Page 59 of Night of the Vampire
With a surge of strength that came from the darkest depths of my instincts, I threw them off of me. But I only got one step in before they were on me again, holding me back.
"Killian! What the fuck, man?" Brogan shouted. "Why are you trying to kill Jamal?"
There was a roaring sound in my head. I couldn't answer him. All I felt was the need to kill.
"Because I saw Lizzy earlier tonight," Jamal told him calmly. "His newly discovered mate." Taking a step closer to me, he stuck his face right into mine.
I snapped at him, aiming for his throat, but I was pulled away before I could feel my fangs tear into his flesh.
"Why are you instigating this?" Elias asked him calmly. "You do know he'll kill you?"
"Yeah, I know." Jamal ran a hand over his head. "Jesus, Killian. We talked, man. That's it. That's all. I tried to talk to her."
"What in the names of the gods did you need to talk to her about?" Brogan asked.
"And why the hell didn't you just bring her back to...to...wherever the fuck she disappeared from?" Elias added. "This one was about to send us out hunting for her."
"Because she needs a few days to herself and I promised her I would give her that."
Dae's grinning face blocked Jamal from my line of vision. "Hey, man. What's going on?"
"He's trying to kill Jamal," Elias told him.
"Again?"
"I think it's for real this time," Brogan said on a grunt as he dug in his heels and I felt his arm tighten around my midsection. "Apparently, he had the gall to talk to Killian's mate."
"I can smell her on you!" I hissed around Dae's head.
"You have a mate?" Shocked surprise replaced Dae-Jung's usual grin. "Like a real mate? No shit! When did this happen?"
"I would guess recently, since neither Brogan nor I knew about it until Killian decided to take out Jamal tonight."
Dae was suddenly pushed out of my line of vision and Jamal was once again within in my reach. "Let me go!" I roared.
Elias grabbed my chin, turning my face until I looked at him. "We're not letting you kill Jamal, Killian. You'd never forgive yourself when you came back to your senses. So, you might as well just chill the fuck out and maybe listen to what our brother has to say." His eyes suddenly swung around the club as the distant sound of screams came to my ears. "Dae," Elias said. "Take care of that, will you?" Lifting his chin, he indicated the source of the screaming.
"But I'll miss all of this," Dae complained. "They're not going anywhere. I sent Kenny home and locked the door as soon as I saw all of the commotion over here."
"Just do it. I'll fill you in later," Brogan promised.
"Fine." With a heavy sigh, he stomped away. A few seconds later, the screaming stopped. From the corner of my eye I saw seven women heading to the front door, talking in small groups, and gesturing happily. Not one of them looked our way.
Not that I would have cared.
"Jamal, you'd better start talking," Elias told him. "This little Irish shit is stronger than he looks."
My rage focused on Elias for a brief second.
"I meant that in the nicest way," he told me.
Jamal rolled his eyes. "Look, I ran into her and her dog on my way here. I asked her if we could talk. That's it. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"Why do you fucking care?" I spit out. "She's not yours to worry about."
He became completely still. "Because she's a person, Killian. She's a person who had no idea we even existed until a day ago. In that one day, she was coerced to the swamp, forced to feed Kenya, saw two vampires fighting it out, and was informed she was one of those vampire's fated mate. She wasn't given a choice, Killian. She was thrown into this world just like I was. Hell, she just barely found out she's a witch! It's a LOT for someone to take in. And I just wanted to make sure she was okay. That's all."
Fighting my instinct to kill this other vampire who had dared to touch my mate, I managed to grit out, "Then why do you have her scent all over you?"
