Page 82 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

“How?” Danny asked, shaking his head. “There’s nothing about ghosts or supernatural in the media coverage. From what we’ve gathered, the house always makes it look like a murder—like someone in the house just goes bonkers and kills their whole family, before offing themselves. It’s grisly, but you wouldn’t know what it was unless you knew what to look for.”

“He clearly knew what to look for,” I bit off, glaring at the hunter. “He came here to take down the wraith. Same as you. Except, he actually finished the job. And he saved your lives in the process. How the fuck you two have questions at this point is beyond me.”

Danny frowned at that. “We saw his setup, back at the house. It was amateurish. He drew manifesting sigils on the outside of his warding ring. That traps him inside the protection circle and lets the spirit have free rein of the space around him. It’s a rookie mistake—something that a first timer doing this all from a book would do.”

Michael shot him a betrayed look. Probably because Danny was entertaining the notion that Bryan was anything other than a monster for them to kill.

Danny didn’t seem to notice it. Or maybe he was just so used to Michael that it didn’t even register. His frown deepened further as he met my gaze and added, “If you put it all together, it means he somehow knew about this place, but he’s never done this sort of thing before. And you didn’t draw those sigils, either. You wouldn’t have needed to—you have magic of your own to draw upon. Besides, they were crudely made. And living blood wasn’t used to empower them, so they didn’t even work right. Which means that he did this on his own.”

“He came here without me,” I admitted, gritting my teeth at the admission. How were these fuckers going to use this against me? Against Bryan? But the truth was obvious, anyway. I added, “He knew about the ghost and he wanted to—”

“He wanted to, what? Join the party?” Michael’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Hasn’t this town been through enough already?”

“Don’t be a dick,” Danny sighed, clearly growing exasperated with his partner. “Look, we already know, for sure, that he tried to put down the ghost by himself. And if what the warlock says is true, he came alone to hunt a monster that had killed before and would kill again. He put his life at risk for strangers, people he’ll probably never even meet. He’s like us, Michael.”

“No.” Michael shook his head, but for the first time, he looked almost bewildered by Danny’s words. Like he couldn’t quite refute the logic of them. “It has to be a lie. The warlock is messing with our heads.”

“Look, we should just leave,” Danny told him, pushing himself off the pallet he’d been leaning against.

“Absolutely not,” Michael’s jaw dropped. “We agreed—”

“Jeez, Michael, let it go!” Danny practically shouted at Michael, rounding on him. His exasperation visibly turned to anger in a heartbeat. “The vampire came here to help! He didn’t know what the hell he was doing, but we know for sure that he tried. Which means that he is different from other vampires we’ve run across!” He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head, sounding abruptly frustrated with himself. “And I’m a huge asshole for not putting all those pieces together sooner, otherwise I never would have gone along with this idiot plan!”

Then Danny glanced over at me. He let out a long breath. And then, in normal tones, he added, “I believe you, by the way.”

For a long moment, it seemed like Michael was going to argue some more. He glared back at Danny, as though he was about to dig his heels in. But then, grudgingly, he nodded.

“Those sigils he drew really were a shit-show. And he didn’t snatch some stranger off the street and use their blood to activate them, either. That’s something, I guess.” He paused for a very long time, seeming to struggle with himself. At last, he let out a slow breath, glancing over at Danny. “Yeah, okay. We’ll let the warlock—and the vampire—go.”

I stared at them, feeling disbelief flooding through me. It couldn’t be that easy, could it? But if they just released me, then everything could be okay again. I could explain. I could stop any violence from happening. Bryan wouldn’t have to—

Tobias, if you can hear me, I’m coming for you. Please hold on.

Horror flooded through me.

Bryan’s walls were completely down, and I could suddenly sense his mind pressed right up against mine. His white-hot rage and red-black terror both poured through me. I had never felt anything like it from him. It blotted out rationality and reason.

His whole world had narrowed down to one single point: me.

He would do anything he felt he had to, in order to get to me. And that included ripping both of the hunters apart before they could hurt me.

And he was coming right now, using every bit of his speed.

He would be here in less than a minute.

Way less than a minute, actually.

In my mind’s eye, I could almost see him zipping through the quiet streets of Poplar Creek, moving so fast that he was a mere blur.

He was three streets away. Then two. And now—

“You guys need to release the binding sigil on this chair, right now!” I gasped out.

Danny took one look at me, his eyes going wide at whatever expression I must have worn, and he started forward. But he was much too slow.

Behind him, the door to the factory exploded off its hinges.

It was too late.

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