The breath gushed out of my lungs as impossibly strong arms of coiled muscle carried me to the very back of the room and into the hallway leading to the restrooms. People crowded in after us as the blast torethrough the room, pushing out a concussion of air.
I finally got my breath back as the noise receded, not easy when a stone of a vampire was pinning me to the wall.
“Really, Darius?” I asked in a dry voice. “I could have prevented that.”
His hard body peeled away from mine enough so he could look down on my face. I’d probably have a few bruises from that “rescue.” He needed to start wearing padded clothes if he planned to keep this up.
People around us were slowly unfurling from their crouches, taking their hands away from their heads. They had clearly been expecting a huge blast. Thankfully, that mage hadn’t had the power to pull it off.
“I tried to prevent this reaction,” he said, stepping away. Not far enough, though. His hands lingered on my hips. He shook his head, small movements, and confusion drew a crease between his brows. “I’m not sure feeding can unseat this, Reagan. It has gone deeper than that. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
He sounded lost. Dare I say vulnerable? I was pretty sure those emotions were mostly foreign to him in his stage of immortality. Yet here he was, admitting them to me in a soft though urgent voice.
I patted his arm. “We’ll get you that blood and see if it goes away. Hopefully it does, for both of our sakes. Because you are cutting into my cool points by savingme.”
“Saving a human also cuts into my cool points, I assure you.”
“I’m back to being a human in your eyes, am I? Wow. You must really hate emotion.”
“Fear for your survival is distracting.”
“There he is—the vampire who stole my mark.” I pushed past him and exited the hall. People were checking on each other, speaking in hushed voices. The scream of sirens sounded outside the bar. The woman who’d detonated the spell lay on the ground, not moving. She’d gotten her just dessert. Beard had rolled to the side and was clasping his head. Mustache was gone.
“Where the hell did you go?” Callie demanded, rushing over to me. She checked over my face and then shifted her gaze down my body. “I didn’t think you’d need to get cover. Are you okay?”
“Darius to the rescue.” I shooed her away. “I’m fine. Is Dizzy okay?”
“Darius to the rescue?” Callie eyed Darius suspiciously.
“I’m okay,” Dizzy said, hurrying from the bar. The bartender was on the phone. “We were prepared. They were lackluster bullies, at best. Just mad they didn’t have enough know-how to get into therealguild. We’ve seen a few of those in our time. Anyway, we need to get outof here. He’s going to say it was a terrorist, but their mage friends might form a posse.”
“Screw their friends,” Callie and I said at the same time. She grinned at me as I laughed.
“But yes, let’s go. I don’t want to be seen at this crime scene any more than I did at the first one.” I looked back toward the bathrooms. “Let’s use the back door.”
“What was the first crime scene?” Callie asked.
“I’ll explain later. C’mon.” I ushered them along as the first policemen walked through the door. More than a few people rushed out the back door with us.
“What now?” Callie asked as we hurried along the alleyway.
“Tonight we need to get back to the hotel, but tomorrow we’ll find one or more of the mages responsible for summoning the demon and squeeze the information out of him or her. I’m tired of playing this game. These last two days have seemed like a week. It’s time to end it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Istepped out of the shower and glanced through the opened sliding doors at the windows. Blackness still coated the sky, barely allowing a few points of light for tenacious stars that would not be conquered.
I crossed into the bed area. The clock read 4:53. Soon streaks of light would cut through the night, warning of the approach of daylight.
A bottle of whiskey sat on the small table near the couch at the front of the suite. Darius must’ve brought it in while I was in the shower. The note said,Get as drunk as you need to.
I smiled. He was a vampire, which implied a certain level of selfishness, but when he let himself, he was a damned good guy as well. One who paid attention, and remembered the little things.
“Careful, Reagan,” I said softly, tying the towel above the swell of my breasts. If anywhere on a mostly flat chest could be called a swell. “This is how it always starts. They’re wily, these vampires. They’ve had hundreds of years to charm their way intobloodstreams.”
I poured myself some whiskey and closed my eyes after it hit my taste buds. Darius always bought the best.
I checked my phone as I thought about my options for pajamas. They were sparse, since I mostly slept in one overworked and under-washed tank top and my undies. I did have some yoga pants and a loose T-shirt, so I supposed those would have to do. This wasn’t the right kind of battle for leather.
