Page 27 of How to Entice a Fiend

I need to…

Suddenly I’m looking eye-to-eye with someone who is also on the floor, but their unblinking eyes aren’t focused on me. Their mouth is open and blood pools out from where their head had once been attached to their body.

The body hits not long after as I try to roll up to see what’s happening, but I don’t need to move much as I watch Ender behead another. Is… Ender of all people saving my life? Did my compliments about his hair win over his frozen heart?

He backs up and steps right on me… which I kind of feel like you wouldn’t do if you had fallen madly in love with someone.

“Can you die somewhere out of the way at least?” Ender asks.

Definitely sounds like Cupid shot this man with true love.

But him distracting the others is what I need to reach the window that I will somehow bust through and flop out onto the sidewalk below where I will definitely be out of his way. I’ll probably scar some child who’s only trying to get into the hotel, though at this point I’m not sure I care. But if I did get outside, I could…

Then again, at the speed he’s going through them, I’m not even sure Ineedto flee. I just need to lounge here and wait for my prince to save me.

Since I can’t really say much, I simply give him a thumbs-up, which weirdly twists his face into an ugly expression. Like what the fuck did he expect as I lie here in my own blood? Should I have blown him a fucking kiss?

I gurgle something that’s supposed to be a “You’re doing a fantastic job!” but my throat hasn’t fully repaired itself.

I push myself up just enough that I can start to get to my feet. And that’s when I see the vampire standing in the doorway drawing a gun. Realization of what’s about to happen hits me as I scramble to my feet. But my busted knee can’t yet hold my weight as it drops me down. Using all of the strength I have left in my body, I push forward, hoping to reach the gun in time. Ender looks up to see what I’ve become so panicked about, but I’m too late. A vampire drives me to the ground and the bullet strikes Ender in the shoulder. Why the fuck didn’t he avoid it?Did he think it was a regular bullet and was of no concern to him? Did he not see it? Did something distract him?

He ignores the wound, going back to the slaughter he was caught up in, until he reaches forward and finds his movement is slowed. He looks over at his shoulder before digging the bullet out with his nails, but it’s too late. It was too late the moment he got shot. I guess we get to die together, then.

Ender staggers as the effects of the bullet begin to take over, but as a vampire moves in, they make the mistake of stepping forward too early, allowing Ender to tear into their flesh. The rest wait until he drops to his knees, but why do they even bother moving in? The likelihood of him living through that bullet is slim.

As the vampires descend upon us, I’m torn into the darkness.

CHAPTER NINE

FINN

“Marcus! Tell your horse to share!” Claude cries as Marcus’s new horse pins his ears any time Alexei’s horse tries to go for his hay.

“I’m confused. Aren’t there multiple piles of hay for them to eat?” I ask. “Why does he have to eat the same hay Alexei’s horse is eating?”

“Because he’s like Claude,” Alexei determines. “He gets pure enjoyment out of harassing others.”

“But hon! I don’t harass anyone!” Claude says. “Finn, tell them they’re being mean to me.”

I hurry over to Claude and give him a hug. “I love your harassment.”

“Thank you!” he says, and he squeezes me back and even kisses the side of my head. “Wait… no! You were supposed to declare that I don’t harass people.”

“But if I love it, it makes it all better,” I assure him.

He scoops me up for some reason and hugs me to him. “Alexei, can we keep him? He’s just so delightful.”

“No, put him back. We have to let him stand on his own two feet and grow up someday.”

“Grow up? Dammit, it’s just because you guys are all tall and shit. Or…”

“Don’t say it,” Alexei warns.

I’m grinning manically, loving the fact that he doesn’t want me to say anything. “Orrrrrr…”

“I’m never talking to you again if you say it,” Alexei threatens.

“Sounds like a win,” Marcus says. “Definitely say it.”

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