Page 57 of The Firebrand
“Blame my perverted rapist granddad. You can’t feed from another incubus, fuckwit.”
Like a whirlwind, Rein tore into the attacker. First, he was in front of Jax. Then behind him. Each time, he slashed skin with his blade, making the incubus bleed.
Having had enough fun, Rein wenttete-a-tetewith the asshole and slit his throat.
Struggling to control his thirst, craving the blood as it seeped from his victim, Rein turned his head away, reminding himself he needed to feed.
Soon.
He spun to check on Braelyn, wiping his stiletto on his pants before jamming it into its sheath. When her knees buckled, he rushed to her, catching around her waist, pulling her against his body where she burrowed into his chest.
Her breath hitched when she peeked at the carnage. “You’re deadly. And fast.”
Surveying the gory remains of their attackers once more, Brae rubbed her stomach.
“You okay?” he asked.
“The tummy’s doing sit-ups. Are you sure you had to kill them?” Braelyn stared into his eyes, her lower lip quivering.
Rein blinked, knowing his irises were bright blue, but the whites streaked with red. He concentrated on controlling his blood hunger. When his lids slid open, he was less scary.
“Yes. It was me or them. I’ve grown fond of myself.” He wiped a smudge from her cheek that had transferred from his gore-soaked shirt. “I would never hurt you, Brae.”
She stroked Rein’s jaw, her palm damp, warm. “You don’t frighten me, vampire.”
With his fingers threading into her hair, Rein bent to kiss her neck, his tongue lapping at her tempting pulse. The pull of blood combined with adrenaline was strong. His body stiffened as he inhaled her scent.
His vampire argued with him. I’m hungry for her. I fought for her. I won. I deserve to feed.
Almost as if she sensed his tension, Braelyn withdrew from his embrace, her palms fondling his biceps while she distracted him with a question. “Did you see me?”
“Yes.” Rein still fixed his gaze on her throat, the pulsing rhythm of the vein in her neck.
I thirst for this female. Just a swallow.
“I’ve never been in a fight before, but I kicked ass. I must have learned more than I thought in my self-defense class. I mean … wow … I was Bruce Lee in drag. Although this skirt makes me look like a tart, it gives me a good range of motion.”
Rein ran his tongue across his fangs, willing them to recede as her observation broke through the haze of desire. He stooped to retrieve his other knife.“I agree. You were impressive.”
Much more than expected.
His urges caged, he pivoted her around to check for injuries. “Are you hurt?”
No visible wounds.
“I’ll be sore, but everything’s intact.” She bounced her arms, jiggled her wrists, and shook out her legs. “Nothing broken. What was that all about?”
Rein rifled through the incubus’s pants, extracting a portal jumper. He crammed it into his pocket. “I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out. Come on. I’ll stash you at the stronghold while I chat with Kole. A team will take care of the bodies.”
With a hand at her back, Rein guided Braelyn along the sidewalk. Like all Firebrands, he could use his D-chip to throw a portal as long as he was outside. The number of times he could do that was limited, though, something to do with an energy drain on the device. Since he was nearing his max, he’d save it for an emergency. They’d walk to the nearest gateway. It was close.
With his thirst under lock and key, he eyeballed their surroundings, hustling toward their destination. He fixed on something he had missed earlier. “You said you knew him. What did you mean?”
“The blond-haired man. He was at the coffeehouse. You know, the same day you kidnapped me?” She paused as if expecting him to respond. “Anyway, he was right behind me. He held the door so I could get out. I remember him because his smile was breathtaking, and I regretted when he didn’t pay more attention to me. Funny, huh? Then, at the Blood Shed, I thought I recognized a guy at the bar. It was him. Strange, isn’t it? Now he tried to kill me.”
Rein gave her an absentminded nod. Jax hadn’t tried to kill Braelyn.
A puzzle.
