Page 58 of Blood Magic

Chapter Twenty-Three

Because some of his punishment had been taken away—by me—the county master was sentenced to three months in the earth, but his time to be wrapped and buried would not begin for another three days. That would give him time to make plans for his clan. His second—a thin vampire named Novak—would temporarily rule in his absence.

By the time they dragged him away, Frederick Axton was quiet. I was sure that if he thought he could get away with it, he’d push the boundaries again. Someday. Right now he had a few days before spending three months—a mere blip in the long, long life of a vampire—to get his house in order before his forced absence.

“What’s your name?” I asked the man. I didn’t want to keep thinking of him as a vampire’s human slave. I also didn’t want to look at him for too long, because there was just too much bad shit going on inside his head. I didn’t know what his life had been like before Axton had taken him, but his life after Axton would have been only horror.

“Zachariah Keller. Zach.”

He didn’t look at me, just slid down in his seat and stared out the window. He smelled peculiar, like old blood, dusty old attics, and damp basements. I couldn’t help but shudder.

Someone pecked on my window and I jerked around, frowning when I saw Bastien standing outside. He waited, his eyes blank, for me to put down my window.

I didn’t miss the way Zach seemed to fold in on himself with the arrival of the vampire. He was going to need some help for his mental state. He couldn’t run out and get a therapist, but I knew a few supernaturals who could benefit him. My mother, for one.

“Yes?” I asked.

Bastien’s stare went past me and for a few seconds, he looked only at the ravaged man beside me. There was something considering in his gaze, and I didn’t like it. He was a predator and he looked at Zach like he was prey.

“Bastien,” I said, impatient. “What do you want?”

He snapped his stare to mine. “A vampire’s wolf will need a vampire at her back. I wanted to let you know that I will be your…” He shrugged. “Shadow.”

What did I say to that? Thank you? Awesome? I don’t need a damn shadow, Vampire? I sighed. “Just because I dug you up doesn’t mean—”

“Yes,” he interrupted. “It does.”

And almost faster than I could track him, he was gone.

I started the car, then glanced at Zach. “Buckle up.”

He didn’t move.

“Zach. Please. I don’t want to crash and put you through the windshield.”

He looked at me, finally, and I had to fight not to look away. There was too much emotion in the blank canvas of his face, and I didn’t know what to do with it. “I’m free because of you. Maybe I owe you. We’ll see. But don’t mother me.”

I nodded and started to back out of the lot, but just as I put the car into the gear to get the hell out of there, one of Adam Thorne’s goons jumped in front of my car and slammed his palms down on the hood.

“Shit.” I thought seriously about running him over. Then Adam joined him, and another of his goons, and the three of them just stared at me through the windshield. No one else had come out of the church yet, and I knew that Adam had deliberately come out to find me.

Zach straightened. “Give me one of your blades.”

“It’s okay,” I told him. “The asshole is just posturing. He knows not to fuck with me.”

He held out his hand, palm up. He was shirtless, and though I tried not to stare, more than half of his exposed skin—including his wrists and forearms—was scarred. Some of the scars were fresh, some were old. As his master, Axton could easily have wiped away the wounds after he’d fed. He hadn’t.

“Zach, you don’t even have shoes on. Let it go.” Then it occurred to me that he probably wasn’t offering to get out of the car and fight—he just needed a weapon to defend himself. Ashamed of myself for thinking every male was eager to kick ass, I turned and grabbed one of my longer blades from the floorboard behind his seat.

I wanted to tell him not to worry, that I was more than capable of protecting him, but I wasn’t sure he’d appreciate such a sentiment. The poor guy had been—

He shoved open his door, slung his hair out of his face, and did some sort of intricate twirl with his new blade. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Zach!” I fumbled to open my door in my hurry, then jumped from the car.

“Bring it, Blood Bag,” one of the goons taunted Zach. “We’ll do what the fucking council couldn’t and kill your whore ass.”

Zach killed him. He charged almost gracefully toward him, whirled, and nearly decapitated the wolf. In three seconds.