by Sarah Piper
She picked her way through the carnage and stood before me, turning her blue eyes my way. In the span of thirty seconds I watched her age a hundred years.
“All of that is just knowledge in my head,” she said. “Monster or not, I’ve never actually killed anyone. I’ve always found another way.”
“There’s still another way, Gray. Let me—”
“No. I can’t keep letting everyone else clean up my messes. You fought for me, and I just… It’s time I… I have to do this.”
“But you don’t.”
“No. I really do.” She took the bloody bone saw from my hand, a brutal contrast against her pale skin, and approached the woman still lying unconscious on the floor. I listened to the beat of her heart—one, two, three, four, five—and then she took a breath and dropped to her knees, blade in hand, and began.
It was bloody, messy work, but Gray was determined to see it through. When she finally finished, the woman’s lolled to the side, her auburn braid glistening with dark blood, and Gray rose,
Working her way toward the vampire I’d staked, she said, “One down, one to go.”
I stopped her mid-step, prying the saw from her hands. “You’ve done enough for tonight, Gray. Truly.”
She held on for a moment, but eventually relented, heading for the sinks while I finished the job.
After scrubbing her hands raw for a full five minutes, she finally turned off the water and turned to me, wavering on her feet. “Darius? Something’s… off.”
I rushed forward on instinct, catching her just as she collapsed.
“Oh, Gray. It’s alright, love.” I scooped her into my arms and carried her out of that wretched place, away from the blood and destruction, away from the reminder of what she’d done. Pressing a kiss to her temple, I said, “We had no other choice. Don’t feel bad for this.”
“That’s the thing, D. I don’t feel bad.” Her voice was faint, her body trembling with exhaustion and leftover adrenaline. When she looked up at me again, her eyes were utterly flat. “I don’t feel anything.”
Twenty-Seven
Gray
“Jonesin’ for a caffeine hit?” I eyed Darius from the passenger seat of his custom Aston Martin Spitfire as he pulled in behind Luna’s, a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop at the edge of Hudson Marina.
We’d just dropped off Haley, who deserved a medal for keeping that guard distracted while Darius and I waited for his “people”—a group of shadowy vampires that arrived within minutes of his call and wordlessly swept into the morgue, cleaning up our mess and eradicating the evidence that tied us to the deaths of those bloodsucking fuckwaffles.
I’d lost the case files in the melee, but at the moment I didn’t think I could look at them again, anyway. Right now, all I could see was blood.
All I could smell, all I could feel, all I could taste was blood.
Murderer…
You did this to me.
Witch.
This is who you are.
I shook my head against the barrage of voices. No—it wasn’t who I was… Right?
No matter how I felt about magic, I could accept that I was a witch. I could even accept that I’d taken a vampire’s life in self-defense. But a person who killed another being without remorse? Without hesitation? Without… anything?
Was that really me?
Whether the vampire had deserved it, hers was the first life I’d ever snuffed out. Darius and I had cleaned up and changed clothes at Haley’s, but the woman’s blood was still caked under my fingernails.
I should be devastated. Or at least freaked out.
So why was I numb inside?
What the hell is wrong with me?
“I thought you could use a bit of normalcy after… everything.” Killing the engine, Darius leveled me with a piercing gaze, his eyes a bright gold contrast to the black button-down he’d changed into. While his body had quickly healed, the lovely cashmere sweater he’d worn earlier had not.
I already missed the soft feel of it against my cheek.
“I should’ve found a way to de-escalate the situation,” Darius said. “If I hadn’t attacked first—”
“They might’ve killed me. Case closed.” I turned away and looked out the window, trying to pick out the boats docked at the marina next door. From here they were no more than silhouettes bobbing on the water, moored until someone decided to set them free.
“I wouldn’t have let that happen, Gray. I won’t let that happen. Ever.” Darius laced his fingers through mine and squeezed, but more than his touch, the certainty in his voice sparked something inside me. I turned to face him again, searching his eyes across the dark, intimate space of the car.
“We’re connected,” he said softly. “I care for you. No matter the circumstances that led to our bond, that bond exists. I know you feel it, too.”
My heart rate kicked up in response, but something about his words stung, threatening to dampen my desire. “So this… whatever this is between us. It’s just because of the bond? Like some kind of magical… obligation?”
“Ah, love.” He brought my hand to his mouth, lips brushing my palm. “If you think that’s all this is, you are sorely mistaken.”
He grazed the skin inside my wrist with his teeth, and I gasped as a current of unbidden pleasure rippled through me, stronger and more intense than what I’d felt that night at Black Ruby.
His fingers trailed up my arm, and his mouth followed, lips tracing a light path along my veins.
Just like that, my entire body relaxed, muscles unclenching, bones melting into goo.
He was kissing my arm for God’s sake. How could something so simple feel so utterly amazing?
“I don’t… I don’t know how you… do that,” I breathed, all the stress from tonight’s ambush floating away.
“Do what, love?”
“It’s like you know exactly how to touch me. How to make me feel…” I gasped again as his teeth scraped the sensitive spot just inside my elbow. “Like that.”
“I’ve tasted you,” he said softly, his lips lingering on my arm a moment before moving up to my neck, lightly brushing the spot where he’d bitten me tonight. The memory of that sharp, exquisite pain sent a little thrill down my spine, and I shivered. “I can smell the blood running through your veins. Hear the tempo of your heartbeat.” He tapped his fingers gently against my thigh, mimicking the precise beat of my heart, as frantic as a frightened rabbit.
I wasn’t frightened though. Not of Darius. Not anymore.
Darius leaned close, his scent enveloping me, eyes dark with desire. “I can feel where you ache.”
His mouth closed over mine, stealing the breath from my lungs, and I parted my lips, taking him in deep, ignoring the sting of my swollen lip. The taste of him exploded over my tongue, like sweet wine and dark chocolate, and despite the coolness of his lips, my entire body was on fire, blood racing through my veins as if everything in me had fallen under his command.
We were parked in the shadowed back corner of the lot, close to the shoreline, but I didn’t care if anyone walked by the car anyway, shined a light inside, caught the whole thing on video. Darius felt so good, so right, there was nothing left to do but lose myself in this delicious, intense pleasure, for however long it was destined to last.
I pulled him toward me, maneuvering in the passenger seat so that he was on the bottom and I was straddling him.
“You’re absolutely enchanting,” he breathed, kissing my chin, my jaw, then dipping down to my collar bone.
Between my thighs, his steely length strained against his pants, igniting a fire in my core that blazed out through my limbs, urging me to rock against him, desperately seeking that friction, that pressure, that sweet release.
With nimble but impatient fingers, he pushed up my borrowed tank top, revealing the black lace bra beneath. My nipples ached for the touch of his mouth, but Darius held back, blowing a cool breath across my skin, his thumbs teasing the bottom curve of my brea
sts as my skin pebbled with goosebumps.
“Please,” I whispered, burying my face in his silky hair.
Darius moaned softly, palming my breasts with a too-light touch, unleashing a desperate whimper from my lips. At this, he lowered his mouth, tonguing one of my stiff peaks through the bra, soaking the lace. I gripped his shoulders and arched my back, pressing myself against his mouth, desperate for his kiss on my flesh. His bite.
The gentle lick of his tongue turned wicked as he sucked me between his lips, nipping and grazing, and those nimble, dextrous fingers finally slipped inside the waistband of my yoga pants, ghosting over my clit. The damp fabric of my panties felt cool against my skin, and I sighed as a new rush of pleasure coursed through me.
He must’ve sensed the change in me, the desperation, because without warning he slid his hand down the front of my panties, dipping two fingers inside me. I was already so wet for him, so eager for his touch, and I arched my hips in response, urging him closer.
His teeth grazed my nipple again, and he stroked my core, slow at first, then faster, deeper. My head rolled back as the pressure built between my thighs, intensifying with every perfect thrust.
“Let go, Gray,” Darius whispered, and I rocked forward on his hand, my thighs beginning to tremble, heat coiling low in my belly…
“That’s it, love.” Darius palmed my clit, fingers curling inside me, thrusting harder and deeper. “Let me feel you come undone.”
“Darius!” I shattered, my body clenching hard around him, wave after wave of white-hot pleasure washing over me as I rode out every last ripple, every last hot, tingling sensation.
Breathless and dizzy, I finally collapsed against his chest, waiting for the aftershocks to fade as the muffled sounds of the marina filtered through: the horn of an arriving ferry, bells clanging on the boats in the harbor, the mournful cry of a lone seagull out past his bedtime.
When I finally got my bearings again, I looked up into his eyes and smiled, dark and devious. Then, I reached for the button on his pants, eager to feel his hot, hard length inside me.
“What’s this? My little brawler isn’t yet sated?” he asked playfully, eyes darkening with lust as I unzipped his pants. In the steamy cocoon of the car, his voice was thick and seductive, and the intense way he watched me made me feel alive and powerful.
“I don’t know,” I teased, scraping my fingernails over his lean, hard abs, following the thin line of dark hair that led down from his belly button. “But I seem to recall something about repayment of a debt? A settling of our affairs the old-fashioned way?”
I’d meant it as a joke, a nod to our first meeting at the Black Ruby when he’d agreed to keep my magic a secret in exchange for some future favor, but Darius frowned, and something almost wounded flashed in his eyes.
I immediately regretted my words, but before I could apologize, his devilish smile returned, a threat and a promise.
“No, love.” He grabbed my hands, pulling me away from his rock-hard body. “When it comes time to have you in my bed, it will not be a debt collection.” Then, in a voice so fierce and commanding it almost made me come again, “And you will beg for it.”
I held back another shiver, not doubting his words one bit. It’d only been a few minutes since he’d sent me over the blissful edge, and my body was already begging for it again, urging me to reach for him, to finish what we’d started.
But Darius was already zipping up, the lusty haze clearing from his eyes.
“So,” he said cheerfully. “I’d love to treat you to coffee, but obviously if you’re not keen on that, we could go elsewhere. A drink, perhaps?”
The playful tone and abrupt subject change lent an adorable nervousness to his cool, you-will-beg-for-it demeanor, and I laughed, relived he wasn’t holding a grudge. Incredible chemistry aside, I was really starting to like Darius. As crazy as it sounded given my intense feelings for Ronan, something about the whole thing with Darius just felt… I don’t know. Right. Different, but right.
Having feelings for more than one man was a new and complicated world I wasn’t sure I was ready to enter, but I’d been judging myself so harshly about everything else—my screwed-up magic, the way I’d treated Sophie, all the mistakes I’d made—why not give my heart a break?
Unlike the rest of me, maybe my heart actually knew what it was doing.
“No. I mean, yes,” I said, beaming. “Coffee sounds great. That’s really sweet of you.”
“Sweet?” Darius sighed. “Oh, dear. Don’t let that get out.”
I touched my thumb to my wrist, tracing the invisible seal of our strange but no longer uncomfortable bond, feeling the last of the adrenaline leak from my limbs. Tonight’s vampire bloodbath would certainly come with consequences, but one thing was certain: I was safe with this man.
“Don’t worry, D,” I whispered, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “It’ll be our secret.”
Twenty-Eight
Gray
By day, Luna’s Café served black coffee and bacon-and-egg sandwiches to rough-and-tumble dock workers, and overpriced scones to the tourists chartering whale-watching boats.
Nighttime, though? That’s when all the freaks came out. Vampires, shifters, fae, me. Not that humans would notice or care, but Luna’s was situated on an energy vortex and served as a 24/7 safe zone—neutral territory for all. No fighting. No killing. No magic.
And the coffee was pretty damn good, too.
“Venti vanilla cappuccino, extra foam,” I told the barista, a cute and bubbly fox shifter named Ella who’d been working there a few months now.
“Gray!” She smiled, dimples showing. “Must be your lucky night. I’ve got two of those chocolate macadamia cookies behind the counter. Interested?”
“When am I not interested in chocolate macadamia?”
Darius slid his credit card across the counter. “We’ll take them both. And a double espresso for me. Extra hot.”
“Thank you,” I said to him, the rich, warm scents of the café wrapping me in a much-needed hug. “This was actually a really good idea.”
“Don’t sound so surprised, Gray. I’ve been known to have them at least once per century.”
We grabbed our order from the bar, then found a table at the back behind a bookshelf stuffed with tattered books and old board games. My gaze landed on Othello, and tears stung my eyes. Sophie loved playing that stupid game. I’d never once beaten her.
God, I wish I could talk to her about this. About Darius. Ronan. Everything going on inside me…
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I settled into the chair Darius had pulled out for me and reached for a cookie from the plate, putting my faith in the healing power of chocolate.
“Do all vampires like cookies?” I asked as he sat down next to me and reached for his.
“I suppose not.” Darius brought the cookie to his lips, but he didn’t take a bite. He seemed to be… appreciating it. “But they’re certainly one of my many vices.”
Is he licking that?
“What are your other vices?” I asked, my thighs clenching involuntarily as I imagined his response. Sex. You. Long, slow sex on a Sunday, preferably with you…
“Cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries,” he said firmly, and finally took a bite, slow and deliberate.
Oh, to be that cookie…
My cheeks burned, a mixture of lust and embarrassment pumping through my blood.
One orgasm from the man, and now I’m jealous of a cookie?
“Are you alright, love? You look a bit flushed.”
“What? Great. I mean, good. I’m fine.” I broke off a big piece of my cookie and shoved it into my mouth.
When my breathing returned to normal—at least, as normal as it was going to get in the presence of Darius—I said, “Not to be a total buzzkill, but we need to talk about tonight.”
Darius smiled. “Why talk? Actions speak much louder than words, and after our date, we could go back to the car and—”
&n
bsp; “Not that part of tonight, as tempting as that sounds.” I reached for his knee under the table, giving it a squeeze. “Tell me what you discovered. Before the vamps crashed our search party.”
His smile faltered. “Gray, it can wait. You don’t have to—”
“I do have to,” I said softly. “Darius, I know things didn’t go as planned tonight, but Sophie was my best… She was…”
She was everything to me. Absolutely everything. And I’d let her down.
As much as I appreciated the chill café vibe, and the healing chocolate, and the unexpected sultry moments Darius and I had shared in the car, I was still on a mission, and I couldn’t truly relax until we tracked down the monster who stole my beautiful friend from this world.
“I need to know,” I said. “Please.”
“Of course.” Darius leaned forward, his voice dropping to just above a whisper. “For starters, Alvarez was right about the vampire blood—I scented it on them almost immediately. Identical in each case.”
“Was it any of the vamps that ambushed us?” I asked.
“No, although it’s likely they were involved, perhaps sent by our guy to make the evidence disappear. I’m not sure what else would explain their presence. The Bay is an out-of-the-way place to begin with. But the morgue?”
I nodded. His theory was sound.
“But the vampire who did this—at least, the man whose blood was injected into the witches—is from an old line. One of the original European families to settle in America in the seventeen hundreds. The Grinaldis.”
“Wait… you could tell all that just from the blood?”
“Only because I’ve crossed paths with them before.” Darius scowled, and anger flickered in his eyes. “I’m not sure what a Grinaldi-sired vampire would be doing on the west coast, though. To my knowledge the elder hasn’t left his home in decades, and he keeps an extremely tight reign on his family.”
“But how? There could be thousands of vamps carrying his blood.”
Darius shook his head. “Only twenty.”
