“Quentin!”
He’d barely registered the sound of his name before a body slammed into him.
“I need to breathe,” he gasped.
“You’re safe, you’re safe,” his mother chanted.
Quentin gently pushed her back enough that he could see her face.Tears streamed down her cheeks, but her wide smile reassured him she wasn’t injured.“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She swiped at the tears on her cheeks with her palms.“She kept saying that her creatures would rip you apart and that your vampire wouldn’t be able to save you.”
“Shows what an idiot she was,” Jaks said.“Quentin can save himself.”
“I know.”She offered a watery smile.“But it’s a mother’s job to worry.”
“Where’s Nikko?”With the confrontation with the demon, he had forgotten about the vampire.
“Right here,” Glenn had a firm grip on Nikko’s arm.
The vampire didn’t look like he was working too hard to get away.
Jaks glared at the other vampire.“Nikko, I am bringing you to the vampire council to answer for your crimes.”
“What crimes?”Nikko affected a surprised expression.“Braed was the one who kidnapped Ms.Heart.The demon was the one who took over the dean and forced me to pressure Quentin to sell his house so it could control the ley lines.I was a victim and prisoner in my own home.”He waved a hand toward the probably haunted mansion.“Are you victim-blaming?I’d be happy to tell the council all about it.”
“What about Brenton?”
“He’s in my kitchen finishing a sandwich,” Nikko said smugly.
He was going to get out of it.Quentin could tell by the sly smile on Nikko’s face.
Pulling out his fire orb, he levitated it over the palm of his hand and ignited it.
Nikko froze.
“You might get away with it this time, but if you ever threaten my mother or any of my vampires again, I will show you what my invention can do.Do we understand each other?”
Nikko’s smirk vanished, and his face was convincingly sincere.“I promise not to get in your way, Quentin Heart.”
“Good.”
He let the ball fall dormant and put it back into his bag.“Then we’re done here.”It would’ve been a grand exit if he hadn’t stumbled into Jaks.
Jaks’s hungry leer set the world back on track for Quentin.“Glenn, why don’t you drop Nikko off with the council.We’ll meet you back at the mansion.”
“Uh-huh.Enjoy your victory celebration,” he said dryly.
“I’ll go with you,” his mother announced.“Then I’m going home for a shower.That place is disgusting inside.”
“Hey,” Nikko shouted.“It was better before all the stinky brimstone.”
“So you say.”His mother patted Nikko on the head like a puppy.“Maybe look into hiring a cleaning crew.”
With those words, she strolled off like the badass Quentin always knew she was.The twins followed her with starry-eyed gazes.
“What happened to Braed?”Quentin shouted after her.
“I kicked him in the privates and threw one of your orbs at him.”His mother shouted back as she continued her strut through the forest.“I don’t know where it went.Asshole shouldn’t have kidnapped me and hurt my son.”
