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He licks the drop of my blood off his lip like it’s something to savor.
That is it. This guy is too weird. “I’m going to find my friend.”
He grabs my arm, and I stomp on his toe with my high heeled witchy boot. He laughs. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Let me go.” I try to pull away, but he’s too strong.
“I’ve been watching you and waiting for a dance. For a kiss. For a taste.”
“No.” I’m making a scene and people are starting to look.
He lowers his voice and stares at me. “I caught you. Now you are mine.”
“The witch said no.” His voice is deep and gravelly, and my panties get wet immediately.
I don’t need to turn to know who spoke. The barbarian has stepped in and I am more than ready to be saved from the vampire.
4
Kov
Iknew the witch would lure the vampire out, but I didn’t expect him to be so bold. Or should that be desperate? My stomach turned at the sight of him pawing at her, and while I can’t kill him in the middle of a human party, I will kill him tonight.
Her, I need to take home to Fairy. Magic doesn’t belong in this world, and if left, it will disrupt everything. It’s why the hunt is so important, even though some ride only for fun—if they sense a witch or a vampire, they are meant to drop out and either catch or kill.
The vampire releases her with a sly grin. He knows what I am. Neither of us are in costume tonight. “I have already claimed her.”
He grabs her hand and lifts it, revealing the bloody cut.
Among vampires, that might mean something. To me, it is nothing but a scratch.
What was he once? Not a trow, as he has no horns. I doubt he is an elf, even though I can’t see his ears, as he lacks their grace. His wings, that would have once marked him as fae, might have fallen off, or he might be a shifter, which makes him extra dangerous.
“You injured a witch?” Harming one of Fairy is a criminal act, even if she is only a halfling. Humans have died for less.
“It was an accident,” the halfling at the center of our argument says. “I don’t want any trouble.”
I’m here for trouble. Now that I’m close to her, I want to sweep her onto my horse and re-join the hunt. They will celebrate my success at catching a witch, but not if I leave a vampire alive.
No fairy belongs here, not even the corrupted blood-eaters.
Did he flee from punishment in Fairy, or did he leave the hunt and never re-join?
A year and a day in the human world will turn any fairy to blood for nourishment, but tasting blood is a magic no one can undo. They are forever damaged. Those living in the human world, before they turn, usually scatter their seed, leaving others to harvest when the halflings come of age and turn twenty-one.
I give her a slow glance. She is nothing like trow women at home. They are strong and fierce and few. No, she is small like a fae. Perhaps that is where her bloodline lies.
The longer I look at her, the harder it is to look away.
“She is mine, trow.” The vampire pulls her to him.
Not if I can help it. I will kill him and claim her, before returning to Fairy.
She yelps, and I want nothing more than to tear his head off in the middle of the dance floor. Given that I am not glamoured, even in something that makes me appear human, and vampires bleed and make a mess, unless in direct sunlight, I can’t. I do not want to be captured and unable to return home myself. Maybe that is what the vampire wants: to tempt me into attacking.
“I am not yours.” She struggles to pull away. The witch has fight. I like that in a woman.
I lean in and peel his fingers off her arm, feeling the snap and crunch as I break two. The vampire blanches. “Leave her alone, vampire.”
