Page 120 of A Bond with the Dark

The wind picks up and blows loose strands of hair into my eyes, which I pull away as Dom interlocks his hand with mine and tugs me toward the door.

I’m not sure which of the creatures I’m more afraid of, but the siren is one of them that makes chills of apprehension skim the surface of me. Not to mention the twin, Scarlet. If it isn’t going well with Adaline, Everette, or Hattie, I’m sure it’s going to hell in a handbasket with Scarlet and Jasantha.

Taking a deep and calming breath to soothe me, I fortify myself as we again enter the house.

“Domie!” Scarlet squeals as he drops my hand and flashes over to his sister. He picks her up and spins her around, her lengthy hair whipping through the air fast enough to make a sound.

“Scar-bar!” he answers as he sits her down.

The breeze from the open door thrashes my hair around again, and when I remove it, I see Jasantha whip her gaze at me like she found my scent on the breeze. She has beautiful dark midnight skin, her eyes are green and cat-like, her lipstick matches her nails, and her hair is a beautiful red-almost-purple color. Her arm candy is human, from what I can tell, a tall, unnaturally muscular man with a short beard.

“Everyone, this is Sayah. Sayah, this is my twin sister, Scarlet; this is Jasantha and her fiancé Joe; my little brother, Ollie, and his girlfriend, Allison.”

Ollie is a pretty vampire, shorter than Dom. Still, they’re similar in looks, except Ollie has no visible tattoos. He wears his hair a little longer, wavy, dirty-blond, and has green eyes. Allison looks unnaturally beautiful as well. She has a pixie haircut and brown hair, her eyes are blue, and her face is a little rounder and bright with an aquiline nose.

All eyes are on me, and I’m frozen in my steps. Thinking about being in a room full of killers and actually being in a room full of killers are two totally different things. The acquiescence of such only abates minutely with the thought that at least there’s one more human in the room with me.

Joe.

I can tell by the normalcy of his looks, demeanor, and stature.

“Nice to meet you all,” I manage, but my voice betrays me, coming out quiet and shaky.

“Pleased to meet you, Sayah,” Ollie says, and is here in a wisp to kiss my hand.

At least one of them is pleasant to me.

“So,” Scarlet says, ignoring me, “tell us why you’re here, Dom.”

“I’m gonna start dinner,” Adaline announces. She and Everett have been standing in the kitchen prepping the food, Everett handing her things that she asks of him. It’s sweet.

The kitchen table is set with elegant black plates atop the giant wooden table, the candlelight gleaming, delicate silverware resting on black serviettes. Thin yet tall wine glasses are resting by every plate—set for ten people—and bottles of unopened wine are lined in the middle, along with a few wine keys. There are also bottles of what I assume can only be blood among them. They're opened and unlabeled, the clear glass showing the thick, dark crimson liquid within.

Dom tugs me with him to the table and pulls out a chair for me to sit, the rest of the group following our lead.

“He was marked,” offers Hattie flippantly, scooting a chair out and sitting.

Scarlet turns a lighter shade of pale. “What?” she breathes, taking the chair next to Dom.

The velocity with which he pulls up his sleeve is disarming—like he wants to get this particular part of the visit out of the way. The brand is white and gleaming, still the obdurate mark it’s intended to be.

“Oh my god, how did this happen?”

“I killed the wrong person,” he culls.

“We’re figuring out a way to break the curse,” interjects Hattie.

“How are you gonna do that?” asks Ollie.

Hattie rolls her eyes. “I’ve been researching. There’s an artifact I’m gonna steal that will help Mom and Sayah here break his curse. If it works, I’m gonna use it on Amanda.”

“If it works?” asks Dom, his eyes shading the emotions he wears on his face.

“Well, yeah.” Jasantha’s fingernail elongates like fangs do, and she uses it to open a bottle of wine, the popping sound of the cork making me jump. “Dom, this is dealing with a warlock. Those things are half-demon. They’re impossible to kill.”

“We’re not killing her,” Dom says defensively, “we’re breaking the curse that bonds me to her.”

“Have you seen her yet?” Jasantha asks, pouring herself a glass of wine, the lug of the liquid entering the glass like a lullaby in the intense conversation.

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