Page 80 of Forever Midnight

“He’s in an old hangout,” Midnight says. “Along with several members of the gang. They are heavily armed and clearly protecting him. I imagine he’s worried about Dimas and his coven finding them.”

“Is that a concern we have too?”

“We have Dimas’s promise they won’t attack. Vampires tend to keep their word, but we’ll have to see.”

My heart beats rapidly. “Fuck, I hope this is it. Ineedit to be done, Midnight.”

“I know.” He walks over and kisses my forehead. “I’ll do everything I can.”

Nodding, I take his hand as he leads me from the unit to the common area. Everyone is gathered, decked out in black. Vivienne hands Thorn a couple of vials and pouches and waves her hand over all of us as she whispers a chant.

“What just happened?” I ask as my skin shivers.

“Protection spell,” Midnight answers. “She insists on it even though we don’t need it.”

“She cares about you guys.”

“Completely.”

“Let’s go,” Yves says. “He’s on the south side in the old Dally’s Bar building.”

Once we’re outside, Midnight bends down. “Hop on my back. It’ll go faster.”

“Got it.”

I jump up and he hooks his arms under my knees, taking off so quickly it leaves me lightheaded. It’s like one of those amusement park rides that goes so fast you can’t even focus on your surroundings.

But in mere minutes, we arrive on the block where the bar used to be. I’ve staked this place out a few times myself, but I thought they’d abandoned it after Malek was killed.

From our vantage point, we see there are several armed dudes wrapped around the building and a single dim light on in the upper floor. I exhale a shaky breath, praying to any god listening that this nightmare ends tonight.

“Can we go in now?” Thorn asks, bouncing on his toes like an excited child.

“Patience,” Yves says, his tone soft with his brother. “We’ve made a promise to Tru that he can be the one to deal the final blow to Vinni. Everyone else is fair game. Our role is to clear a path to Vinni and protect Tru doing it. Clear?”

“Clear,” everyone repeats.

Weirdly, my eyes tear up until I blink them away. I guess it just feels strange to be considered, especially by people who barely know me. Midnight, obviously sensing my feelings, rubs my back.

He turns to face me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll be right by your side, but please know, if it’s your life or his, I will take his in a heartbeat.”

“I understand.”

Right before we make a plan to descend on the house, my dummy phone buzzes still stuffed in my pocket. I pull it from my jacket, gasping when I see the text.

“It’s Vinni. Guess he figured out I got out of his trap.”

“What does it say?” Midnight asks.

“You’re running out of time,” I read. “The cost is two million and you can keep the girl. I need it by midnight tonight.”

“That’s two hours.” Yves scoffs. “What kind of lunatic is he? No one could get that kind of cash together in that short of time unless they had it in a safe.”

“There’s a desperation to the words even in writing,” Midnight says, glancing at the screen. “I bet he wants to run.”

“I’m gonna tell him I’m coming with the money,” I say. “But I want pictures of the tapes as proof.”

“Perfect,” Yves says. “Then we know he has them.”

---