? Or Ernesto’s? And why was he still concerned about that annoying human woman who had complicated his life? “Just distract your friend, Dez. However you can.”

“I’ll do my best,” Dez said as a baby cried in the background. He’d forgotten Matt had recently become a father. “I gotta go.” There was a slight pause. “Baojia?”

“Yes?”

“I know I’ve kind of made a mess of things, but Natalie’s a really great person. And she’s really dedicated to helping people with her work. Just… keep that in mind. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to her. If she gets in trouble, will you help her?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the weight of obligation she was thrusting on him. Damn woman. Once he was given a job, he was incapable of not seeing it through.

“Baojia, please.”

He shook his head in resignation. “I’ll do what I can to keep her safe.”

Shit, shit, shit. Why couldn’t he just say no?

“Thank you. I won’t forget it.”