Page 5 of Maddie

Noah drew a steadying breath.Sure, he did…“Come inside, and I’ll put on some tea.”

“You’re not listening!” she shouted, ripping herself from his grip. “I don’t have time to make you believe me. I only came back to tell you that I love you. And … and goodbye.”

His mouth fell open and he blinked, not understanding. “What are you talking about?”

“A … friend will be coming soon to help me.” She paced back and forth, her vinyl Mary Janes clicking on the pavement as she mumbled incoherently to herself.

Noah searched the garden path for Alice’s purse. If he could get his hands on her phone, he could call one of the friends she went out with tonight. Ask if they’d seen anything. Maybe someone slipped something into her drink, but he didn’t want to get the police involved without knowing more. When she’d started acting out in little ways to find herself, Noah was proud of her, but he was also worried how far she would take her new freedoms. The piercings and vampire clubs were one thing, but he’d made her swear to never touch drugs. If she broke that promise tonight, they would fucking talk about it in the morning.

“Let’s wait for your friendinside,” he urged. A murmured voice sounded behind the gate and Noah spun to face it, putting himself between his sister and whateverfriendwas coming.

“This should be it,” a man whispered.

“We need to hurry,” a woman urged. “Maybe we should knock on the door, or I can shimmy through a window?”

“She said she would wait in the back garden, so no one saw us.”

Noah glanced at his sister over his shoulder. “Are these your friends?”

“I don’t know.” She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “It was just supposed to be the Knave.”

“Thewhat?”Knave? Noah shook his head at the ridiculous nickname. “Never mind. I’ll get rid of them. Go inside.”

“Wait!” Alice called after him as he approached the gate and swung it open.

A man wearing black trousers and a matching long-sleeve shirt with rope-like rips stood on the other side. A young woman, a head shorter than him, flanked his side. The street lamp behind the duo cast the woman’s face in shadow, but she wore an odd hat pinned to the side of her purple hair.

She stepped forward, her hands toying with the skirt of her dress. “Is Alice here?” Her honey-colored gaze shifted past him, her fingers tapping anxiously at her thighs.

Something about the pair made the hair on Noah’s arms rise. He couldn’t put his finger onwhy, but he knew instinctually they were up to no good. “Sorry, she’s not seeing anyone tonight.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not an option,” the man said, and promptly pushed Noah aside before entering the garden.

Chapter Three

Maddie

This wouldn’t go well. A simple task was what Maddie needed. Simple would not be today.

“Noah!” Alice screamed, her dark hair and blonde roots bouncing. Maddie prayed that every door in the building would remain shut. Influencing all the neighbors to go away would waste precious moments.

She assumed the ridiculous blond man, who Ferris shoved out of the way, was Alice’s brother. Ferris wasn’t one to get aggressive, but they didn’t have time to deal with this mortal slowing things to a snail’s pace.

Noah pushed off the wall and Maddie adjusted her hat, knowing what he was going to do next as he zeroed in on Ferris. She supposed she should intervene before Ferris, who was too focused on Alice, received a hit to his pretty face.

Leaping forward with the grace of a predator, she clutched Noah’s shirt and hauled him back, just as he was about to slam his fist into Ferris.

“What the hell?” Noah growled, attempting to whirl around to face Maddie.

Alice watched with wide eyes as Ferris spoke quickly to her, calming her while Maddie finished dealing with her brother.

Despite her thinner frame, she used her immortal strength to yank him down so he was eye level with her, his back in an awkward position. Her nose skimmed his throat as she drifted closer to his ear, but she couldn’t stop herself from inhaling his cedarwood scent and the crimson buried below his skin, all with the bitter scent of coffee mixed in. She’d had a snack in her teacup back in Wonderland before she left with Ferris, but it had been cold. The warm blood flowing through Noah’s throbbing vein tempted her. To keep her heart beating, she, and every other vampire, needed blood. It had always been that way in Wonderland. At least, since she’d been there. She yearned for a taste of his blood.No time.

“Listen to me,” Maddie sang while he cursed and jerked in her grasp, “and listen well. We are not the threat to your sister. She’s in danger, and you need to stop fighting us. If I release you, will you do as I say?”

He nodded. Yet by the way his full lips pursed, she knew this wouldn’t be the end of it. But she would let him lose his first chance.

Maddie let go of him, and he spun to face her just as she foresaw.Dear humans, always making bold, yet terrible mistakes.

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