“Did you understand what I said?” Her anger spiked. “I am telling you, I’ve made a breakthrough. I know how the virus is replicating. How it’s able to affect immortal blood. I mean, I think I do. I need your help to understand…” She sighed, frustrated. “I need your help, okay?”

Another long pause. “If that’s the case, then Ruben will be able to—”

“I don’t want to talk to your damn assistant, Lucien! Not even the vampire one. I need to speak to you. I know we barely tolerate each other, but if you can’t hear me out on this, then stop pretending you’re a scientist interested in the truth.”

His voice when it came back was acid. “If you have something to share, drive out here and speak to me in person. I am busy.”

The line went silent, and Makeda threw her phone on the couch, where it buried itself between the colorful cushions her sister had made to remind her of home.

“Lucien, you are an utter and complete jackass!” A knock at the door. Makeda strode over and threw it open. “What?”

Philip stood with his hand raised, eyes wide, and mouth gaping. “S-sorry?”

She tried to get ahold of her temper. “Philip. No. I’m… sorry. I’m pissed off at a work colleague and he just hung up on me. Is there…” She took a breath. “Hi. Why are you here?”

He held up a bottle of wine. “I finished a project. Kind of in the mood to celebrate and I saw your light, so I figured you might want to share this with me.” He held up a hand. “But that’s okay. I mean, I don’t want to intrude if it’s not a good time.”

She had tugged at her hair until it stood up under her hands. She probably looked like a mad scientist in the horror stories. “I’m sorry, but I think I need to drive out to the lab.”

Philip turned his head with a frown, looking at the deluge. “In this? You can’t be serious. It’s pouring. And those roads going north are—”

“I know. I know. But I think I finally have a handle on the root of the problem I’ve been working on, and I just need… I need to get it down. Talk it out, you know? Hash it out with this guy because he’s got the other half of the puzzle, if that makes sense.” She let out a frustrated breath and looked down at the pajama pants she was wearing. “And I probably don’t need to go out to the lab looking like this.”

“Here.” Philip took a step inside the door and set the wine down on the entry table before he put his hands on her shoulders. “We’ll save the wine for later. If you have to go, go. But why don’t you borrow my car? It’s four-wheel drive. It’ll be a lot easier to navigate that mud if you’re determined to go. No way is your hybrid going to make it out to the cliffs.”

She looked over his shoulder. Philip was probably right. Her little car would get stuck on the muddy gravel road, but the Wrangler he took off-roading would be fine. “Are you sure?”

“Totally sure. I’m not going anywhere tomorrow anyway. You go get ready and I’ll put the top on the Jeep, make you a cup of coffee. Just head across the street when you’re ready.”

Helpful smile. Sweet man. Why couldn’t she be tempted by her generous neighbor instead of the irascible vampire?

Wait. Not that she was tempted by… No. That was ridiculous. Lucien just made her blood boil because he was an incredible and brilliant jackass.

“Thanks, Philip.” She patted his arm. “I… Thanks. I’ll take the offer and owe you a bottle of wine. Let me get dressed and I’ll be right over.”

He glanced over her shoulder. “Stove off? I can smell you were cooking something.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Thanks. I’m so distracted right now.”

“I can tell!” He grinned. “Must be some breakthrough.”

“It is. I think—I’m pretty sure—it’s the breakthrough, you know?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “That’s fantastic!”

Taking the old Jeep was a good choice, Makeda thought as she bumped along the gravel road leading toward the lab. Even though it was a manual transmission, which she wasn’t overly comfortable with, just the weight of the vehicle was helping keep her on the road. It was a few miles out of town before she turned off on the cliff road and immediately felt the buffet of wind hit her sideways. She climbed the hill leading from the highway and carefully took the turns, downshifting as she crawled along the muddy road.

Jackass.

She didn’t need to be out in this weather. Lucien could have talked it over with her on the phone. Sure, they avoided using the phones for sensitive information, but the reality was, even if someone was listening in, approximately 0.001 percent of the population—human or immortal—would have understood the conversation to begin with.

“Whoa.” She downshifted and jerked the car to avoid a deep pothole. “Stop thinking about the stubborn vampire, Makeda.”

Honestly, would it have killed him to just bend a little? And yes, she found his focus somewhat attractive. She couldn’t deny that. She’d always been drawn to genius of any kind, and Lucien’s was a burning fire kind of genius. His passion for the human body and its intricacies was akin to that of an artist. She’d once overheard him dictate analysis on a blood sample to an assistant with the same tone as a poet describing a lover’s body. The young assistant had been flushed when she left his office, and Makeda couldn’t blame her.