Page 29 of Blood Gift

“Nothing. Uh. I think I should make the rest of the trip by myself.”

I looked at the entrance, a half-block away. “Only if you’re not afraid to walk all that way all alone,” I joked.

He didn’t find the humor in it.

“What happened? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, not you. Not at all.” He kept looking off toward the entrance instead of looking at me.

I followed his gaze and noticed a tall, dark-haired man who bore a jaw-dropping resemblance to him.

A man with a deep red aura.

I took a step back, away from him.

It was his turn to be alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and took another step. “He’s… he’s…”

“My brother?” he asked.

By then, the stranger had noticed me. And he stopped looking like his brother in favor of looking like an angry sorcerer.

I pried my eyes from him and looked at Gentry. My heart crashed and shattered.

“He’s a sorcerer?” I whispered.

It couldn’t be true. That would make Gentry… no, there was no aura around him. Nothing magical. But how was that possible, when his twin was obviously a sorcerer—and a very dark one, judging from the shade of the energy surrounding him?

Holden caught up to us and saw what I saw. “You need to get out of here. Now.”

His hand closed over my arm, and I hated how relieved I was to feel it. I didn’t want him to be right. I didn’t want to need him. How could I have been so wrong?

“I don’t understand what’s happening right now. Just hold on a second!” Gentry shoved Holden, or tried to. It was pointless, like shoving a brick wall. “What’s this all about? You can’t manhandle her like that or tell her what to do. She’s a grown woman!”

“You don’t know the first fucking thing about her,” Holden snarled. So much for the pretense of being a nice, normal if somewhat overprotective brother.

The sorcerer reached us and pulled Gentry aside. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with her?” he hissed, shooting me a look so full of disgust it made my blood run cold.

“Dominic, relax. She’s just a girl—”

“She is not just a girl!” he snapped, then looked around like he wanted to be sure he hadn’t attracted attention. “She’s a High Sorceress! And he’s her Nightwarden!”

Gentry’s face went dead white as he turned to me. “No. That’s not possible.”

“I told you,” Holden hissed in my ear.

“No one told you to speak, Nightwarden,” Dominic spat.

Holden growled. “I know who you are now. Dominic. Brother Gentry. Twin sorcerers. It all makes sense now.”

The truth of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. “That club in Los Angeles,” I whispered, feeling sick and distraught. “The vampire club. You killed all those vampires.”

“And the humans who were visiting the club that night,” Holden snarled, glaring at Gentry. “And they stripped you of your power when you admitted to causing the explosion. Filthy, pathetic monster.” In a flash, he had Gentry backed against the wall. Only we could see his fangs descend. “I might kill you now for that. Let you see how it feels when someone carelessly ends your life.”

“Do not touch my brother, you worthless animal,” Dominic warned. “I could make you drop dead on the spot, and no one on the sidewalk would be the wiser. Don’t test me.”

“Holden,” I whispered with my heart in my throat. “Please, don’t do this. It’s not worth it.”

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