Page 31 of Revenge of the Blood Pack

“Describe him?” the vampire says, almost sneering the words. “He was some young punk in a hoodie with impossible magic. I’m sure if you three get within a few feet of him you’ll smell the wrongness of his fucked-up Blood Mage powers. I don’t think you need more than that.”

I realize I’m holding my breath and release it. “Dark hair? Blonde hair? A fucking clown wig? How about you tell us something, bloodsucker!”

“Asha.” Max’s voice is cool and calm. “Wait for us in the car.”

I leap to my feet. “What did he look like?”

Mr. Vangardee leans back in his chair with a smirk. “Like a desperate piece of shit.”

Before I know what I’m doing, I’ve leaped across the room and I’m on him, my hands clenched in his shirt. “What the fuck did he look like?”

There’s swearing behind me. Someone shouts my name, but my eyes are locked on the coward in front of me. I feel my fangs elongate and my claws grow.

His eyes widen. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“Tell me what he looks like before I make you wish that mark killed you,” I growl, my wolf raging within me.

“I didn’t see, okay! Just the hoodie! Just that he was a young guy. Maybe with dark hair, I don’t know.”

I’m yanked off of him by Max. I almost smack his hand away, but the intensity of his brown eyes stops me. “Wait in the car, Asha. We’ll deal with this later.”

“Max,” I growl his name.

“Now, or this will be your last day on the case.”

I hesitate, but the look on his face tells me he’s serious. So, I straighten and take a deep breath, letting my nails and claws return to normal. Turning, I nod toward the vampire. “We’ll find this kid, Mr. Vangardee, but I want you to think about the fact that once upon a time vampires were called monsters. Hell, some people still call you monsters.”

Then, I turn and leave the room, ignoring the fact that I can feel Braxton’s eyes burning through me. I march out the door, ignoring the guards, and head right out to the SUV, but I don’t get in. I’m just too fucking pissed. Instead, I pound my palms on top of the hood. This is a lead to a pack member. Maybe even a lead to my brother. I’m so close I can almost taste it, and that guy… I don’t know, he just pissed me off.

“Well, that was smooth.”

I whirl around to find Braxton behind me. But to my surprise, he has a bemused look on his face rather than an annoyed one.

“That guy was a douche,” I tell him, daring him to disagree with my tone.

He comes closer. “Agreed.” Trouble comes from the woods and races up to Braxton. The guy kneels down and pets the dog with a smile still on his lips. “But, girl, you have to work on your bedside manner.”

I snort. “I’m not a doctor.”

“No, but you’re doing a job that requires some delicate work, and that was not delicate work.”

I glare at him. “I got my answer, didn’t I?”

“And you could have gotten it without attacking an important man, getting yourself, me, and Max in trouble with the Enforcers. Max would have gotten to the Blood Mage’s description if you’d given him more time.”

Is he right?“We’re wasting so much time with this shit.”

His startling gaze meets mine. “Really? Because without the Enforcers would you even have a lead to your pack?”

I open my mouth, then shut it. He’s right. But I don’t like that he’s right. “He was a dick.”

“By stating what most people think about your kind, without knowing that he was in front of one of them?”

Hell. Okay.

He continues. “And what did you think of Blood Mages before you became one?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t think about them. I didn’t know they existed.” The words feel strange. It’s hard to even think about a time when I was that innocent.

---