Fantastic. Now I have to track down one ancient leech and one reckless brunette.
I walk back to my bike, pushing it upright and checking it still works. Other than some scrapes on the left side, it’s intact.
Time to go check all of Stark’s known hideouts. I’m bound to find at least a clue somewhere.
I go to turn the key in the ignition but my phone rings at that exact moment, making me pause.
There is only one person who has this number, so getting a call means it’s important.
I accept the call, utter a single word, “yeah?”
A smooth female voice on the other end replies, and despite the heat from the nearby inferno still burning, my skin goes cold straight to the bone.
“The Night Reaper has been sighted. Sending coordinates.”
The line clicks, effectively ending the short conversation, but she didn’t need to say anything else.
If the Night Reaper has been seen, it means he’s planning an attack on another Guild Den, and more of my hunter brothers and sisters will die.
The choice vanishes.
I hate it.
But it does.
I turn the key on the bike, its loud rumbling a familiar anchor as cold purpose settles in my bones.
I rev the engine and take off, increasing my speed yet again, now more determined than ever to catch my brother’s killer.
Stark can babysit her for a few more hours.
If the ancient bloodsucker screws this up, I'll kill him later.
The bike roars beneath me as I twist the throttle harder.
The Night Reaper comes first.
Sorry, Beautiful.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
SHE’S GOT ME BY THE CHEESE STICK
Ideposit Casey on the couch and Bruno immediately circles him, a low growl in his chest.
One whistle, and I’m usually surrounded by canines, big and small. A fact I learned the hard way while attempting to surveil a certain violet-eyed girl at a dog park. I went in with a shelter dog as a prop and left with a pet.
Now the stubborn mutt is guarding a dying man, and I suppose he has his uses after all.
Bruno gives the human-almost-vampire a growl, then a sneeze, but Casey doesn’t move, the shift well underway and having taken its toll on his human body.
A cold stillness fills my gut as I take in how pale his skin has become. The skin around his closed eyes is sunken, papery, and his breaths are shallow whispers of the life he has left.
Stark’s orders were to keep her calm, not to make her panic. But looking at Casey’s waxy skin, I know he was wrong. Keepingher in the dark isn’t kindness. It’s a betrayal, and there’s more happening to Casey—more she has a right to know.
I’ve never disobeyed my Sire’s orders before, but Kallie is different.
She’s worthy. She’s special. She’s mine.
