Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“She tastes like the sun,” Xavier growls, fingers tightening around his heart. “And I’m not talking about her blood.”
My eyes widen and my mouth falls open in shock as Xavier rips his heart out with his bare hands. Country-Drac’s body shutters and then slumps down, collapsing into a pile of goo that splashes on everyone around him, including us. Holy shit. I had no idea vampires could die this way. I only knew of staking them through the heart. But ripping out their hearts…also super effective it seems.
Xavier drops the heart, letting it thud to the ground. Country-Drac’s friend snarls and tries to make a move, but Theo is there, appearing from nowhere.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he tells him, pushing the vampire back with one arm. He pins him up against the wall and yanks out one of his fangs. The vampire screams in pain and now almost everyone in the bar is watching. Theo pulls out the other fang and throws them both like darts, sticking them into the wall like tacks.
Holy fucking shit. In just thirty seconds or less, Xavier and Theo killed and disfigured two vampires…in my defense.
The vampire with no fangs drops to the ground, clutching his bleeding mouth. Vampires heal instantaneously, but I have no idea if fangs grow back fast or at all. More people take notice of the dead vampire remains on the ground, and screams echo around us. The music stops and Xavier and Theo stand their ground, looking unfazed and almost bored. I swallow my shock, though there’s no way I can keep a poker face at this moment.
“You kill your own kind?” a big, burly vampire saunters over, fangs drawn.
“I do whatever it takes to protect my family,” Xavier replies, tone level. “And if anyone else lays a finger on my wife, I have the right by Vampire Law, to slaughter you here on the spot.”
I curl my fingers into a fist, to put out the spark of magic I’m holding. I’ve never been around this many vampires before, and I have no idea if using magic makes me even more tempting to them.
Xavier turns and wipes blood from my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Theo looking annoyed. Right. He’s not my biggest fan. Join the club, buddy. Actually, there probably is an I Hate Wren club founded by Larissa.
“Are you all right, darling?” Xavier asks me.
“Just another day at the office,” I tell him and pick a chunk of vampire from his suit jacket. I toss it on the ground and let my hand sweep down his chest, remembering his head between my thighs. I shouldn’t be filling this turned on again, not when we’re both splattered with blood and guts and we’re standing in a room full of people both terrified and pissed at us.
“Someone clean this up,” Xavier says and takes my hand again. We step over the pile of goo on the floor and continue into the back. Theo is behind us, wiping the blood from his fingers with a handkerchief. I can’t help the smile that starts to creep over my face. Theo doesn’t even like me and he stood up for me…in a way. I think he will side with Xavier no matter what, and that kind of blind loyalty is rare.
And dangerous.
The music starts back up again and two vampires quickly hurry over to mop up the blood and guts on the ground. It’s so gross that’s what happens when a vampire dies. The magic is gone and their bodies just melt into nothing.
Xavier pushes open double doors, stepping into a hall that leads to several rooms, all with closed doors.
“Stay here,” he tells me and speeds away, going into the farthest room.
“That’s it?” I ask after a few seconds pass and nothing happens. “We can just walk away from that?”
“What do you want?” Theo asks. “To call and report ourselves to the police for murder?”
“Obviously not,” I retort. “But like…it doesn’t have to be reported to the VC?”
“Do hunters report vampires they kill to the VC?” he asks pointedly. “Or werewolves or witches? Technically, they are tax paying humans, right?”
“Look, I’m not going to get into a debate about that. I just wanted to know how it works.”
“If you pay any attention at all to the VC, you’ll find the fewer vampires they have to deal with, the better. Besides, Vampire Law of ownership still stands.”
“No one owns me.”
Theo leans in, eyes narrowed and fangs drawn. “You should be glad Xavier is claiming you. Not even you would last long in a place like this. Magic and training aside, you are a human in a building full of vampires that outnumber you ten to one.”
He’s right: I am outnumbered. But I’ve had worse odds and hey, I’m still standing.