I fought to remain conscious, to reach the dagger in my boot, to do something other than let this asshole finish me off. The temporarily stunned vamp was already on his feet again, stumbling toward me with rage in his eyes, fangs bared, mouth practically foaming for a taste…
Someone slammed into us from behind, breaking me out of my captor’s relentless hold and knocking me to the ground as another man—the bartender, I realized—staked my two attackers in quick succession.
Guess I’m not the only one good with the stabby, pokey bit…
I caught his gaze and managed a quick smile of thanks, then turned my attention to the guy who’d knocked me down.
Thefaewho’d knocked me down. Half-vampire too, I realized, dressed in a three-piece black Nehru suit that perfectly hugged his leanly muscled frame.
My mind spun.
How was this possible?
He was partially on top of me from the fall, one hand cradling the back of my head, lips muttering my name like a prayer. His long hair brushed across my face, a fall of silver waves and intricate braids I itched to run my fingers through.
Only the strongest magick could erase time, and there was no magick more powerful than scent for yanking you right back into the past. It washed over me like a dark curse—the particular mix of bergamot and rain that could only belong to him.
Butterflies danced through my insides, my heartbeat quickening.
When I finally found the courage to meet his eyes, my breath hitched, and not just because his weight was half-crushing my lungs.
Five years ago, he walked out of my life without so much as a goodbye… and crushed my fucking heart.
“Elian,” I whispered.
Accidentally.
Shit.
His molten silver gaze swept down to my lips, then back to my eyes. A cocky grin curved his mouth, tugging slightly higher on the left.
It did things to me, that crooked grin. Always had. Bad things. Stupid things. And before I knew it, I was grinning right back at him.
Elian brushed his thumb across my lower lip, eyes sparkling, his touch making me shiver. “Still dreaming of me, little sparrow?”
“I am,” I admitted.
Then, just to prove it, I did something I’d beendreamingabout every day for the last five years.
I punched that sexy, silver-eyed fae-hole right in the mouth.
4
ELIAN
Mouth full of blood, aching jaw, and a throbbing hard-on I couldn’t do a damn thing to fix?
Not exactly the made-for-tv reunion I would’ve scripted, but it could’ve been worse.
After what I’d put Haley Barnes through, I was lucky my cock was still attached to my body.
“Ouch!” she hissed, jerking away from my touch. “Careful.”
“Damn it, Haley.” I tipped her head to the side and got back to work. “Hold still.”
Normally I liked a woman squirming on my desk, but the bullshit with those vampires made my blood boil. Inspecting the gaping holes in Haley’s neck, it was all I could do not to smash something. Vampire skulls would’ve been my first choice, but Jax was already dealing with those fuckers.
Now, alone in my office with the woman I’d ghosted five years ago for the first time since my big disappearing act, I was seriously regretting sending away the demon.
