Her fierce response comes back instantly.
‘I won’t have to because you’re not dying. We’re surviving this together. Or not at all.’
The certainty in those words settles something deep in my core.
She’s right.
We’re in this together now.
Blood Witch and Original.
Mates bound by magic and choice.
And Heaven help anyone who tries to tear us apart.
Because they’ll have to go through both of us.
And the entire Eternal Sins MC.
Good-fucking-luck.
Chapter Fourteen
SLOANE
The Next Morning
After calling into work and requesting some time off for ‘personal reasons,’ I make my way through the club compound. The training yard behind the clubhouse looks like it was designed by someone who understood that supernatural beings need space to break things without destroying the world.
Concrete stretches out in a wide expanse, cracked and stained from what I’m guessing are decades of magical mishaps and combat training gone wrong. Scorch marks char the walls in patterns that suggest dragon fire. Deep gouges score the ground where claws or something worse tore through stone. And in the corner, there’s what looks suspiciously like a blast crater someone tried to fill in but gave up halfway through.
“Homey,” I mutter, surveying the damage.
“It has character,” Hades says from behind me, his necromancer’s calm making even that statement sound ominous. He’s dressed in all black, and his pale skin practically glows in the early-morning light. “We’ve been meaning to renovate, but every time we fix something, someone blows it up again.”
“Usually Scorch,” Oracle adds, materializing beside us in a flutter of phoenix flames. His eyes are literally on fire this morning, which I’m learning is how he looks when he’s focused. “The dragon has impulse control issues.”
“I heard that!” Scorch’s voice echoes from somewhere inside the clubhouse, followed by a creative string of profanity.
I can’t help but smile. It’s been twelve hours since my awakening, since the Heart Bind locked me to Crave in ways I’mstill trying to understand, and already I’m learning the Eternal Sins MC runs on a mixture of deadly power and absolute chaos.
It’s kind of perfect.
A ripple of Crave moves through the bond, steady and grounding. He’s watching from the second-floor window of his rebuilt room, well, partially rebuilt due to Crave’s speed, because we destroyed it pretty thoroughly last night, and the warmth of his attention settles over me. Pride pulses through the connection, mixed with concern and his ever-present hunger that makes my blood sing.
Focus,I tell myself.You can think about jumping him again later.
Assuming I survive training.
“So.” I turn to face my teachers. Hades with his death magic, and Oracle with his phoenix fire. Two ancient beings who’ve agreed to teach a brand-new Blood Witch how not to accidentally kill everyone around her. “Tell me something, Crave can walk in the sunlight… what’s that about?”
Oracle and Hades both chuckle. “Don’t believe all those myths you hear, Sloane,” Oracle states.
“Garlic, crosses, none of that works on vampires, and theydefinitelydon’t sparkle. You should have heard Crave when that idea came out. He was outraged for months.” Hades grins widely at the memory.
I smile, glancing back to the window to see him still surveying us down below. “And the sunlight thing is all bullshit, too, then?”
Oracle tilts his head. “Yes and no… for the Originals, it doesn’t affect them at all. It’s just like it is for you and me. But for any newly turned vampire, it doesn’t burn as such, but it is uncomfortable in those first few weeks. Not intolerable, just an annoying ache that they eventually get used to and wear off with age. We think that’s where the myth came from, but as for flaming up in the sun, it’s a complete myth. Vampires can roamat any time of day. That’s why the Coven of Crows has such strict laws in place. Because breaking theLaw of Silenceand letting humans know about supernaturals in this day and age is so very dangerous. Humans can’t comprehend what they don’t understand, and this… the laws of magic, they don’t understand it, so they will try to banish it, or worse.”
