Page 7 of A Fury Of Shadows

Which means he needs him for something. And that something is probably to do with theBook of Shadows.

By the time she pulled up in the garage beneath Vlad’s building in Chelsea, night had fallen. She left her scooter next to his Bentley and took the private lift to the penthouse.

Tarang greeted them with a happy rumble when she opened the front door. He brushed against her leg and nudged Brimstone and Hellreaver toward the kitchen. Mae followed them down the hall and took a peek inside the pristine, state-of-the-art space.

There were several takeout bags on the breakfast bar. Tarang and Brimstone plopped down on their haunches beside it. Their gazes swung expectantly from Mae to the food.

Her stomach growled.

“We should wait for Vlad,” she said guiltily.

A sound had her turning around. The incubus was coming down the stairs into the living area. Her mouth went dry when she clocked his half-open shirt and wet hair. She caught a whiff of his soap and shampoo.

Dammit. He smells good enough to eat.

Vlad’s hands froze on the towel he was using to dry his head. A dazzling smile lit up his handsome face. “Hey. I didn’t hear you come back.”

Mae swallowed. “We, er, just got here.”

Her gaze flitted to his chest. Her mouth parted hungrily.

Vlad’s gaze grew sultry at her expression. “Like what you see?” A devilish smile curved his mouth. Incubus charm drifted from his core on a hot wave that made Mae’s palms grow sweaty. He reached for a button. “Want me to show you the rest?”

“No!” Mae blurted out. “That would be a bad id—!”

She winced.

Vlad froze. His face crunched up. “Did you…just bite your tongue?!”

His shoulders trembled.

“Itth not funny.”

Vlad chortled and wiped a tear from his eye before coming over to kiss her forehead. “I can lick it better, Princess.”

Mae told her loins to cool it and squinted at the incubus. “I bet you say that to all the women you want to sleep with.”

Vlad cocked his head to the side. His lips quirked in a self-deprecating smile. “Possibly. But, believe it or not, I haven’t touched another woman since the day we met.”

An awkward silence descended between them.

Mae’s chest tightened. “Vlad. I—”

She stopped and clenched her fists, angry at herself for hurting him.

Vlad watched her for a moment before sighing. “I haven’t given up on becoming your consort.” He pressed his lips to her brow once more, his touch as gentle as a feather. “Now, how about we eat? I can hear Hellreaver sneakily opening one of the takeout bags from here.”

Hellreaver sucked in air.That incubus has the ears of a hellbeast, my witch!

To Mae’s relief, their dinner conversation was light and warm. Vlad told her about his day while carefully omitting the gory details of what being the heir to theBlack Devilsentailed. Mae related what had happened during her training session with Karin and Derrick and how she’d come close to breaking Anya’s Illusion Sorcery.

“Ice Fortress?” Vlad said, surprised.

Mae nodded. “Severalmost worked in combination with it. But the spell needs something else. What that is, I don’t yet know.”

“It will come to you, I’m sure,” Vlad said with a confident smile. He rose and started clearing the table. “So, you given any thought to what movie you want to watch?”

Mae blinked as she got up to help him. She’d forgotten Sunday night was movie night at Vlad’s place. “Not really.”

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