Page 5 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

“Really? The very first thing? How old are you, anyway? That’s such an old word to use to say—” He shakes his head and then freezes. “Um, please tell me I didn’t see what I just saw.”

“What?”

He sniffs the air and then ignores me completely, walking out of the office and right up to the vampire who attacked me. Brave guy to stop at the bar I ran into. “You.”

The vampire starts laughing. “Me? Do we know each other?” He tries to walk past Tarek. “I’m just here for a drink. Had a rough night.”

He’s younger, which doesn’t mean stronger, despite what you may have read. But he can still terrorize the entire bar and create a huge mess, and all because he followed me in for a beer.

He has jet-black hair, vibrant green eyes, and is the exact same height and build as the werewolf.

This will not end well.

Still, I stand behind Tarek. I can hold my own, but not against an immortal like the vampire. I’m not strong enough, and since I can feel the werewolf blood in me, I know he has to be stronger than I am. Maybe he’s part of the Council? Maybehe’s just really old. Demons aren’t necessarily a race of powerful immortals unless we feed or have souls.

I have no soul.

And I only fed enough to heal my body.

How depressing.

I wouldn’t last longer than an hour, and by then, the vampire would be the one doing the biting, and I’d be the one doing the dying.

Sometimes, it sucks that your only power is to seduce and consume, and that bagels, as this weird werewolf said, don’t even cure the hunger or need.

“You need to leave.” Hot werewolf who goes by the name of Tarek crosses his bulky arms over his tight black T-shirt and clenches his teeth. Why does a man bun and his caramel-colored hair look so good on him? Why is he so good-looking? Why does he smell and taste good, like earth energy? Life?

Why do I always feel like I taste like death?

I swallow the lump in my throat and self-consciously rub my sticky arms, still standing behind Tarek when I feel a presence.

I’m almost afraid to turn.

The hairs on the back of my arms rise, and I suddenly feel something else—something bigger, stronger. What the hell is happening?

The door behind the vampire, the one to enter the bar, opens. Music still kills my ears, lights are everywhere, people are dancing, and then I see a flash of…it.

I scramble more behind the werewolf and grip him tightly. “D-Dark One. There’s a Dark One. The king—I think the King of the Immortals.”

A low voice rumbles behind me, whispering, “Don’t let him hear that, he has quite the ego.”

I slowly look over my shoulder into crisp, gorgeous blue eyes. They flash red before going back to normal.

I know exactly who this is.

Rumors of his resurrection have run rampant. According to all the immortals I know, the Fallen Gods were resurrected, and the Fallen Angels are on the same side.

And the Creator has allowed it to set everyone free from the Fall.

I just didn’t realize the place I’d moved to would have them living here and in the flesh. Wait, did I move? Where do I even live? And why am I so confused? Maybe the attack. Yeah, I’m in shock. Total shock. That’s it.

The Egyptian god reaches out and touches my cheek, tilting his head curiously. “So, you’re her. Interesting. And here I thought this week would be boring. Sucked a little werewolf, did you now?”

“I was hurt.” I try not to stumble over my words as I hold on to the werewolf. “I didn’t know who he was, or that you were here, or that the King of the Immortals was…here.”

I’ve never been more terrified in my entire existence. I think. How old am I again?

He lifts my chin with his thumb. “I think I’ll enjoy this.”

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