Page 84 of Outlaw Witch

He waves a hand, dismissing my words.

Not good with sympathy. Noted.

He then makes a show of checking his watch. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a business to run.”

“And I have a sacrifice to plan.” I get to my feet, offering him a shaky smile. “Well, thanks for the advice and the sandwich and for not tearing my throat out or whatever.” I grin at him.

“Let’s just hope your next attempt is successful, for all of our sakes.”

Anxiety churns in my gut. Those pictures Zeph and I looked at in the vamp book were enough to give anyone nightmares. With the state Fabian was in yesterday and the extent the curse has spread, one more chance of removing the curse is likely to be all we’re going to get.

I also feel like I’m already pushing my luck with favors with this vamp. I understand a little more of his motivations for helping me out, although I’m aware my debt to him is steadily growing.

Things need to work out. Theyhaveto. I haven’t revealed more than I want to in front of both the Nexus mages and this vampire for us not to succeed in removing the curse. I can’t even consider the alternative if the next attempt at the ritual doesn’t work.

Since I’m here right now and Dante seems to be in a giving mood, I decide to push for one more tiny favor.

“One last thing before I go.” I flutter my eyelashes at Dante, which causes him to squint at me like I might be contagious. “Do you think I could have some of your blood? It’s for a sick kid.”

When Dante just levels me with a look like I cannot be serious, I shrug at him.

“He’s a teenager. You know how tough they are to impress.”

I could not tell you what he’s thinking, but he gets to his feet and grabs a glass bottle from a cupboard without any further questions. He then nicks a minor cut in the fleshy part of his hand and drains just a little into the container.

He hands it over and I eye it speculatively. I’m not sure how sanitary this is... but then again, Seb is going to be drinking his blood, so I’m not sure how sanitary itcanbe.

“Thank you.”

He gives me a single nod. “I’ll be calling in that favor you owe me soon, Silver.”

As if I could forget.

25

Somehow, I wasted mostof the afternoon at Dante’s. By the time I’ve made my way back to The Spire, it’s early evening and already growing dark. Winter’s creeping up on us all and there’s a definite chill in the air, making me hustle back a little faster. I’m puffing and panting too, having called Luna on the way home to request another batch of the same potion.

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