Page 37 of Newly Undead in Dark River

Fortunately for everyone, feeding the ward, both Alice and Angeline’s blood went off without a hitch. Judge kept his lips to himself, and they excused themselves and got the hell out of Miranda’s presence as quick as possible, even if Alice did shoot Walker an apologetic look on the way out. I couldn’t blame them. Between Miranda’s raw power and the tension in the room, it could suffocate a goldfish.

Finally, it was Judge’s turn, and the tension in the room went to DEFCON 4. Or was it DEFCON 1 that was the bad one? Who knew, either way, it was enough to make my skin itch.

“Are you putting your blood on the ward, Judge?” She asked, and somehow the question sounded a lot more important than when she’d asked it of Angeline and Alice earlier. It now sounded like a challenge, or maybe a curse.

Never taking his eyes from the witch, he held out his hand. She frowned and gave him a feral grin, lifting the ceremonial dagger and cutting far deeper than she had with anyone else. I leaped forward, but Brody’s restraining arm held me in place. Judge didn’t even bat an eye as his blood gushed onto the floor between them, dripping over his palm until it was soaked red.

His lip lifted in a snarl as he slammed his hand against the back of the door, marking it with a full handprint, rivulets of blood turning the back of my door into a macabre splatter painting.

“Do your part,” he growled at Miranda, who lifted a brow at his imperious tone, but started the same chant as she had done for the rest of us.

When it was done, Judge lifted his bleeding hand to his mouth and ran the flat of his tongue along the wound, smearing his face with blood. Not going to lie, the predator in me beat against my fragile control. I wanted to be tasting his blood, to push him down into the puddle of blood on the floor and fuck him senseless in front of the Witch until she knew who he belonged to. Luckily, Brody still had his arm around my waist, and Walker, who was a perceptive asshole, moved to the left to block my path a little more.

The two people in front of me, both as beautiful in their deadliness, maintained their standoff, neither of them willing to back down. Finally, Miranda laughed.

“It’s good to see you fall,Armastaja,” she purred, then opened her giant vagina portal and disappeared from the hallway completely. That was it.

I looked around the three men loitering in the hall. “Guess it’s time to see if this works, right?”

I wouldn’t say out loud that I didn’t really trust the witch, just in case, she was omnipotent, or still hanging around the hallways like Christmas glitter in May. Or herpes after a trip to Vegas.

I went first, stepping over the threshold with ease. I don’t know what I expected. A tingle of magic, some kind of viscous barrier. Instead, there was nothing. It was like walking over a normal threshold.

Walker went next, and with his entrance, there was a little tremble of magic that ran through my veins. Interesting version of a doorbell, but I could deal with it.

Brody strode in next, and I felt nothing. Obviously, because he hadn’t been warded out at all. He could come and go as he pleased.

Finally, it was Judge’s turn, and I found myself holding my breath. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he dropped to his knees.

“Fuckin’ bitch,” he growled under his breath, but he was over the threshold and in the apartment. “She warded it, so it zapped me in the balls.”

Brody laughed, and even Walker covered a chuckle. I threw them both dirty looks and strode over, pulling him to his feet and wrapping my arms around his waist. “You okay?” At his nod, I stood on my toes and kissed him gently. “Don’t worry. Every time you get zapped, I’ll rub them better,” I dropped my voice low. “With my tongue.”

Brody abruptly stopped laughing, and I could feel the low chuckle rumble in Judge’s chest. “I’m going to take you up on that offer, Rainy Day.”

Walker left,on the pretense of Sheriff duties. However, when Brody left soon afterward, saying he was happier I was safe now and had Pack duties to take care of, I wondered if they were just trying to avoid the inevitable fallout between Judge and me.

Because it was inevitable. There was the girlfriend (no space) comment earlier, then the obvious tension between him and Miranda and their unknown connection. Not to mention the fact that he used me as a weapon in their weird little game of headfuckery.

Judge sat on the couch, warily watching me as I paced around the living room.

“So, now we are a couple officially, should I clear you out a drawer? Maybe you should leave a toothbrush here. Maybe I can go to your apartment for once?”

He winced. “Raine…”

I held up a hand. “Unless you need to have some kind of passive-aggressive dinner date with the Witch Miranda, who I have to assume is some kind of ex-something. Girlfriend?”

He blew out a huge breath through his nose. “No, she wasn’t my girlfriend.”

The ‘but’ that hung in the air after his admission was so big, that even Sir Mixalot would have liked it. I quirked a brow, my lips pressed together so hard that I was pretty sure that I looked like my Great Aunt Dot. My dad always said her face reminded him of a cat’s ass.

“We were lovers, once upon a time. Partners.”

I threw my hands up in the air and marched into the kitchen before I did something stupid like punching him.

“No shit, Sherlock. Anyone with two eyes and two brain-cells they could knock together would know that. The sexual tension was so thick, I thought Brody was going to suffocate on it.”Deep breath,I chanted to myself. “You’re a vampire, Judge. You’re old as dirt. I get it. Unless you were a monk before your turning, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to count how many lovers you’ve had on a dozen hands. What I’m annoyed by is the fact that you didn’t think you’d mention it, then used me as some kind of verbal ammunition to shoot around.”

I strode back over to him and leaned down until we were nose to nose. “What I am infuriated about, is that she knows your past, and I don’t even know your stupid last name. What I’m devastated by, actually heartbroken about, is that perhaps Walker was right. That I am a toy to you, a way to pass the years. I thought I was okay with it, really. But seeing you with Miranda today, I now know that you aren’t allergic to commitment like I thought, just allergic to a commitment to me,” I took a shuddery breath and blinked hard. “That hurts way more than I thought it would.”

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