Page 23 of Secret of the Vampire
“Or it was just cloaking itself from you.”
Oh gods, that hadn’t even crossed my mind. I began to shudder uncontrollably, my emotions, as always, quick to change. “I didn’t even think about that.” I really hated vampire emotions sometimes.
But, surely, Alex would’ve still been able to feel it. Right? He was a warlock. Wouldn’t he have been able to feel it? He said he could feel it…
Between one breath and the next, I was wrapped up in Jamal’s arms. He smelled like cheap, flowery perfume from the lap dances he’d performed tonight, and it was enough to make me wrinkle my nose and ground me into the here and now. Closing my eyes, I returned the hug and allowed myself to feel safe in his arms with his strength wrapped around me. A big brother who would always be there to chase away the bullies. Something I’d never had in my human life.
Instead, I’d had the joy of being bounced around foster homes until I’d gotten too old. Then I was thrown out into the streets to survive on my own. Or not. Nobody had really cared about a nerdy girl who loved to read but didn’t have the money for college. A girl who’d barely made the rent on her dingy, one room apartment. A girl who, for the next twelve years of her life, could only get jobs waiting tables or parking cars. Until one night when I’d gotten caught by some nervous muggers walking back to the restaurant where I’d worked after I’d parked a customer’s BMW. The gun going off had been an accident. Or, at least, that’s what the one guy had screamed to the other after he’d shot me.
And that’s when Killian had found me and given me a family.
I heard the distant click of the lock on the front door. Before I even had time to open my eyes and see who it was, Jamal was ripped from my arms so fast his netted shirt was left hanging in my fingers where it had been torn from his body. He slammed into the wall at the back of the club and slid down to the stage, his bare back squeaking on the mirror that covered it.
With a hiss, I tossed Jamal’s shirt to the floor and leapt over the bar to face whoever—or whatever—had just come into the club. Landing in a crouch, I immediately rose to my full height again and sheathed my fangs, pushing my glasses up on my nose to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. “Alex?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a blur of movement and jumped in front of the warlock before Jamal ripped his throat out. “Stop!” I held up my hands, pushing him away from us.
There was a growl behind me, answered by Jamal’s hiss.
“Do not touch her,” Alex said softly.
A shiver ran up my spine at the possessive timbre of his voice.
Jamal caught it, too, his head tilting to the side as his eyes went from Alex to me and back again. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want with her, witch.”
Alex stalked around me, and I caught a glance of his expression from the corner of my eye. It was enough to give me pause. Just for a second, but it was enough to give him time to send Jamal across the room again with nothing but a wave of his hand.
“Alex! Stop!”
He spun toward me so fast I took a step back. “Why was he holding you?” he roared.
Confused, I tried to see around him to check on Jamal, who was back on his feet and heading our way, a murderous expression on his face. If he managed to get ahold of Alex, there was no doubt in my mind he would rip him in half before I could stop him.
Taking a step to the side to put myself between them, I held up my hand. “Jamal, stop. Please. Let me explain.”
“He’s not the one you should be worrying about right now,” Alex told me. “Why was he holding you?”
“Because I was scared,” I snapped at him. “Not that it’s any of your damned business!”
He stilled, and I felt his magic retract just a bit. “Why?”
This really wasn’t the time to get into all of that. “What are you doing here?” I asked him, keeping one eye on Jamal who was pacing silently behind Alex’s back, looking for an opening. “Jamal!”
His dark eyes flicked to mine, but he didn’t stop moving.
I threw both arms out to the side between the two males. “Jamal, stop. Please. Just…just give me a damn minute.”
“Make him leave,” Alex ordered. “Or I will.”
“You won’t lay a hand on him.” I stuck my finger in his face in full-on schoolteacher mode.
He wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. “I won’t have to. He’ll never get close enough.”
I dropped my arm. Alex was right. Witches were the only ones who had the upper hand on vampires. Taking a risk, I stopped watching Jamal and moved closer to Alex. Something like a purr, or maybe another growl, rumbled in his chest, and I laid my hand over the spot, feeling an answering response shoot through me. “Please, let me explain to him what’s going on, and then we can talk.”
After a long, tense moment, he gave me a terse nod.
“Thank you.” Leaving Alex where he was, I went to Jamal. “Let’s go into the back.” I knew there was no way he would listen to me with Alex standing right there, just begging for a fight. “Come on, Jamal.” I walked away, heading toward the back office and hoping he would follow me. By the time I entered the hall, I heard him behind me and breathed a sigh of relief.
