Page 11 of Blood Magic

He stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “You’re like a tiny bird in a room full of hungry cats, and you don’t even know it.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Get in, bodyguard, before I leave you here. I want to get away from this awful place.”

He slammed my door shut and hurried around to get into the passenger seat before I did as I’d threatened and left him there.

“What happened in there?” he asked as I sped out of Alexandria.

I hesitated. “I got up close and personal with a master vampire.”

He squinted. “And by up close and personal you mean…”

“He was having breakfast and sex—at the same time—with a few people. He tried to bully me, so I punched him in the face. He broke his bed when his head went through it.” I giggled. I simply couldn’t help myself. Maybe I was a little hysterical. Probably I was just nuts.

He could only gape, speechless and horrified.

Neither of us said another word all the way back to the office.

“Joe,” he said, when we walked back into the office, “you should be her bodyguard when she takes off. I’ll manage the office as I should.”

Joe snorted. “Tried to warn you.”

“So did I,” I said. “I do think he’ll listen now. It wasn’t a lot of fun and he didn’t get to do much guarding.”

“Um, it’s not because I’m afraid of them?” Max said, gesturing wildly. “It’s because I’m scared of you. You’re crazy, Kaitlyn.”

“What’d she do?” Joe asked.

Max put the back of his fist to his lips, apparently at a loss for words—and a little dramatic, even for Max. He looked around as though to make sure no one was listening, though we were the only three in the office. “She punched a very powerful, very bad man,” he hissed. “While he was naked. In front of people. Hit him so hard he cracked his headboard.” He shook his head, then dropped into his chair. “I just can’t with this girl.”

Joe looked at me and grinned. “You make a great first impression.”

“Kaitlyn.”

I stiffened and spun around, my fingers on the handle of my blade. I knew my alpha was not going to hurt me, but there was always going to be a part of me that responded to his presence with fear and suspicion. It was a kneejerk reaction that I could never seem to break.

I didn’t know how he’d sneaked up on me, either. I should have felt him when he was near me. At the very least, I should have caught his scent. And I did—after the fact. Honestly, it was as though my wolf knew when he was near, but it took a while to get to the human part of me.

Joe pushed his big body between me and the alpha, possibly because he didn’t know who Jared was—or did know and didn’t care.

The two men stared each other down until I moved from behind Joe and to show him there was no threat, I took Jared’s arm.

Max sat in his chair staring at all of us with a look of hopeful amusement. “Joe,” he said. “This man is duty-bound to protect Kait—just as we are. You can trust him. Right, Kaitlyn?”

“Jared,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

He stared at Joe for a moment more, then squeezed my hand. “Let’s take a drive.”

“I’m…” I gestured at the room. “I’m working.”

“We can watch the office for a bit,” Max said helpfully. “Go take your drive. You can relax a little and tell Jared about punching Frederick Axton in the face.”

I sighed.

“You what?” Jared glared at Max, as though it was his fault, then put his stare back on me. “You attacked the…” He glanced at Joe. “Axton? Just because you’re…different doesn’t mean you’re indestructible, Kaitlyn.”

I glanced at Joe, uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry,” Joe said. “The mayor told me you’re a psychic who talks to dead people. I’m aware of things.”