Page 299 of Sigils & Spells

The kid chuckled, a gleam in his eye. “You’re so sexy when you’re mad.”

Mari almost threw up in her mouth. All she wanted to do was wander the streets and experience Salem in full swing. And she would even if she had stuff dork boy in a potted plant. Ten minutes tops and she was out the door.

With Halloween almost here one of the favorite things she loved to do was walk the Psychic Fair and check out all the witchy action. Instead she had an octopus in training wheels trying to get to second base in the middle of the dance floor. He leaned into her, fangs extended.

She so didn’t need this shit.

“I’m not your personal juice box, boy wonder so get your fangs out of my face.” Mari growled and shoved the overanxious teenage vampire off of her for the third time.

She should stake him with a stir stick from the bar. Maybe no one would notice.

“What?” Jared whined, his fangs popping back into place. “I thought you were, you know…ready to…”

“To what? Shove my shoe up your ass maybe?” God, shehatedthe little shit. She should have just disappeared like she did every year. Roark would have been mad, but what was the saying? Better to ask forgiveness than permission? Something like that. She’d rather drink poison than socialize with her kind. It was either politics or who was going to meld Houses by marriage. And this kid.

He reached for her again and she slapped his hands away, her irritation growing.

“Why don’t you go play at the kiddy table? I have to go.”

“But you just got here,” he whined, kicking his polished black dress shoe against the floor in a juvenile action.

God.

“Yeah. And I’m leaving so get off me, troll.”

Mari’s lacy black and silver dress was pretty, but it the underside itched like the very devil. Not to mention the thong the sales woman talked her into to match her garter and stockings was riding so far up her ass it might as well have been flossing something.

“You can’t leave. Not yet. I…have to ask you something.”

“I’m done. Sorry.” She went to move past him, her heels hard on the polished wooden floor.

Roark would be pissed, but one more minute of Jared and she was going to do something drastic. Besides, her Sire could want her to befriend the pain in the ass vamp all he wanted, but he wasn’t the one who had to repel the little twerp’s advances.

Jared scurried to cut her off, lunging forward, fangs out.

Onlookers gasped, then tittered with laughter as she repelled him, knocking his scrawny ass to the floor.

“Watch out, Pigeon. I don’t think he’s quite ready to give up yet.” Gibbs commented drily.

“No kidding.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“No one.”

Damn it Gibbs.

Hells bells. And she wasn’t supposed to make a scene either. That made it harder to leave. Jared scrambled up and came at her again but this time she was ready.

It was like being propositioned then humped by your best friend’s kid brother. Or a giant mosquito. So she swatted him. With her fist.

“You heard me, asshole. Back. The. Fuck. Off.” The skin of her collarbone was still recoiling from his fangs scraping across her flesh in an effort to reach her neck.

Little fucker.

“But…Roark said you had to be nice to me.” He gave her a smarmy little smile and raised his chin.

“Oh? You want me to benice?” Mari did a quick scan of the room, her eyes narrowing on the French doors. She stalked out to the open patio leaving the push of the crowd behind.

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