Page 24 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Four

He’d snorted, then dissolved into a coughing fit. I’d poured him some brandy and helped him drink.

“You need to keep yourself healthy,” he’d said. “Someone will need to care for mother and sister when I’m gone.”

“You will when you live.”

Damien hadn’t believed me then and if I’m honest, I hadn’t believed me either.

There’d been dark circles around his watery, bloodshot eyes. His lips had been cracked and bleeding. He’d looked so pale, so weak.

But somehow, he’d pulled through.

I was convinced then that my brother was invincible.

Except right now, I am reminded all over again of those long nights in our house in France. I am reminded of feeling helpless.

Bianca pulls her hands away. “He seems to be going from consciousness to unconsciousness, and when he’s awake he—”

Suddenly Damien lurches upright, and Bianca yelps and steps back.

Now I see what they mean.

Something is wrong.

Damien’s eyes are open but they’re pure white.

“Brother?” I say.

He’s sitting rigidly, hands limp at his sides. Though he has no pupils, it looks like he’s gazing straight ahead.

I snap my fingers in front of his face. He fucking hates that.

“Damien.”

Nothing.

“Has he responded to anything yet?” I ask.

“No,” Jimmy says. “It’s just this.” She nods at him in bed. “He’ll sit up. Do nothing. Saying nothing. Then he’ll collapse again.”

“What does this mean?”

Bianca rakes her teeth over her bottom lip. “I’ll be honest, this is new to me. No witch I’ve worked with has ever mentioned anything like this.”

Damien hasn’t moved yet, nor has he blinked. I’ve seen a lot of fucked up weird shit in my day, but this has even my skin crawling. “Okay. So, how do we figure out what it means?”

“You should tell him what you felt,” Jimmy says to Bianca. “He needs to know everything.”

The scowl I turn on Bianca could singe hair. “Do not make me ask questions, witch. I need details. Now.”

“Sorry.” She swallows audibly. “When I hold my hands out like this” —she repositions over Damien— “I feel something I’ve only felt once before, when I played with magic I wasn’t supposed to play with.”

There is a sinking weight in my gut. “Go on.”

“Dark magic.”

This isn’t unexpected. “Which means—”

“It means…” She gnaws at her lip again and then yanks her hands back as if something bit her. “We all know and can agree that the fae realm exists, right?”

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