He’sfurious. I’ve never seen him so angry. Fangs down, eyes dark—he’s ready to kill both of them, and I’m not certain I can talk him down.
“Let her go!” the woman who has me pinned shouts, and I should take the opportunity while she’s distracted to slip out from between her and the wall with minimal fuss, but then I actually look at the woman Vlad is holding and, well…
Fuck.
“Rachel?”
Vlad and the woman holding me both go still. Rachel—mycousinRachel, Rachel who I grew up with, who was my best friend until we were like fifteen years old—pales.
“You know him?” the woman holding me asks. Her voice shakes, disbelief colouring it. “How do you…?”
Rachel shakes her head. She’s not even glanced at Vlad. She’s just staring at me, eyes wide like she can’t quite believe it. I mean, I guess that makes sense. Guilt floods my cheeks with heat. I didn’t ever exactly let anyone know what had happened to me. All they found was the car and—
“Grant,” Vlad says. “We need to leave.”
I wave a vague hand at the woman still holding on to me, who bares her teeth and digs the makeshift stake further into my chest. Fucking ow. I fight the urge to rub my temples. We do need to get away from here. I don’t think Jakob will have sent his bodyguard or anyone after me, but what if hehas?
“Okay, look, we’ll go,” I say. “We were going.”
“Out of the city?” the woman asks.
“No.”
She digs the stake in again, and this time I growl. Just a little bit. Her eyes widen, and Rachel jerks in Vlad’s grip. “Margot,” she murmurs, and fuck, I don’t want either of them scared of me, but we’ve got a good reason to be here.
“Let him go or say goodbye to your friend,” Vlad growls. Fuck, he’s serious.
“I’ll stake him,” Margot replies. She’s serious, too. Honestly, if not for the situation, I’d be impressed. She’s absolutely ready to stare Vlad down, and that takes a lot. Supposedly. It’s never really been a problem for me.
Still. Someone needs to interject and apparently, I’m the only one who has their head on right at the moment. “Okay, so, let’s take a minute. Vlad, could you let go of Rachel, please?”
He growls, low and dangerous. “Not until there is no stake aimed at your heart.”
Oh, I really don’t want bloodshed today. Not so close to a club where vampires are hanging out. I move quickly, grabbing the hand Margot has wrapped around the stake, and my power lashes out, just a little, shocking her so she drops the stake in surprise.
I move instantly out of her grip, vampire speed having me a few feet away in a second. She snatches up the stake a second later and I raise my hands in supplication, never looking away from her. “Vlad?”
He growls again but pushes Rachel away before he moves in front of me. I scowl, ducking to look around him.
“This is not helpful.”
“She tried to kill you.”
He is… single-minded right now in a way I’ve barely seen. I curl one hand into the back of his shirt and press up against him. I don’t mean to, but as soon as our bodies touch, some of the tension leeches out of me. Vlad’s growl, this time, sounds almost confused.
“You’re a vampire,” Rachel says. She’s looking at me, still pale.
“Yeah,” I reply.
“You—” Tears well up in her eyes and she turns towards Margot, who is still eyeing us with no little suspicion. “What are youdoinghere then? We held your fucking funeral! And you just come back to—”
“We can’t talk about it here,” I say.
“Grant,” Vlad warns.
“We need to do something.” It’s not usual for humans to know about vampires. Rachel certainly isn’t a hunter, and Margot isn’t any kind of professional if she is, because why bring a human along on your vampire hunt?
Besides, they might know something about the fae. Clearly, they’ve been keeping an eye on Jakob’s club.
