“I won’t harm him, werewolf,” Xavier said, sounding amused.
“That’s not what you said five minutes ago,” Kit snipped.
“I was trying to de-escalate the situation. Now, both of you, hands.” Xavier tilted his head. “Or paw, I suppose, in the werewolf’s case.”
Roxy was doing the same with Conroy, Tati and Kezia, the last of whom was now looking less like an abused Barbie doll and more like someone that could stand on her own two feet again. Before submitting to Xavier’s request, Kit watched Roxy take blood from each of them, coating her knife that was the twin to Xavier’s blade.
“Hmm,” Xavier said, his nostrils flaring. “What’s that awful smell?”
Kit winced. “They shot Quin with silver.”
Xavier frowned, glancing at his knife and then at Quin. “Tainted blood will ruin the vow.”
“Are you able to heal him?” Kit asked hopefully.
“I suppose I must.”
Quin growled unhappily, but let Xavier come closer and placed an elegant hand on his flank. Kit braced himself, ready for Xavier to do anything other than what he’d promised. But all it took was a few uttered words and a flash of blue where Xavier’s sapphire ring glowed unnaturally bright. “All done,” he said, stepping back.
The grazes were still there when Kit inspected Quin, but the scent of his blood was back to its normal black pepper and cloves. “Does it feel better?” Kit asked.
Quin nodded to Kit, his massive head bobbing in a way that was so like how he did as a man that it made Kit smile fondly.
“Thank you,” Kit said to Xavier.
Xavier brandished his knife at them. “Vow time.”
A couple of quick slices later, and Kit was licking at the cut just above the pad of Quin’s paw. Kit didn’t care that the other vampires were looking at him with disgust—he was far too busy enjoying the taste of his werewolf.
Xavier went to meet with Roxy, and the two of them held the knives between their joined hands.
“From now on, none of you will do violence against each other,” Roxy said.
“What happens if one of us tries it?” Kit asked, wondering if he might have agreed to something he shouldn’t have.
Roxy smiled serenely. “Find out if you dare.”
Kit didn’t dare. The witches had the rest of them at their mercy. “We’re leaving,” Kit said. “Conroy, you can fuck off back to St Andrews.”
Without waiting for Conroy to retort, Kit jerked his head at Quin. They ran off together into the night, both of them limping and hurt, but more importantly, alive. As alive as Kit could be considered, anyway.
They spent their time until right before daybreak lying on a blanket that Quin had set up in their patch of forest. Quin’s larger body curled around Kit’s like a furry barrier to the outside world. Neither of them relaxed fully, but Kit was, for that moment, feeling safe once more.
FOURTEEN
Quin
Nerves filledQuin from top to toe. He’d not taken anyone on a date since Lark, and that had been so long ago that he no longer remembered what they’d even done. The events on the first night of the full moon compounded everything. Quin had to resist driving up to St Andrews the following day and tearing apart Conroy’s church—it was only the fear of what would happen if he broke the blood vow that stopped him. Kit had recovered well enough from his wounds, at least, and their last two nights as wolf and vampire had been relaxed to the point of being idyllic.
But Quin had still spent his days fretting over the feeling that they were doing things backwards. Fighting for your lives together was at least third date territory, he reckoned.
Quin was determined to get them back on track, but as he went to pick Kit up, he questioned every single decision that had led him to this moment.
He practised his calm breathing as he waited for Kit to come to the car. It got worse when he caught sight of Kit and saw that he’d dressed up.
Well, as much as Kit dressed up. He wore a blue chambray shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows and buttons undone to display the plain white T-shirt he wore underneath, with off-white jeans. Quin was glad he himself had opted for a nice shirt and fitted trousers—both in dark colours—as they complemented Kit’s choices.
Kit slid into the passenger seat, eyes trailing up and down the length of Quin’s body. Quin resisted the urge to squirm under the scrutiny.
