Page 21 of Black Hand
“I’m not affected by garlic, holy water, crosses, or your religious buildings. And as you know, I can come inside your home without an invitation. We are not vampires.” My hand clenched into a fist when she sunk her fingers into the shifter’s fur and absentmindedly scratched the asshole like a pet.
“So how do you die?” When my eyebrow jerked up, she gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, it’s not like I want to kill you, geez.” Her words were muffled through her fingers.
“By cutting their throat and ripping their heart out.” Dominic’s deep voice rumbled as he stepped under the light of the streetlamp.
Alice shrieked, which made me wince.
She was about to dart inside until her eyes fell and she realized he was naked. All fear forgotten, including my fangs, she stood gawking. Her arm dropped away from the wolf, who growled in protest, and with parted lips, she pushed the glasses up her nose and gave him a leisured once-over. Undisturbed by both Alice and me checking him out like a piece of meat, Dominic sauntered down the street, only stopping when he was level with me. It made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one tracing the raindrops that were following each line of muscles that moved gracefully with every step he took.
“Holy shit …” Alice muttered under her breath, and I had to agree. Silently, of course. It was obvious the shifter didn’t need his ego stroked more than it had already been.
“Noah?”
“Will not be a problem anymore.” Dominic answered my question, but he kept his gaze on Alice with a frown on his face. “Is she ready? We are running out of time.”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to her about leaving.” The incredulous look he gave me was well deserved, but I shrugged a shoulder unwilling to explain myself to him. “Her whole life was turned upside down, so she’s still in shock,” I finished lamely, because if anything, Alice looked very much not shocked and more alert than ever.
“Human, pack your stuff. We need to go,” Dominic barked at her, making her jump a foot of the floor.
“Who you calling human, you asshole?” Alice came back to her old self but inched sideways to hide most of her body behind the wall holding the doorframe as if that would protect her from him. “Are you a vampire, too?”
“Atua, and no,” I answered for him on a sigh.
A muscle jumped in Dominic’s jaw.
“Great, because you are Brooklyn.” This apparently gave her courage because she fully stepped out on the tiny porch. “Bite him for being an ass and thinking he can boss us around.” When both Dominic and I gaped at her, she nodded her head encouragingly at me. “Do it. Bite him.”
“Oh for fucks sake, she thinks you are her pet now, too.” Taking a menacing step toward her, he growled the next part with so much fury I took a step away from him. “Her kind kill the rest of us for sport, human. It’ll do you good to remember that.”
“Brooklyn said she won’t hurt me.” Lifting her chin, she stood her ground. Warmth spread under my frozen skin. She believed me, and that thought almost made my knees buckle from relief.
“Alice, we need to go because more will come.” I spoke to stop the argument that was leading nowhere, and I didn’t want to give Dominic a chance to say something that will make her fear me again. “Please, just get what you need and what’s important to you. I promise I’ll answer all your questions later.” I could see the war inside her mind by the way her eyes darted between Dominic and me. So, I told her the truth behind the reason I came here in the first place. “I don’t want you to die. I already lost one friend. Don’t make me lose another … please.”
My heart was trying to punch a hole through my chest when Dominic’s head turned slowly my way, his gaze drilling into the side of my face. Keeping my eyes steady on Alice, I flared my nostrils so I could calm my breathing. It was stupid showing weakness in front of him, and I knew that, but I wanted Alice to live more. I’d just have to deal with the fallout from running my mouth later. Much, much later if I had any say in it.
Alice nodded and bolted inside to grab her things, which left us standing in the rain. Both of us kept an eye on things, our gazes bouncing off the buildings and up and down the street in case they came before we had the chance to get a running start. I was uncomfortable that Dominic was standing so close to me, and the heat wafting off his body seared my chilled skin. What was it about him that made me acutely aware of his presence even when he was nowhere to be found? That night when I found the dead woman came to mind, so I gave him a side-eyed glance.
“Have you been following me around?”
“You think too highly of yourself, princess. If I followed you around, you’d be dead by now.” He didn’t even grace me with a look when he said it. “Did you get the dagger?”
“No.”
Reminded of the blade, I mumbled my answer before darting inside to fetch it. There was no need to look through all the mess that was in the room. The dagger called to me like a siren song, so I shuffled my feet closer until I stood on top of it. A piece of the broken door covered half of it, so I nudged it with my boot to reveal the weapon. The rain eased out a little, the peppering of the raindrops on the roof matching my heartbeat. Noah’s words came uninvited and they echoed through my head.“It used to belong to your father. He didn’t get much of a chance to use it.”With a shaking hand, I reached for it. Then I picked it up, letting its weight settle comfortably in the palm of my hand. I was turning it slowly to see the blade better when Alice came behind me, and she was much closer than I expected. Especially after she had seen the monster I actually was.
“That looks like an athame.” My emotions mirrored the fascination in her tone.
“And you know this how?” Tucking the blade in the empty holster on my thigh, I turned to face her while motioning that we need to move.
“Just because I didn’t know vampires existed doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.” Huffing, she stomped through the room and tossed what looked like a large satchel over her shoulder, the wolf back again by her side. The damn shifter hid in the back while we were fighting like the coward he was. “I know what it is because I’m a witch.”
Tripping over nothing, I pitched forward and was barely able to stop myself from falling on the floor. I was well aware that Alice was human and not a witch, but hearing her say it was like a punch to the stomach. I’d watched humans for a long time because I found them fascinating, but I also envied the freedom they didn’t know they had. But what did I really know about them? Maybe Alice could help me even more now, especially if she knew things I was not aware of. If I wanted to bring the Council down, I could use all the help I could get.
Dominic met us at the door, his large-but-still-very-naked frame blocking the light coming from the street. His eyes flicked from Alice to me, and he cocked an eyebrow in question, which meant he had obviously been eavesdropping on our conversation. Alice spun in a circle when she saw him coming behind me and gripped the back of my shirt in her fisted hand. The fact that she was afraid of him and not me made up for the shitty day I’d had, at least a little. The wolf snarled stepping between us and the panther shifter.
“A witch?” The doubt was obvious in his deep voice and he ignored the wolf completely.
“I’m sure it doesn’t mean to her what it means to us.” Sidestepping the wolf and ushering Dominic in front of me, we joined him in the rain. “Would it kill you to put on some clothes?”
