Page 33 of Twice Bitten

“Hello, Alex.”

Terror rolled down my spine at the crisp sound of Alric’s voice. I froze and debated running, before quickly discarding that idea. The Prime would catch me before I made it off the steps.

I slowly turned. Alric stood less than a foot away, impossibly beautiful. The Prime looked carved from stone, hard andimmovable. His face was a blank mask, though his eyes burned with anger. Few tricked him successfully, and I’d almost done it. One stupid movement and my ruse was uncovered. Just like scent, blood never lied.

He wore a white button-down shirt and gray slacks this time. No tie, the first two buttons of the shirt undone, showing off a pale expanse of skin. The same golden ring adorned his finger.

I swallowed and took a step back.

He was on me in an instant, inches separating our faces. “How interesting for you to suddenly come back from the dead.” He said the wordinterestinglike it was anything but.

Silas had wanted me to live. Alric thought it better that I die.

“I saw your life’s blood pumping from your body like a geyser,” Alric hissed, his eyes glowing that strange green. “How did you come back from a certain mortal wound?”

He lifted a finger and tugged on one of my curls, not gently. Pain made my eyes water.

“I’ll never forget the smell of your blood as you lay dying.” He inhaled, his nostrils flaring. “You smell like a meadow, but something dark lies within. I’ve never smelled its like before. You are not just a hedgewitch, are you?”

I wanted to take another step back, but his finger was tangled tightly in my hair, keeping my face right where he wanted. “I won’t say anything,” I swore, a tremble threading through my voice. “I-I don’t care that you were out there, and what happened was an accident. There’s no need to take this any further.”

Saying anything would not only bring Silas and Alric’s wrath down upon me, it could rile the witches. Our kind protected their own, regardless of what coven they belonged to, even more so now, after what we’d done to our own kind allthose years ago. Witches strove hard to keep the peace and didn’t engage in most conflicts between supernaturals, but when provoked, they responded with so much force even the vampires realized they might be in trouble. A single witch might not present much of a threat to a vampire, but united witches were a different story.

Thankfully, that had only happened a couple of times before the shifters and vampires realized they were better off leaving our kind alone.

Alric smelled like magic and, oddly enough, plants. His face so close to mine revealed the Prime had been turned when he was older, maybe in his early to mid-thirties. Faint lines creased the edges of his eyes, the only sign of age on his almost perfect face. Somehow, that made him seem like less of a monster to me.

Stupid, really, when he could rip my throat out and my only reaction would be “eep” before I lay dead on the floor.

Ignoring my vow to keep quiet for now, Alric pressed. “Why were you in that alley?” His cool breath brushed over my face.

My eyes narrowed. Some of my memories were fuzzy, but I remembered him spotting Beckett and chasing after him. Was he testing how much I knew? “Running from another vampire.”

Alric’s lips curved in a cruel smile. “And you happened to run into the Prime. You have fantastic luck, my dear.”

He had no idea.

“Let me go,” I whispered. “Please. You’ll have no trouble from me.”

But Alric did not loosen his grip. He held me tight, unconcerned about the flickering curtains from the other houses. As he should be. No one would dare make a negative post about the Prime. He had fingers in every corporation and organization all over the state and country.

“You almost fooled me, you know.” Alric’s green eyes glittered. “How karmic for you to cut your finger. Almost likethe universe insisted we meet.” A slow smile curved his lips. “Again.”

My fists clenched. “What do you want?”

“What every man wants when he almost kills someone.”

I swallowed hard. “To finish the job?”

A surprised laugh broke from the vampire. He abruptly released me and stepped away. “To apologize.”

My eyes narrowed. The fear I felt when he spoke burned away. “You left me for dead.”

Alric took a step closer. “I did.”

“I almost bled out in the alley!”

“Regrettable.”