“What did she just say?”
An amused smirk blessed his features before he stood up. The stars seemed less enchanting now that I’d seen him.
“I think she called me a handsome stranger.”
“And fucking perfect. What a doll.”
Did I say that out loud?
“Sort of. Your words are botched, but we can pick up what you’re saying.”
Too bad I won’t get the chance to talk to you without choking on my own blood.
A beat of silence passed before the sexy man bun guy let out a string of curse words. “I don’t care if it’s banned. It’s our fault she’s like this. We botched tonight’s mission. We chased it into the fucking road, Blaise.”
Sexy man bun guy’s name is Thaddeus. How fitting. I wonder what this Blaise looks like.
“What about me? Don’t you want to know what Kai looks like?” the guy with the playful voice asked.
If you’re as hot as Thaddeus, hell yes.
A snort came from one of the guys before Thaddeus bent back down.
“You don’t see me arguing. Do it,” Blaise said.
“What about the prophecy? You know the implications of turning her, as much as I hate to say it because she’s so damn lush. We need to find the Crimson Demon,” Kai said.
What the fuck is that?
“We aren’t going to let her suffer from our mistake,” Thaddeus said before meeting my gaze. “This might hurt a bit, love.”
His eyes softened, and he moved his lips against my neck. His tongue darted out and licked a spot near my collarbone.
I sucked in a sharp, painful breath.Maybe now isn’t the best time to fool around, Thaddeus.
A chuckle came from somewhere in the distance. “I fancy her.”
“Seems like Thaddeus does too. It’s not like we haven’t indirectly killed innocents before. He never gave a toss until now.”
I’m losing my mind, but I’ll be dead soon anyway.
Thaddeus let out a low, inhuman growl before two pinpricks pierced the soft flesh of my neck, taking away the numbness from before.
I sucked in a gasp, gagging on metallic blood. Scorching heat radiated through my veins and swept me into a pit of engulfing despair. I couldn’t move a muscle to twitch let alone thrash. My body was too far gone.
I lost track of how long I suffered from the intense onslaught of pain before my eyesight blurred. The glittering stars streamed together into lines of vivid light before my vision went fuzzy and then completely faded.
My consciousness floated through an empty space filled with thick static. I wasn’t dead, but I didn’t think I was alive either. Throughout the inky space, my heartbeat slowed, a deafening echo pounded in my ears, alongside dwindling pleas for death to come.
Icy tendrils moved through my body, claiming me and draining away all feeling before the world went black.
TWO
The coppery bite of dried blood invaded my nostrils. Scrunching my nose up, I twitched my fingers, moving them along a satin fabric beneath me. Wherever I was, it was a hell of a lot more comfortable than cold, wet tar and broken glass.
Oh, fuck.
My brain flooded with snippets of what had happened: the weird animal on the road, the crash, my body breaking on the pavement, the voices with mesmerizing British accents, sexy man bun guy, and the blinding pain.
