I gulped, feeling a little nauseous.
My nausea changed to fear as red eyes fixed on me. Power clamped around me like a vise. My breath shortened as it squeezed my ribs.
“Grand sire,” Connor hissed, attracting its attention.
There was an immediate sensation of relief as his power released me. I nearly fell forward, keeping my feet at the last second as I gulped down air.
There was something awkward in the way the vampire moved as he spun to face Connor. A jerkiness that reminded me of someone relearning how to control their body after a major event like a stroke or coma.
“Thomas will not be pleased if you continue this behavior,” Connor said carefully as he inched toward the other.
How he managed to move at all under the primal fear the vampire inspired was beyond me.
Base terror locked my muscles. An instinctive dread that stemmed from my hind brain. It was a fear so old it could be considered a genetic memory created at the dawn of time when man was crawling out of the primordial muck.
A warm weight settled against my leg. Its presence a bastion against the overwhelming dread. Alches let out a silent woof.
I must have made some sound of relief because the vampire’s attention snapped in my direction. He stared at Alches.
“You dare do this in my territory!” Dahlia’s hair lifted off her shoulders to float around her head.
Smoke streamed from the ceiling to circle her.
I didn’t need my other sight to feel power gathering.
There was a pop of air as the vampire abandoned his victim. I barely had time to process his retreat when a second pop came.
In dismay, I watched Connor streak after the vampire before I could stop him.
“Son of a—” I broke off to glare at the empty spot where my brother had just been. “What happened to acting as a team? So much for the concept of battle buddies.”
The redhead’s gurgles reminded me he was still alive and needed attention.
“Hold on, buddy.” I started toward him. “I’ll get you down from there as soon as possible. Everything is going to be okay.”
My promise tasted like a falsehood. No human could survive wounds like his. Not with that amount of blood loss. He didn’t smell supernatural either. The life contained in his blood was a good indicator, drawing out my dormant hunger.
Thanks to the blood I’d taken from Liam, it was easy to ignore the temptation of his vein as I grabbed a chair and dragged it under him.
I climbed onto it and reached up to remove the first piece of wood. Before I could touch him, flames roared to life. I got a face full of fire as heat seared my skin. Hot but not agonizing. I jerked back, the chair wobbling under me. With a yelp, I lost my balance and fell on my ass.
Caroline froze in the doorway to gape at the burning body nailed to the ceiling, Jenna’s arm slung over her neck. “Did that man spontaneously combust?”
“What happened to staying outside?”
“And leave you on your own against a possible monster? What kind of friend do you take me for?”
“The kind with common sense.” I crawled out from directly beneath the flames, finding my feet when I judged the distance safe enough.
Caroline was gentle as she lowered Jenna into a chair, even going so far as to lean my sister’s head against the table so there was less chance that she would fall. “I guess it’s a good thing Dahlia made you that drink.”
Yes, it was. Otherwise, the human wouldn’t have been the only crispy critter tonight.
“I like how your idea of help is to bring my unconscious and defenseless sister into a possibly dangerous situation.” I said, not wanting to think about the closeness of my brush with death or possible maiming.
“Would you prefer I leave her outside? By herself. Like you said, she’s defenseless.”
“You could have taken her and fled.”
