Page 34 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

“So you don’t normally look sickly and underfed?” Evelyn asks with a kind smile.

“No.” I shake my head. “Jinx was an asshole.”

“I’m glad you killed her, because if you hadn’t, I’d be forced to find and take care of her myself.” The vampire flashes to me and pokes my ribs. “You need food. Do you want some blood?”

“What? No. Gross.”

She reels back and gives me a dirty look. “Says the dog.”

Ugh. Foot meet mouth.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think. Thank you for offering.” I run my hands through my messy hair, trying to work through the knots, but it’s a losing battle at this point. I need a palm full of conditioner to fix it.

With a haughty huff, she cocks her hip and places her hand on it. “It would help you heal, and my blood is rather delicious.” She winks at Blaze. “Or so I’ve been told.”

Has he drank her blood? Their dynamic is confusing as hell. Their hot-as-fire-cold-as-ice routine has me seriously doubting Joan’s proclamation that they’re sleeping together.

“I think I’ll stick with regular food for now. Thank you for wanting to help though, it means a lot.” I smile and try to show her how much I mean it.

She assesses me for a second with razor sharp focus, enough intensity shining in her dark brown eyes that I fidget in my seat. A vicious grin full of fang curls her lips.

“No harm, no foul. Just don’t be rude again and we won’t have a problem.” Evelyn tosses her long hair over her shoulder.

’Scuse the fuck out of me, who does she think she is? Does she have any idea who she’s dealing with? Let me fucking bite her ass and see if she still wants us to take her blood.Don’t be rude again.Ack. Freaking vampire.Joan is feeling rather feisty, and I have to fight off a fit of giggles when she continues to mock Evelyn.

Hey, hey. I was rude. How would we feel if she said we smelled like wet dog and piss?

Joan snorts.Don’t make excuses for her. She needs an ass kicking.

Joan,I say then sigh. It’s a losing battle.We’re not fighting the vampire. End of story.

“And everyone thinks I’m the crazy one. Did you all see her have an entire conversation inside her head with her wolf?That’sinsane.” Evelyn rolls her eyes and plops into the seat next to Demi. “Want me to go kill a deer for you?”

Demi’s eyes wrinkle and fill with tears. “Yeah.”

“Is that really necessary? Let’s go to the nearest town and get food instead.” Blaze stands and holds his hand out to Evelyn. “No need to slaughter the wildlife.”

With a soft growl, the odd vampire shoves out of her seat and takes his hand. “Killing is more fun,” she whispers before they flash away.

I stare after them, trying to figure out if they like each other or hate each other. Demi chuckles, and I glance at her.

“Trust me, we don’t understand them either.” She pats her stomach. “Why did Mazzikin come to help you?”

Earlier, I briefly mentioned how she came to me when I broke the wards, but Blaze was more worried about what Peter had been up to than what the Heir to the Underworld wanted with me.

“Why do you want to know?” Brayden drops onto the couch I’m sitting on, stretching a leg over the arm and laying his head in my lap and wrapping an arm around my waist.

“Mazzikin wants something from me, and I want to kill her.” She gives him a look, daring him to ask more questions and see where it gets him.

“Hm. Sounds like a personal problem.” Brayden tugs on a piece of my hair. “You don’t have to tell her anything.”

His pupils are dilated when I glance down at him, and there’s a faint yellow color bleeding into the blue of his irises. The bond pulses in warning. Necromancy is outlawed. Demi’s a hunter. She’s not stupid either, but can I risk telling her the truth? What if she sees me as a threat too?

“We’ve done a bit of research on Raven’s heritage. We think the reason she could banish Jinx and break the wards is because she’s also part witch. She only has trace amounts of magic since she was turned, but it explains why the wards responded to her magic. At first, we thought maybe she was part demon, but we found some history on a witch named Theodore Thatcher.” Carter rubs the bridge of his nose and paces in front of me as he explains things. “Apparently this Thatcher guy summoned a demon and the history books say he was one of the forefathers of blood magic.”

“And Raven is his relative?” Demi’s eyebrows pinch together. “What does Mazzikin have to do with Theodore Thatcher?”

Brayden’s fingers dig into my side, and he clears his throat, stealing Carter’s thunder. “That we’re not sure of, but it seems that Raven’s sparked Mazzikin’s interest.” He shoots Demi a rueful smile. “Which I’m sure you know isn’t good.”

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