Page 57 of Livewire Witch

Yep. Whatever shit went down today has created a different dynamic between the two of them.

Good. My big dumb fuck of a brother deserves to be happy. And he could be, so long as he stays out of his own way.

I wonder if he realizes yet that she’s pretty perfect for him. The way she stands up to him without intimidation. Her inner fire and strength combined with her softness suit him.

Fabian stands a little removed from this scene, his fingers twitching. His attention is focused entirely on Silver while she’s looking at Z, and the furrow in Fab’s brow is as deep as I’ve ever seen it.

He shakes his head jerkily. Once, twice. Like he’s trying to dislodge something, before he pulls himself together and slaps Zeph on the shoulder.

As soon as the two of them have disappeared out of the room, Dante’s posture droops.

“Sorry, Angel. Your scent is pretty potent,” he apologizes. “Wasn’t sure how much longer I could take.”

“That’s what Simpson said,” Silver replies.

Dante stiffens, leaning forward until his bent arm is almost resting on my leg. “And who might that be?”

I’d like to know that too.

“Didn’t Zeph fill you in while I was unconscious?”

“We’ve come to a mutual agreement that we pretend the other doesn’t exist. It seems to work better than outright insults, but does limit conversation somewhat,” Dante replies drily.

“Oh. Right.” Silver pushes herself off my lap, so that she’s sitting beside me instead. She then tucks her feet under her, like she’s trying to make herself as small as possible.

“Simpson is the vampire that cursed Fabian. That gave him the tainted blood. We found him at one of those nests you told us about.”

My eyes widen. “You found him? He didn’t—”

“I’m not cursed.” She shakes her head and then tangles her fingers with mine, somehow knowing that I need to feel her.“Nor is Zeph. Apparently, he only had enough of the tainted stuff to hurt Fabian. They wanted a raging, feral blood mage on the loose. And Simpson thought my blood smelled so good. He was planning on keeping me as his little pet.” Her tone is dangerously casual, but I stiffen at the words, anyway.

“He what?” Dante’s voice is barely more than a growl.

Yep, ditto, man. What the fuck?

“He’s dead, right?”

Although I’m not sure if I’d rather he was already dead or if I can tear his head off myself.

“He will be soon, if he isn’t already,” Dante rumbles, sounding as fierce as I’ve ever heard him.

Invested.

Typically, Dante is pretty aloof. Calm. Almost detached to an unhealthy degree. But this seems to have piqued his interest. And his ire.

“Not sure,” Silver says with a shrug. “Zeph blasted him and I must have passed out again. I only regained consciousness after we got here.”

“She used too much magic. Exhausted herself again.” Dante’s tone is accusatory, like we’re not doing a good job in taking care of her.

What he doesn’t realize is that Silver’s her own woman. She doesn’t need us to be monitoring her magic use.

Although... maybe I should stick with her from now on. Plaster myself to her back, just in case.

“Fuck, I can’t believe you found him and he hurt you.”

“That wasn’t even the worst part,” Z says, striding back into the room with a towel around his hips and Fabian’s jacket stretched tight over his shoulders. He has it partly zipped, but there’s no chance of it covering his chest. I smirk at the sight but keep my teasing to a minimum. I know the reason he’s so lairyabout being around vamps in general, especially about being vulnerable in front of them.

“Did you know that there are vamps trying to take over the city?” Zeph directs this at Dante, leaning heavily against the far wall with his arms folded over his chest. The motion causes an ominous tearing sound to come from his direction and he grimaces, shooting Fabian an apologetic look.

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