Page 12 of A Killer Crescent Valentine

The creature who tortured me the first time I was in these woods didn’t make an appearance today, thank fuck. I didn’t want to relive my sister’s death. I had a feeling it was Brannigan’s ancient, deadly presence that kept all the monsters away.

“No lethal force,” Dean warned the search party he and Brannigan had pulled together, his voice as hard as honed steel and just as lethal.

“That’s my mate,” I whispered proudly to the vampire beside me.

“I know,” he whispered back, giving me a thumbs up. I liked that guy. John. Jonas. Jonathan. Something like that. He was always friendly and polite, unlike some of the vampies of Blake Hall who didn’t think their esteemed leader should be mated to a non-vamp. I had yet to work out if their glorious leader was Brannigan or Slasher. Brannigan had set up the building, but there was a fancy, old portrait of Slasher hung on the wall, so it could go either way.

Besides, I was a vampy now, too. They could just suck it up. I didn’t need their approval when there were friendly vamps like Joel. Joseph. Fuck, I really couldn’t remember his name.

“Hey! Hey! Blondie!” Slasher snarled, rushing across the few metres between us and—getting all up in the vampire’s face.

“My name’s Jovann, and you know it,” the vampire sighed. “You’ve known me a hundred years, Slasher.”

“No talking to my blancmange,” he warned and booped Jovann on the nose.

“Listen up!” Dean shouted, his voice loud and commanding. A little shiver went through me and his eyes found mine across the crowd. I fluttered my lashes at him. “We’re looking for a young wolf, a child, so do not use lethal force. If I find out a single one of you has hurt this kid, I will personally separate your hands from your body. Understood?”

Silence reigned. I smirked, my eyelids heavy and low.

“Brannigan has a list of locations for each team to search. Do you all know your teams?” Everyone nodded obediently. God, he was hot. “Good. Search each area thoroughly and then come back here to mark it clear before searching your next assigned area. This child is in danger in these woods, so be thorough in your search. There’s no saying how much longer they’ll survive.”

At Dean’s nod, everyone broke apart to get into their teams and approached my hot, librarian mate.1

“Bye, Slasher’s friend,” I called to the blonde vampire loping off to a group of wolves and witches.

“Bye, Slasher’s mate who he’ll kill me for talking to,” he replied without turning.

See. That was why I liked that guy.

I held out my hand to my possessive vampire and he grabbed it with a low, growling sound I rarely heard. A thrill zipped down my body. I tugged him close for a quick, reassuring kiss that rapidly turned heated.

“You’re mine and I love you,” I told him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Slasher lifted my hand to brush a kiss over my knuckles. “I love you too, fortune cookie.”

“I like that one a lot,” I told him, glancing away when Deal strode towards us, powerful and commanding. “Where are we searching?”

In answer, he handed me a printed map with a square highlighted with red pen. I groaned. I hated orienteering.

“Let’s get going,” Dean ordered, glancing over me and Slasher—and Edison and Hugh when they jogged up to us. Brannigan would stay here to coordinate the search; I blew him a kiss as we walked past. “We’ve only got four hours of light left, and I want this kid found.”

CHAPTER 9

We had an advantage on the other teams because we knew the Cupid’s scent, so I fully expected to be the first to find them, but two hours later and I was starting to worry. What if we didn’t find the kid, and some of the monsters who came out at night found them instead? They must be scared to death after we hunted them yesterday, and guilt gnawed at my chest.

“We’ll find the kid,” Dean promised, noticing my melancholy. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my hair as we walked. “There’s still time.

“Not much,” I muttered. “I keep thinking about why a kid would be alone in the woods, and none of those reasons are good. What if it’s like what happened to me and Ana?”

“Then we’ll find them, and help them heal from it,” he promised, nothing but unwavering confidence in his calm voice.

It was exactly what I needed to hear. I let out a long sigh, shoring up my determination. “You’re right.”

“I always am,” he agreed.

I slanted a look at him. “Not always.”

“You weren’t right when you said I couldn’t fly,” Edison remarked, trudging through the woods ahead of us, sweat slicking his white T-shirt to his back so I could see his tattoos through it.

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