Page 15 of Sunshine and the Vamp

“What?”

“This is the guy whose memory Vlad had to wipe. I told Jimmy to keep an eye on him at the bar, but I couldn’t find him when I got back.” He smirked up at me. “Seems your little human has a bit of a hero complex. Pretty neck, too.”

A muscle twitched in my jaw at the way Bryon hummed in pleasure.

“That’s the guy you nearly killed.”

He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded.

Something in me snapped. Before I could stop myself, I had him pinned to the wall by his throat, papers from Benjamin’s file fluttering to the ground around me. My claws extended and pushed into the fragile column of his neck, and I so very much wanted to sink them into his skin. I was usually so in control, so aware of my actions, and I never did anything without reason. This man though, this Benjamin Barrett, had me all out of sync.

Byron just stared up at me, unphased. A smirk curled the corner of his mouth as he patiently waited for me to do something, as if I didn’t have the power to rip the guy limb from limb.

“Well, this all looks a bit cozy,” a voice drawled from behind us.

“Acheron,” I spat as I pushed away from Byron. “What have I told you about portalling in my house.”

“Not to do it, blah blah blah. You’re no fun, Damyr.” He wriggled his fingers, and the papers twirled themselves from the floor and back into the file. “Who’s the blonde guy sleeping off a kidnapping?”

Acheron was a wizard, and a damn powerful one too. He had a penchant for bold colours and prints that clashed, and an uncanny ability to get under my skin. After half a century working together, you’d have thought I’d gotten used to it, but nope. The guy still managed to piss me off in new and inventive ways. Today he was dressed in a neon pink shirt with orange trousers and his hair was electric blue.

“That’s Damyr’s new pet,” Byron said. “He’s pissed at me because I tried to kill him.”

“Ooh, poor you,” Acheron taunted as he perused the file. “Interesting.”

“What is?” I asked, coming to stand next to the wizard and look at Benjamin through the window again. It was as if I couldn’t keep away from him.

“He’s a medical man. I wonder if he’s related to the Brackley Barretts.” Acheron turned his silver gaze towards me, curiosity stirring in their depths. “I’m going to research his family tree.”

The silver in his eyes turned molten as he drew on his magic. “Don’t—”

Acheron snapped his fingers and disappeared with a grin.

“—portal in my house! Dammit Acheron!” It was only then I realised he’d stolen the file Roxie had put together. For fucks sake. I had no idea where Acheron went to most of the time. If I couldn’t see him in the room, he could be anywhere in the world. I’d never find him unless he wanted to be found.

I dragged my phone out of my pocket and sent a text over to Roxie.

ME

The wizard stole my file. Send me another one.

ROXIE

Coming right up. Don’t know why you didn’t want a digital copy in the first place.

Because I was incredibly old school. I had lived with paper a lot longer than I had with technology and, whilst I got on with modern technology, I still enjoyed having a physical copy of something over a damn email.

“I’m going to wake him up. Byron, go and find Vlad and make yourself useful.”

“Yes, Boss,” Byron said, a dark chuckle following him out of the room.

I took a moment to drink in the sight of Benjamin. I couldn’t figure out what it was about him that kept drawing me in. I wanted to own him. The desire was so twisted into my very core that I wanted to burrow him under my skin. I didn’t just want to be close to him. I wanted him to be mine, in all ways. I wanted to break him. To pull all the pieces of him apart and keep the shards to myself.

I dragged a hand down my face. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was never this out of control. Never this close to losing my grip on reality.

Benjamin groaned and rolled his head back. He was starting to come around.

It was time to find out what made Benjamin Barrett tick.

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