Page 22 of Finn
“Just someone passing through,” I said quickly, giving him a hand and helping him to his feet.
Ricky was a regular, volunteering himself as a blood source for my hunger.
For him, it was part thrill, part addiction, and I was certain he’d be back again. That was the pull we vampires had over them.
“Come on,” I said, offering a steadying arm as he swayed unsteadily. “Let’s get you a cab.”
“Nah,” he said with a playful, tipsy grin. “Unless you’re offering to give me your Blood Mark?”
The familiar ache settled in my chest, hollow and heavy.
Being blood marked by a vampire was like a shifter’s mating mark. It was permanent and binding.
The recipient would live as long as their vampire partner did, tied together for eternity.
Ricky didn’t understand what he was asking for, not really.
And even if he did, it didn’t matter. I had no intention of giving my mark to anyone.
Ever since I’d woken up as this… thing, it was as if the parts of me that felt real had gone silent.
Or maybe I’d just shut them down, letting myself grow numb to the world.
But seeing Finn had cracked something open, reminding me of a life I’d thought was lost forever.
“Ricky,” I said with a sigh. “You’ve had enough. Go home and sleep it off.”
He scoffed. “You’re not my dad, you know.”
Pulling away from my support, he took a shaky step toward the club entrance.
“Someone else in there’s bound to be interested,” Ricky said.
I let him go, watching as he disappeared back into the crowd of dancers and drinkers inside.
People like him who were drawn to the darkness, to the thrill of being bitten were no different from addicts chasing their next high.
I’d tried reasoning with him, had warned him more than once that his so-called thrill-seeking would eventually get him killed.
But he never listened.
It was then that a prickle of awareness spread down my spine. A dark, predatory presence stirred at the edge of my senses.
I slid a hand to my hip and felt the cool handle of my old hunting knife, silver blade glinting faintly under the dim alley light.
I couldn’t be too careful around here.
Silver didn’t work against everything, but it could slow down a lot of things that lurked in Craven Hill’s shadows.
A figure emerged from the shadows, footsteps soundless on the wet pavement.
Despite his size and height, Bram moved with a hunter’s grace.
“Easy,” he said, raising his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. “No need to get defensive.”
I relaxed, but only a little.
“Why are you here, Bram?” I asked, not letting my guard down completely.
