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What the fuck, Roman?

I’m still stewing when we pull into the parking lot. Stopping just outside the property, Margot hands Gwyn a knife, and instructs her through breaking the enchantment. Though Margot was worried, the moment Gwyn’s blood hits the earth, I feel the change of pressure in the air. The magic still recognizes what Gwyn is at her core. Hunters will always find a hearth with these fuckers. It will take a few moments for their ward to come down, but we’ll be in place by then. Gwyn’s hand is already healed when she brings it back into the car, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to lick the blood from it. I’m reminded of a far fucking simpler time when she was passed out in the front seat, and I hadn’t felt anything for her at all.

Goddammit.

Making haste, I pull into the parking lot, avoiding a pothole, and park around the side of the building. Rage builds fresh in my blood when I see Remy’s car on the other side of the chain-link fence. His beat-up Trans Am is sitting on four flat tires, and I can’t breathe. All I can do is stare.

This has all been for my brother, and I need to keep that in perspective.

Finally, after several long moments, I get my shit together. When the three of us quietly exit the car, I don’t speak to Gwyn. What is there to say?

Nico and Margot start toward the back of the building before the former turns around and nods to the car. “Forgetting something?” Gwyn looks between us, just as confused as I am. I’m sure she can hear him. “You going to command her to stay put?”

My stomach drops. “Ah, yeah, go ahead.” When I duck my head back into the car, she’s already smirking.

“You didn’t tell them?”

“No. But I don’t have to, do I? You’re going to stay put so you can see this through, right?”

She rolls her eyes. “Do I have a choice? I’m still your prisoner, aren’t I? You still know where my family lives, do you not? You have made it clear you will hunt me to the ends of the earth if I run, and who knows what you’ll do to the people I care about.” I swallow past the lump in my throat, and all I can do is nod. “Go on, Roman. I won’t risk them.”

She waves me away, focusing on the computer in her lap. I should be satisfied, content with her answer. It should make me feel better, and yet a few minutes later when I’m breaking through the access door into the tobacco shop, I can only picture her frown and hear her disdain.

When I rip off the necklace of the sorceress at the top of the basement stairs, throwing her protections off with little more than a chemical burn on my hand, I think about letting Gwyn call Sasha. If Gwyn would agree to some bullshit story to keep her safe, we could send her sister some sort of compulsion resistant necklace. I dismiss the idea when I peel the links of the witch necklace from my burning skin. It would stop another younger vampire like Margot, but these physical deterrents do very little to the stronger ones.

Running down the steps, I’m a blur as I decapitate a human running to investigate the noises. That’s when the screaming starts. There’s a loud blast, and unnatural purple smoke plumes from the end of the hall. I worry for a moment about the others, but I hear Margot laugh right before the burbling sound of someone coughing up blood.

“I’ll make you a bargain,” someone shouts before they round the corner to the hallway I’m in.

“I bargain with my teeth, demon. Are you sure?”

The demon is a lanky man with long grey hair, and his skin has a yellowish tinge to it. He smells of sick, that very specific hospital scent when someone is on the verge of death. I wonder what kind of bargain the man made. Did he get a few more good years out of it before the demon took over? He lifts his hands, and when I look past him, I see furniture being thrown and hear Nico shout in victory. I should be done with this and help.

“The doctor got to the panic room. I’ll give you the code if you let me go.”

“No deal.” I’m on him in a heartbeat, my hands wrapped around his throat when his words make sense.

“Satellite.” Cough. “Phone.”

“Margot, satellite phone?” I shout, and the demon’s eyes bulge.

“Covered. Knew they had one,” she replies, dragging a woman by a very dislocated arm. “Stop screaming,” she commands, and her target goes silent. I snap the demon’s neck, hoping the human buried deep inside is already long gone.

I let the others continue what they’re doing in the main meeting space while I check a storage room and a bathroom, finding them empty. There’s a loud bang from above me though, and I turn toward the stairs. I only see a blur of black and dark red as Gwyn whips past me, and her rich apple cider scent drags me along behind her.

29

GWYN

I dartpast Margot and evade Nico as he reaches out for me. I’d seen exactly where she went, the grey door swinging shut behind her as I’d watched from the car.

Even though I’d told Roman I would stay put, I couldn’t help myself when I saw that fucking face.

The door is made of pure silver, and it’s rough to the touch, covered in sharp points made to deter vampires. I wince as I pull away from it, and it’s enough hesitation that Roman catches up to me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he demands, his minty breath washing over my face. He lifts his arm, pointing a gun past me, and the sound ricochets through my fucking head when he fires it. I almost blink in surprise because vampires from the movies never use real weapons. They always attack with sharp teeth and lengthened claws and their super strength. They never use something as simple as a gun. And yet the body hitting the ground is still dead.

Ignoring Roman, I run my fingertips over the rubber buttons on the door. It looks like a four-digit code, and I breathe deep before keying in my first guess.