Blood Magic by Laken Cane

Chapter Thirty-One

I sat in the car, staring through the windshield as Bastien tended Farrow and then began to bury her beneath the healing dirt. Joe sat beside me, silent, unsure. He didn’t ask me if I was okay, and I was grateful for that. He’d helped me back to the car after Bastien had released me, tenderly tucking me into the passenger seat as though I were a battered child instead of a grown wolf.

“I’m thirsty,” I said, my voice hurting my throat, and he hurriedly left his seat to find me a bottle of water from the back.

He unscrewed the lid. “Here you go.”

I drank half of it, then the other half. “Thanks.”

“Do you feel different?” he asked, as we continued watching Bastien. He’d finished covering Farrow with the dirt and started dressing in the clothes I’d brought. He didn’t glance our way once.

“Yes,” I said. I didn’t say how I was feeling different, because that required too much thought.

He nodded, then ran his hand over his cleanshaven head. “Maybe I should have stopped you.”

“Maybe I should’ve stopped myself,” I murmured. “If it saves Rick’s life, it’ll be worth it. If not…”

“What?” He was curious, and I couldn’t blame him. “If it’s too late for the detective, will you kill that vampire?”

“I need food,” I said abruptly. “He took too much.” That was a lie, though, wasn’t it? He hadn’t taken too much. He’d taken just enough to get him over the hump, and then he’d let me go. But I was pissed because of more than feeling forced into feeding him. I was pissed because it had felt good.

I mean, it was laughable, really. He’d clung desperately to my wrist, his eyes turned up to watch me, his face destroyed with blackened, burnt fucking skin, the bone of his cheekbones shining through, and as he’d sucked the blood from my wrist, there’d been no pain. Only pleasure.

And he’d known it.

Finally, Bastien jogged to the car. Jogged, as though he hadn’t been burned nearly to death, hadn’t gone through pain most people couldn’t even imagine…

But he was a vampire. He was immortal. He’d lived lifetimes of agony and horror and loss. It was no wonder vampires were so twisted up inside. It was a wonder they could function at all.

Bastien paused at my window, then stared in at me, smiled, and pressed his fingertips to the glass.

It was a wonder they could still smile.

I closed my eyes and turned my face away from him, and finally, I heard the back door open as he climbed inside. Joe drove us away from the graveyard, and when I remained silent, he told Bastien exactly what we needed him for.

“When I’ve gotten the detective out of there,” I said, after a few minutes, “I’m not going to give the council a chance to punish Axton. I’m going to stake him, and I’ll make sure he stays dead. You may get your wish to become county master, Bastien, because your brother has reached the end of his reign.”

He didn’t ask me how I knew he and Axton were brothers. “He won’t be an easy kill, Kait.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “He’s going to die.” I’d had enough of Axton’s cruelty. And with all the anger whirling around inside me, I looked forward to taking on the county master.

Before we reached the city and the club, Bastien leaned forward. “When you have the detective and you need to leave the building, don’t go back the way you came. There’s a short tunnel exit. I’ll lead you out, but you’ll need to be prepared to fight. There are two trolls in the tunnels, and they obey only the one who made them what they are. They will try to kill us all and I am not at my full strength yet.”

“Don’t worry,” I said grimly. “I am.”

“So am I,” Joe growled.

“He can’t come,” Bastien told me. “Unless his death will not upset you.”

“It’d upset me plenty. Joe will stay in the car. Tell him where the tunnel comes out and he’ll meet us there.”

I could feel Joe glaring at me even though I didn’t look at him. “You can face them, but I can’t? Come on, Kait.”

“But she’s not—”

“Bastien,” I interrupted. “Tell him where to meet us.”

“Ah.” Bastien sat back in his seat. “Wait outside the biker bar across the street. We will come out the back exit.”

Joe stewed quietly for about two minutes, then, “Actual fucking trolls?”

Bastien laughed. “No, but they prefer that name to tunnel rats.”

“What are they?” I asked, as curious as Joe. There was so much about my city and its inhabitants that I didn’t know. “Not vampires?”

Bastien didn’t answer for a few seconds. “They’re vampires.” He hesitated. “Bad ones.”

“There are good ones?” I curled my lip, still angry.

“I am sorry, Kait,” he murmured.

I caressed my demon blade. If Bastien considered these “trolls” bad news, they were definitely some scary sons of bitches. I was going to get my fill of fighting tonight. I hoped I survived it.

“I need some protein,” I said abruptly, and Joe turned into the first fast-food drive-thru we came to. I leaned toward him to shout into the crackling speaker.

“I’ll take six double cheeseburgers, a large vanilla shake, and three large fries.” I looked at Joe. “What do you want?”

He gaped at me. “Really?”

“Sure,” I replied, not understanding at first that he was simply shocked by the amount of food I’d ordered just for myself. “Food is fuel.”

He shook his head and then added another double and a large fry to the order. “How does all that even fit into your stomach?” he muttered.

From the back seat, Bastien snickered.

I put my nose into the air and ignored them both. Joe ate as he drove, and I finished every one of my burgers—though I took the bun off the last two and only ate the meat—and slurped down my milkshake before we reached Scarlett’s ten minutes later. I did have some fries left, which Joe confiscated.

I felt immediately more energized and less morose, my emotions all gathering into one big ball of eagerness to fight. My wolf slavered and paced, and I was pretty sure I’d have to shift before the night was done.

So when Bastien and I jogged through the parking lot toward the entrance doors, I gave him a very important job. “When I shift, I’ll need you to grab my stuff.” I patted my demon blade. “Especially this. Even if you can’t get the rest, make sure you get my blade.”

“I will protect it—and you—with my life. And,” he added, “I will try to retrieve your clothing. Running out of the biker club naked would have Joe concerned.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. That was the damn truth. “What about the bikers? What do they think about the tunnel exit inside their club?”

“They’re all nonhumans. They will barely notice you.”

I nodded, then froze when someone familiar stepped out from behind a car and into my path. Remy Simon.

“Hello, Kait. I had a feeling I’d see you tonight.”