“It’s settled then,” I decided for them. “Follow me. It’s not the fanciest, but you won’t find a better meat pie this side of London.”
Squeezing Sunday’s hand, I led the women out of the club and into the brisk early morning air. “You warm enough?” I asked, glancing down at Sunday.
She shivered. “I didn’t really dress for a walk.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and tugged her close. “Better stick by me then. I’ll warm you up.”
The sky was a shade of deep blue that warned sunrise was nearing. This was the time for drunks to stumble home, lovers to fall into bed, and the world to just begin stirring.
“Hang on, he’s a vampire. It’s almost sunrise. Aren’t you going to burst into flames or something?” Ash asked.
I shook my head. “No. My mother has the blood of the sun running through her veins, as do I. I can enjoy the day and night.”
Ash’s deep brown complexion faded a shade as the reality of what that meant hit her. I sensed it in her energy. “You? Are there more of you?”
“Two. I have a younger sister and brother. And yes, we can all walk in the sun. But Ash, we’re not the bloodthirsty monsters my grandfather would’ve had us become.”
Her look turned appraising. “You expect me to believethatafter what the Blackthornes did to the witches of Salem?”
“Trust me,” Moira said with a put-upon sigh, casting me a look that told me I owed her one. “He’s practically tame compared to their ancestors. But enough about dirty blood suckers.”
The two witches fell a bit behind, their low voices and breathy giggles telling me they were enjoying themselves just as much as they had been at the club.
We’d made it perhaps a block, Sunday snuggled beneath my arm, her head resting on my shoulder, when Moira swooped in between us.
“Oh! Sunday, I need to speak to you about something,” Moira said, weaving her arm through Sunday’s. A protest was on the tip of my tongue, but she winked at me. “Official roommate business, you understand. We’ll just be a second.”
Sunday giggled, and that sealed it for me. Anything that made her happy was impossible to refuse. I let that sink in a moment, an unfamiliar sense of calm settling in my chest. I truly cared if she was happy. Until now, I’d never cared about anyone who wasn’t family. Not like this.
Moira pulled Sunday back, leaving Ash and me to amble along beside one another.
“Do you know why Dracula doesn’t have any friends?” Ash started after we’d walked about halfway down the next block in silence.
“Please don’t.”
Her lips turned up in a smile as she tried and failed to hold in her laughter. “Because he’s a pain in the neck!”
“Jesus... and there it is.”
She poked me in the ribs. “Admit it. You thought it was funny.”
“No. No, I didn’t.”
I fought a laugh despite myself as I made eye contact with the witch, and then everything stopped as her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground. My skin was on fire as a woven net of pure silver landed on me from above. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt. Not even my traitor mark could compare. Sunday let out a panicked cry, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her and Moira being tugged into the alley by two hooded figures.
The pain was excruciating, my muscles locking up and preventing me from going after her. As I watched, helpless to do anything to stop it, my mate vanished into the alley. The only thing I could do was vow to get her back as I shouted her name.
They’d taken her. She was gone and all because I had failed at my one job. To protect her at all costs.