Page 33 of Dark Flame

The newly changed vampire manoeuvres himself to his feet, swaying with his shitty balance after hundreds of years of perfect poise. He’s upright, but with a harsh cry, abruptly falls to his hands and knees again, adopting a position identical to the one he was in moments ago.

Blood pours from his mouth in a wave, and I yank Sinclair away from the mess. He gurgles, his brown eyes screaming with a silent plea:Help me!

Another choke, a sob, and he slumps to the floor, his mouth open as blood slowly pours out.

Sinclair makes a noise while Cedric curses, stepping towards the buyer. He crouches and checks the pulse he had for the few short minutes, feeling for what we can both hear has stopped beating.

“He’s dead,” I state before Cedric can announce it.

He jerks his head in a nod. “What happened?”

Exactly what I’d like to know.

Satisfaction from seconds ago dwindles as my gaze narrows on the witch. “You. You did something to your blood.” I’m by her side instantly, grabbing her arms and hauling her to my chest so she can get a front-row view of my fangs before they jam into her neck to drain her until she’s dead. May as well get some use out of her. “What the fuck did you do?”

Fear radiates from her in a sour scent, and she tries to fight, her little attempts nothing short of pathetic. Her eyes are blown out, her skin a bit paler than normal, making the freckles pop. “I, I swear, I have no idea. It didn’t work on you either, so maybe I’m broken?”

“On you?” Cedric approaches, getting annoyingly close to Sinclair. Too close, and I feel that rumble in my chest that demands he back the fuck up.

Before I kill my oldest and best friend, I demand, “Leave, Ced. Forget what you saw here. I’ll be in touch.”

“Alec—”

Sinclair practically lights up with excitement at hearing my first name.

Damn him.

“Cedric.Go.”

He sees my face, nods, and is out the door instantly, leaving me and the witch who has a whole lot to answer for.

“I’ll repeat. What. The fuck. Did youdo?”

“Nothing!” She yanks on my unyielding hold until her skin turns red. The sleeves of the dress she has no right to be wearing slip farther down her arms, and it takes every bit of restraint not to rip it from her body, to protect the material. “It worked; he turned human. We all saw it!”

“He didn’tstayhuman.”

“That’s not my problem.” Her face tips up defiantly, but beneath that very defiance, fear is crumbling her walls. A few more seconds and I’ll make it into nothing more than rubble. “It’s over,Alec. Let me go home.”

She’s making demands when I’m barely clinging to my sanity. Watching fuckingyearsof effort and centuries of revenge become meaningless. I have her lovely throat in my grip before realizing what I’m doing, walking into her until she steps back, my grasp the only thing preventing her from tripping.

“Test me, witch,I dare you.” My hold tightens. “If you’re truly useless, your life is now meaningless.”

She isn’t, not yet.It’s the mantra I repeat to myself so I don’t accidentally kill her, because until I know for certain, she might still have her uses. Amidst the fog coating my vision, I consider what she said. That the cure worked to transition him, though mortality didn’t remain.

So before I tear her throat out or call back every single one of those very eager and hungry vampires to hand her over to them for the slaughter, I pick her up and run her straight down to the dungeon, opening the door nearest the exterior one and dropping her into the smallest cell. She stole my sanity, so I’ll steal the bit of space the other one gave her.

Don’t hurt her.

And, of course, that pesky voice that won’t leave me alone. The instinct that says to hunt, chase, and feed from her is the same one demanding I leave her be.

I’ll listen to neither and leave her to rot until I figure this out.

She scrambles to her hands and knees, eyes darting around the dark cell as recognition sets in. I shut the door as she reaches for it, hands clenching around the poles. She presses her face into them, and then dares use my name in her plea. As though she hasanyright to beg me for shit after what she’s done.

“Alec, please, you can’t leave me in here!”

I laugh, one full of darkness that channels my every ounce of hatred towards her into it. “Oh, believe me, witch, I certainly can.”