Page 15 of The Guardian's Curse

“A safe place,” Dominic said. “Get in.”

She settled into the back seat with the cat in her lap. The vehicle was impeccably clean, with the luxurious smell of leather. “I need to know more than that.”

“Do you?” he said. “You called us for help. We’re helping.”

“Safira helped,” Shoshanna said. “You’re basically kidnapping me.”

“Get out of the car if you don’t want our help,” Dominic said, turning to glare at her. “I have no patience for this.”

“Dom, I’m pretty sure you have no patience for anything,” she said. His eyes widened, and he leaned toward her. His broad frame filled the space between the seats. She was painfully aware of how close he was, with the smell of good cologne and the faint bite of vampire venom. His eyes still gleamed with that deep red sheen that said he was in predator mode, ready to bite anything that struck him as tasty or annoying.

“My name is Dominic. And while you may choose not to show your gratitude, you will show respect,” he said quietly. “Unless you prefer to deal with the Casteron yourself.”

Her heart kicked against her ribs as she stole a look back at her apartment. Thanks to Elliott, the Casteron would know where she lived, and most likely where she worked. What was to stop Elliott from coming back tomorrow night with an All-Star team of bloodsuckers who wouldn’t ask nicely?

“Okay,” she said meekly. “Thank you.”

He stared at her for another few seconds, as if he was debating whether to tear her throat out just for kicks. Then one brow arched slightly, and he turned around to start the car.

In the middle of the night, Atlanta traffic was slightly less terrifying than normal. They zipped along the tangle of interstates, through tunnels of hazy orange-yellow light. As Dominic drove, he spoke quietly to Paris in German. At one point, the discussion got heated, and Paris snapped at him. Dominic glanced back at Shoshanna, then shrugged.

Nervous energy fluttered in her chest. What exactly were they planning, and why did they have to hide it? It took a tremendous amount of willpower to not blurt out speak English! but she didn’t want another scolding from Dominic, who had a way of making her feel like a slimy little worm.

She thumbed through her phone. Who else was she supposed to call? Ruby was a green witch with connections to every practitioner in the city, but she had no hand in vampire politics. With his ties to both vampires and witches, her father might have been able to give her advice, but unless she could raise the dead, that ship had long sailed.

It was well after midnight when they pulled off the highway and into a ritzy suburb. A wooden sign read Midnight Springs in ornate calligraphy. Her stomach plunged as she watched the buildings blur by. Even the chain restaurants and stores were built from monotonous stacked stone, uniform in their cookie-cutter fanciness. Of course this unnaturally clean and bright pocket of suburbia was home to bloodsucking monsters.

They drove past the edge of town and turned down a private drive. Mounted in a high brick wall, a wrought iron gate blocked the drive. Rising over the wall, she could make out the peaked roof of a big house against the silhouette of Georgia pines. Dominic pressed a button on a remote clipped to the visor, and the gate silently swung open. “You’d better tell him,” Dominic said to Paris. “He’ll take it the best from you.”

“Tell who what?” Shoshanna asked.

Dominic parked in front of the huge house, a gorgeous two story with a Victorian facade. It had clearly been updated over the years, but there was a sense of age to it, like it had been here long before the rest of the town. There was a cool, tingling energy around the place, and a thrumming undercurrent of natural energy that she often missed living in the city.

Paris gritted his teeth and headed for the house. The red door closed behind him, and Dominic turned to glance at her. “This house belongs to one of ours,” Dominic said. “You’ll stay here until we make other arrangements.”

Her jaw dropped. “I’m sorry, what? You want me to shack up with a strange vampire? Absolutely not.”

Dominic folded his arms and stared down at her. “Don’t be melodramatic. You’ll never even cross each other’s paths. There are far worse fates.”

Tears stung at her eyes. “We’re not all superpowered, you dick. A vampire just stalked me home and broke into my house. Then another terrifying vampire crushed his face in her bare hands. Now you want me to have a sleepover with a complete stranger who is equally as terrifying as the rest of you. Forgive me for being scared.”

His stern expression softened slightly. It might have been the tiniest shred of compassion, or maybe just indigestion. “You have nothing to fear here. Alistair is one of our brothers,” he said. “No one would know to come here, and if they did, Alistair would quickly make them regret coming within a mile of this place. He will not lay a hand on you. I swear it.”

She pursed her lips. This was why she didn’t want anything to do with vampire politics. “After this, I’m done with the Blade of Auberon. Let Eduardo know.”

He shook his head sadly. “I don’t think you are,” he said. “If you want the benefits of our protection, then you owe us something in return.”

“Great,” she said. “So you guys pull me into your crap, and now I’m the one who has to pay—”

“That isn’t—”

The red door flew open, and Paris practically ran out onto the big porch. Despite his forced smile, he looked uneasy. “Welcome to your home away from home, Shoshanna.”

5

It had been at least a decade since Alistair and Paris had gotten into a proper tussle, with claws and fangs and the occasional gouged eye. Their scuffle in the alley behind the bar barely counted. With Paris’s unwelcome visit and even more unwelcome announcement, Alistair realized it was well past time to put his friend in his place. Perhaps a stake in his belly would drive the point home.

“Did you just say that you brought a human to stay here?” Alistair said, glaring over the edge of his manuscript. He’d been having a perfectly lovely evening alone with a Tchaikovsky piano concerto and a tall glass of A-negative.

---