Page 26 of A Bond with the Dark

The next person to stand between her and me again will lose their head.

She looks at me. The flush to her cheeks is nearly immediate as she gives me a smile that reaches her eyes. The feeling is mutual.Gravity assembles around her; we all swirl around in her orbit, as though she swallowed the sun and moon and all the stars in the sky.

An imperceptible breeze sweeps through the crowd, blowing the witch’s hair against her cheek, her scent accompanying it.

Witches blood is very sweet and very addicting.

I’m not the only one that smells her.

A vampire behind her and across the bar shoots his gaze to her. His black pea-coat and scarf accentuate his murderous black eyes.

My predatory vision zooms in on him and I watch his movements. His eyes go white for a split second and then he shifts them back to black, squaring his shoulders as he walks in her direction.

Instead of panicking, the killer inside steadies my nerves, setting my resolve to the beat of the bass.

Slipping the claw onto my thumb, I excuse myself from Mara and race—without looking supernatural—into the crowd.

He’s using the same faster-than-normal pace to reach Sayah without drawing attention, and he is moving fast. But he doesn’t notice that I see him.

Before he can reach her, I intercept his path. I jab the silver claw into his neck, causing instantaneous paralyzation. His body falls to the floor with a thud. Nobody on the dance floor even notices.

I need to get him out of here without looking obvious. Veilweaving a crowd this size would be too time consuming.

“Oh, shit! Brenden!” I laugh, concocting a cover as quickly as it comes to my head. “Can’t hold your liquor like you used to, dumbass!”

Some people look at me and smile, shrugging their shoulders.

A guy claps me on the back. “Some of us just want to stay young forever.” He laughs.

I bend down to grab the vampire by his shoulders. “You have no idea.” I grin, yanking him backward toward the side of the stage.

The vampire is heavy, but I manage to get him off the dance floor and to a dark corner of the building. He’s wide-eyed and pale, his gloved hands grasping his neck. He can still see me, the poke wasn’t enough to kill him instantly. He’s just paralyzed from head down.

The silver’s poison is a slow death when it’s in small amounts. Straight to the heart would be better. Instant kill.

Fuck a slow death.

Throwing some tablecloths over the mummified vampire, I walk to the edge of the concertstill in the shadows, scanning the back bar to see if Sayah is still there.

She is not.

It’s not hard to find her though, her aura bounds around her like headlights on a foggy highway. She’s returning to her table with her friend in tow.

I watch them for a few minutes and then my gaze slides to where I was, where Mara is still at the bar, talking closely to Laney. I’ll catch up with her later and provide an explanation.

Wiping my thimble claw on the dark curtain of the stage, I stick it back in my pocket and straighten out my shirt, wiping any dust and debris from my jeans.Looking one more time before departing my secluded hiding spot, I peek again and see that her friends have left her alone at the table.

It’s time to approach her for a conversation.

12

THE DARK STRANGER

SAYAH

I’m scrolling through my phone at the table, waiting for my friends to return from the bathroom, when a blur of colors on a cool gust of wind startles me into looking up.

Not expecting the handsome man I’d seen at the bar to be sitting at my table, I jump.

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