“We’re not supposed to,” the other says through gritted fangs.
“Just one won’t hurt. She’s a malefica.” He licks his lips, salivating at the thought. With a sneer, he turns back to me. “I haven’t tasted a witch in half a century. I thought you all died out. What a lucky day for me.”
With no hesitation, he opens his mouth and brings his teeth down onto my neck. His fangs sink in, slicing open my flesh. He bites down hard, and my skin crunches under his teeth as it tears open. Pain radiates down my neck and I scream.
He moves on top of me, pinning me down with his body weight, and sucks at my neck for a second before taking his mouth off to lick the drips. Then he brings it back and sucks hard, pulling my blood out.
“Get off me!” I shout, doing everything I can to fight him, but he’s too strong.
He takes another mouthful of blood and turns to the vampire behind him. “There are other juicy veins. I’ll even let you take my favorite.”
“If I get my mouth that close to her pussy, there’s no way I’m stopping at just drinking blood. Move over.”
“No,” I cry when the other vamp closes in. “Get off me!” Suddenly, fire encases my hand and lights up the room. It takes both vamps off guard, giving me the half-second I need to yank one hand free from the grasp of the one holding me.
I go to press my hand into the face of the one who bit me , but he stops me, grabbing my wrist again. Though this time, he gets burned.
“What the fuck?” He recoils, cradling his hand, which looks like he just stuck it in a roaring fire—and held it there for several seconds. Scrambling up, I bring my left hand to my neck, holding it over the bite wound, and keep my right up in front of me. Neither vampire moves.
I can feel the energy leaving my body. Magic is as draining as the rapid loss of blood. I can’t hold onto this fire much longer. My heart races and the faster it beats the more blood drips from my wound.
“Fucking witches,” the other vampire sneers, and lunges for me. I hold my hand out and get him in the chest. His shirt catches fire and he madly flails at his chest to put it out. A handprint sears through the fabric and onto his skin. He looks down at it, then back at me, seething.
I back-step. I need to get into the living room and grab another wooden stake. Hell, I’ll throw the bowl of holy water at them if I have to. Stars spot my vision.Shit.My hand shakes, giving me a warning the flames are about to go out.
Turning, I sprint past the sitting room and into the living room, hoping to lose the vampires in the house if they were to follow me. I grab two wooden stakes and whirl around, expecting them to jump at me from behind.
But they don’t, and the house is silent. I’m panting, and when I bring my hand away from my neck, I see just how badly I’m bleeding. People are full of a startling amount of blood, and you can lose quite a bit before it becomes life-threatening.
The back door opens and slams shut, and the sound of heavy footfalls echoes through the kitchen. Shit. There are more of them. The magical fire has gone out now and my fingers prickle like my hand has fallen asleep. I plunge my hands in the holy water and splash more on my neck. It burns in the open wound. Not having time for pain, I inch out of the living room.
One lifeless vampire is left in the foyer. The front door has been shut but not locked. The other two are still in the house. They wouldn’t have shut the door if they’d gone out. Voices echo through the house. I turn my head to listen, picking up on three new male voices.
That makes five vampires.Don’t panic. Don’t panic.Don’t panic. I’ll get out of this. Somehow.
With a stake in each hand, I silently move up the stairs to use the balcony as a vantage point. There might be two injured vampires upstairs. There are for sure three uninjured vampires in the kitchen. I’ll take my chances upstairs.
Pausing on the landing, I hear the others.
“Fucking witch. Look at what that cunt did.”
They’re all downstairs. All five.
Five.
I slip into the master bedroom and shut the door as quietly as possible. I lean against it, tears filling my eyes. Exhaustion is hitting me hard. I shouldn’t have used magic, but what other choice did I have?
“Hello, Acelina.”
The voice in the dark makes me jump. I grip the stakes tighter in my hand, heart racing. The pretty blonde woman I saw in the car earlier saunters out of the shadows. She’s still wearing the hat but has lost the glasses. Her tight black dress hugs every curve of her body perfectly, and she carries herself with grace in her five-inch heels.
There’s no denying her beauty. One look at her is enough to make you fall in love with her or want to be her. Big, baby-blue eyes are perfectly lined in black, and her red lipstick is perfect. I’d hate her even if she wasn’t a vampire.
She closes a book, setting it on the dresser. It’s the grimoire. Relief washes over me. It’s here in the house. It hasn’t been lost forever.
“You’re the sire,” I say, straightening my back.
“Weren’t expecting a woman?” She clicks her tongue. “Such a shame, Ace. You seem like such a progressive female, with you being one of the few in your line of work and all.”
