Page 55 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

The bastard had me, and he knew it.

Madison and Vera’s silence told me they knew it too.

“Nothing big,” Cecil said.

“That sentence is always followed by something big,” Vera pointed out.

Cecil gave me a humorless smile, all wicked-sharp teeth. “Just a few bags of blood. I’ve been reading up on witches, and I hear you taste better than you smell.”

My eyes narrowed. “No.”

“Wait, why not?” Madison leaned toward me. “That’s actually not a big ask from a vampire.”

“I’m a blood witch. My blood has power in it. Which is why he wants it.” I gestured toward Cecil. “And if Liam finds out you asked, I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill you.”

“Changepretty suretodamn confident,” Vera said.

“That’s fine. You don’t have to agree.” Cecil stretched his arms out behind his head. “But I’ve got more than a dozen vampires positioned throughout this restaurant.”

I looked around, and found multiple sets of eyes trained on our table.

The magic they all possessed confirmed what he said.

They were vampires.

“At this point, you can give me your blood willingly. Or we can take it, and hand you to the witches afterward,” Cecil finished.

“After you’ve had my blood, you won’t hand me to a witch. You’ll be addicted,” I said bluntly.

“You can hope,” Cecil said confidently.

“Fine.” I had to grit the word out.

He was right; what other choice did I have? Even with a bag of his blood, I couldn’t take down a dozen vampires. I’d need a hell of a lot more than the ten seconds I’d have to craft any kind of magic.

Sometimes, being a witch fucking sucked.

“Don’t do it. We can handle them,” Vera urged.

Madison coughed, clearly taken aback by the kelpie’s statement. “Uh, yeah.”

Maybe Vera could fight, but Madison clearly couldn’t. Neither could I.

Cecil ignored them straight-up. “My phlebotomist is going to set up right here and get the first few bags. At the first sign of any of you trying to flag Liam down, we take Sage to the witches.” He stood, flashing me another grin. “Pleasure doing business with you. If any of you tell Liam anything, we’ll hand you back to your coven in a heartbeat.”

“Fuck off,” Madison growled.

Vera met my gaze as Cecil strode away. “You don’t have to do this.”

My gaze tracked him. “I think I do.”

There was no way around giving him my blood. Not at the current moment.

But if Liam was going to keep running things, and if we were going to seal a mate bond, I needed to make it clear to everyone in his resort that I could protect myself.

Not in a fight, obviously. I lacked those skills completely.

I had other gifts, though.