Page 26 of The Vampire's Hunter

Corbin swayed a little.

At his feet, Dani whimpered. “How could you? How could you?”

Coming to Corbin’s side, Luciano lifted her, gripping hold of Dani to subdue her, but she thrashed against him, struggling and screaming.

“Let ‘er go, Lu,” Corbin ordered. “Let ‘er go,” he said, a hint of Birmingham slipping into his tone for the first time in several decades, though he’d worked to hide it for centuries, to sound like a British gentleman.

Not a boy from the Birmingham slums.

The moment Luciano released her, Dani charged toward him like she’d claw off his face if she got a chance. But Corbin caught her wrists in his, loosening his hold only enough to allow her to settle for a right hook. The blow she landed was quick and efficient, like her brother had no doubt taught her. His nose was even bleeding a little.

“I suppose I deserved that,” he said, swiping away the blood at his nose. “I’m a bad man, Dani. I’m a bad man and you best get yourself out of ‘ere.”

“Corbin,” Kharis said.

Corbin lifted a hand. “Not now, Kharis. Can’t you see I’m—”

“Corbin,” Kharis shouted once more.

But Corbin wasn’t looking toward his friend. Instead, his eyes fell to Dani, to how she’d lost all the fight she had in her eyes only a moment ago.

Instead, she was staring down at her own dress, the golden silk covered in blood, her gaze wild and frantic, as she searched for wounds and found none. Mouth gaping, those wild eyes darted from her chest to his own.

Corbin glanced down then, realizing it washisblood dripping onto the floor, coating Dani’s dress from where he’d been peppered in bullets. All in a foolish attempt to shield her.

Though the damage had already been done.

That one unplanned move had cost him everything.

He blinked, swaying a little as he looked up once more. The world spun, tilting as Fox and Kharis moved toward him, and Corbin passed out with little more than a grimly muttered,

“Fuck.”

7

Corbin lay in the dark with his eyes closed as sleep failed to claim him. Unconsciousness had done so only briefly, but even that moment of respite had done little to abate his mounting frustration with himself.

What the fuck had he been thinking?

“You were healed hours ago, but you couldn’t be bothered to face your own fucked decisions, could you?” Kharis’ voice came from where he stood near the door.

Corbin opened his eyes then, staring up at the ceiling, a bottle of whiskey clutched in his hand, though he didn’t bother to look at Kharis.

Not until he’d solved this massive clusterfuck he’d created for himself.

“I warned you,” Kharis said, speaking once more. “I warned you this might happen and yet you failed to listen.” Kharis pushed away from the wall near which he stood, stalking across Corbin’s bedroom toward him. “Stay out of my sex life, Kharis,” he mocked. “She won’t be a problem, Kharis.” The underboss shook his head as he roared, “Like fucking hell she will!”

Corbin voice was cold, distant, as if it’d been raked over coals and dragged back again. “Are you finished?” he rasped, drawing the whiskey bottle to his lips and taking a generous sip.

Kharis waved a dismissive hand toward him.

“It was an error in judgement.”

“An error in judgement?” Kharis scoffed, still pacing. “You might as well have handed all our heads over to Lucien on a plate. Fucking error in judgement my arse.Ifwe survive this, we’ll be dealing with the repercussions of this for years. Decades!” he hissed.

“I said, are you fucking finished yet, Kharis, so that I might speak?” Corbin muttered from where he lay.

Kharis growled at him, only daring to do so because they were friends, because he’d earned that right over the years. Through loyalty and good judgement.

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