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Century-Long Lothario

“MEIN SCHATZ, PLEASEopen your eyes...”

I blinked away whatever remnants of the unexpected magical attack remained, suddenly in Phillip’s arms as the disheveled Hunter carried me to the car. “What happened?”

“Well, das Schwein fled.”

“Das Schwein?”

The Hunter grunted, clearing his throat and looking away. “It’s vulgar. Never repeat it.”

“Oh, but it’s fine for you?”

“Naturally,” the man carrying me said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “I’m a crass bastard and you’re a lady.”

“Is that sarcasm, or did you actually hit your head earlier?” He must’ve gotten a pretty good head knock if he thought I was in any way, shape, or form a lady.

Phillip chuckled despite his eyes staying vigilant and strong arms holding me impossibly close to his chest. “Neither. Just don’t want to be castrated if you ever utter it around Rose.”

“Grams has much bigger things to castrate you for, promise. What’s it mean, anyway?”

“Curious?”

Ugh.

Bantering with the snarky bastard when my head still suffered an after-attack fog wasn’t easy, and I’d rather not waste energy on a phrase I could easilyGooglelater.

“We’re getting off topic,” I complained, still a little woozy. “What happened after the magical explosion?”

Phillip’s eyes scanned the world around us, clearly expecting an ambush. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Well, that’s fabulous,” I said, sighing. “What now?”

Gently, Phillip put me down on the passenger seat and took a knee in front of me. “He’s bound by our blood oath, so we’re in the clear where that’s concerned. But Cash didn’t bloody explain what he meant when he said your magic was different. It’s going to take some time to track the bastard down again, especially with Eros tailing us.”

Great. We’d come to this hellish club to get answers and only got more questions instead. Some birthday this was turning out to be.

Cassius hadn’t gone into detail about why my parents questioned my birth or what facility they were looking into. I assumed a lot of it delved into this awesome new shitstorm the Dark Fae unleashed when he claimed I was a sparkly new creation. It wasn’t clear what I truly was, but what I did know was I could expect nothing was the same. I wasn’t the same.

Sitting there, I already sensed the change in my body. The foreign sensation moved beneath my skin and brought every nerve to life. Like the morning I woke up with my blood awakened, I felt different. Stronger. Immeasurably powerful. Damn near invincible.

Shit.

Gaze straying, I took in the messy appearance of my vampire hunter counterpart, his torn clothing and disheveled hair not at all like the Austrian. Outside of sex, it was the first time I’d seen Phillip look so...messed up. If it hadn’t been for another evening jam-packed with fucked up realities, I’d revel in the arrogant jerk taken by surprise.

But inside, I was screaming.

Gone were the days where vamps were all I had to worry about. Gone were the moments of bemoaning a night spent out tracking a vamp gone astray. Gone were the complaints of a teenage girl who didn’t understand the never-ending stream of emotions plaguing her thoughts.

Now I had bigger things to worry about.

Granted, I never expected it to be easy once the training wheels were off and I was assigned my very first big girl mission. The life of a Hunter, as it was explained to me from early on, was one of long nights, of increasingly dire circumstances, of endless near-death experiences. You know, not to brag or anything. Rarely did Hunters go on and on about all their free time. Not that I knew many outside of Phil, Kris, and Sloan.