Chapter 9
nine
DAMIAN
I woke up before Blair, and let myself take her in for a few minutes before I moved.
Unfortunately, she was still clinging to that damn pillow, snuggled up like it was her mate instead of me.
Winning her over would take time.
I was going to have to be patient.
Patience just fucking sucked.
I hit the button to raise the canopy enough to roll out of bed, then lowered it for her again. She could sleep in, but I had work to do. Way too much work. My month-long tournament ensured that.
I’d gone through the highest priority portion of Louise’s paperwork mountain and made plans to handle the reasonable requests we had received. Most of them were from smaller vampire clans around the country who needed help, training, a protective escort to Mistwood, or money.
Usually money.
I had to connect those clans with the people in charge of our finances. When they set up meetings, they’d set them up with every individual clan member, and I’d be asked to join most of them.
It was painfully boring, every time.
But they needed me, so I didn’t turn them down. I was their leader for a reason.
I got dressed and rummaged around in the library portion of our room for a piece of paper, scribbling out a quick note.
Little Siren,
I’ll be working in my office until you’re ready to go pick up your things. Try to leave without me and I’ll chain you to my side. Your sisters are invited too, if they want to come. I can bring extra vampires to pack their things if they’d rather.
Damian 3
The heart was added after a moment’s pause. She’d said she liked hearts the day before, and I needed to use every small advantage she gave me when the woman despised me like she did.
I grabbed a bit of tape and stuck the note on the elevator’s frame so she wouldn’t miss it. Then, I called the elevator and headed out.
Work made the time pass quickly. I finally looked away from my computer’s screen when my office doorknob jiggled a little before noon.
“Why did you lock the door?” Blair called out from the other side. Something within me eased with her presence.
I hadn’t gotten messages from anyone who’d felt her magic yet, but I’d checked my phone more than a handful of times just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
Part of me itched to get one, just so I had an excuse to track her down.
I crossed the room quickly, unlocking and opening the door without pause.
The sight of her alone made me let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
She was still wearing my long-sleeved tee, at least. It fell to her knees, so it covered enough of her that I wasn’t itching to throw her in a room and lock her away from the rest of my vampires. Her hair was a mess, and I suppressed the urge to run my fingers through it. Not to smooth it—just to feel it.
I was fucking obsessed.
There was still glitter all over her, but somehow, that made me want her even more.
“People stop by randomly. I like knowing they can’t get in unless I let them. I’ll get you a key,” I said.
“It’s fine, I won’t be distracting you often.” She glanced around my office without stepping inside, then met my gaze again. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, just give me a minute to finish this last email.”
Blair nodded, leaning against the doorway while I went back to my seat and resumed typing. Vampire speed was useful, but when it came to computer work, it didn’t really have a place. My mind could only move so fast, so typing speed had to match my thoughts.
After hitting the button to send it, I finally shut it off and made my way back to her.
“All of my sisters are coming,” she said as I crossed the room. “Except Clementine, of course.”
“The more the merrier.” I locked the door before closing it behind us, and tucked my hands in my pockets as we headed for the elevator just so I wouldn’t be tempted to take her hand.
“Where do you want me to tell them to meet us?”
“The first level of the parking garage. The button is LL1.”
“Got it.” She sent them a message. “Let’s just take our van.”
“There are five of you. I have to imagine you need more things than we can fit in a minivan,” I said.
She reluctantly agreed.
“I have a moving truck. We’ll take that.”
“You own your own moving truck?” The look she gave me told me she thought I was insane.
“Technically, the vampire portion of the Manor owns it.”
“And you own the Manor.” She nodded. “Alright, I get it. I guess you have to help people move pretty often.”
I nodded.
We stepped into the elevator, and she hit the button to send it down.
“You signed your note with a heart this morning,” she said as it descended.
“You like hearts.”
She hesitated, like she wanted to say something else. Instead, she changed gears. “I’ll need your phone number at some point.”
“You already have it. I’m the one who called you yesterday. I needed to hear your voice, to be sure it was you.”
Her forehead creased.
She went to her calls and hit the button to send me a message.
Blair
Hi
I pulled my phone from her pocket and showed her the screen so she could see that it was, in fact, my number.
The elevator landed, and we stepped into the parking garage. I spoke with the attendant for a few minutes while we waited for her sisters, and when the three of them had arrived, we headed out.
There weren’t enough seats in the truck, so they all climbed into their van, leaving me to drive the obnoxiously large vehicle alone. Because they didn’t want to give me the address, I reluctantly agreed just to follow them there.
I’d be able to find it again if I wanted to, so I thought that was pointless. But if that made them feel better, I’d keep my mouth shut.
When we arrived, I took in the sight of their home. It looked more like an industrial building than a house, made entirely out of cement and with a few large garage doors along the length of it.
No wonder they’d stayed hidden for so long.
The girls chatted like normal as they headed towards one of the doors, but I caught a whiff of something strange as we approached.
My forehead creased as I tried to place it.
It almost smelled like…
Dogs.
Realization crashed into me as the door started to rise.
Snarling, I threw myself in front of the sirens just as a group of massive wolves came barreling toward us. Werewolves were much larger than typical wolves—their heads nearly reached mine.
I’d fought them enough times not to give a damn about their size. I was far faster and stronger than a normal vampire when I needed to be, and even the slowest vamp could take down a wolf if they knew what they were doing.
Assuming the wolf wasn’t with its pack.
A group of wolves was an entirely different beast, but not one I couldn’t handle.
“Get in the truck,” I commanded the women, grabbing two of the wolves by their scruff at vampire speed and bashing their heads together.
The sirens could move faster than the wolves. If they ran, they could get to safety quickly enough to avoid a negative outcome.
The wolves I’d knocked together collapsed, and I grabbed the head of a third, twisting it harshly to the side until his spine snapped.
A set of teeth tore into my shoulder, and I grabbed the muzzle of the wolf they belonged to. Dropping to a knee, I used the momentum to throw him over my shoulder. Before his body had time to collide with the cement, I had sliced through his throat with my fangs.
A pained cry behind me had me roaring, spinning around to find my female on the ground, trapped between three wolves. All three of them were bleeding in various locations, but there was a gash on my mate’s head. Blood was dripping down her nose, mixing with the glitter on her face.
The wolves bumped her, snapping their teeth as they closed in. There was defiance in Blair’s gaze, but dizziness too.
Fury blazed through me in a way I’d never imagined. My actions became instinct as I lunged.
My fangs tore through another throat.
I snapped another spine.
The third wolf was dead and bleeding before I got to it, with my mate’s knee on his chest, her hands coated in blood.
I wanted to snap at her for continuing to risk her life in the fight—but I could hear more wolves coming from inside the building.
There was no time for an argument.
I grabbed Blair by the waist and ran her to the moving truck, tossing her in before I slammed the door down and locked it from the outside.
My chest heaved as I turned to face the incoming wolves.
Usually, my bloodlust would’ve pushed me through a fight. But the need to protect my mate seemed to be just as strong—if not stronger.
I tore through wolf after wolf until I held the throat of the last one in my hand. A wolf pack had a mental bond that was unrivaled by anything else. Their alpha would be able to see and hear anything that happened to them, if he focused on them.
I knew Curtis well enough to be damn sure he was watching the crew he’d sent to my female’s home.
“These sirens are mine ,” I snarled. “Every wolf you send for them will face the same fate. If you ever make my female bleed again, there’s not a wall in the manor that will keep me from finding you and tearing your throat out too.”
With that, I ended the wolf’s life.
Her body joined her packmates’ on the ground, and I stormed back to the moving truck. Getting the lock open and yanking the door up only took a moment, but my female was sitting right inside, looking pissed.
And dizzy.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I demanded, grabbing her by the waist and hauling her into her family’s house at vampire speed. Her sisters followed us. Over my shoulder, I told them, “Pack what you need quickly. Curtis will have others on their way already.”
Thankfully, the women could move at vampire speed.
“I know how to fight,” Blair said defensively. “I thought there were too many wolves for you to deal with all of them. I?—”
I sat her down on the countertop beside the sink in her kitchen, and she clutched the edge of it like her head was spinning.
“What did they do?” I growled.
“Shoved my face into the ground. One of them snapped at the other afterward. I don’t think they were supposed to hurt me.”
I wet a clean rag and started cleaning as much blood off her face as I could. The shirt she wore— my shirt—was wet with it, and it was all over the middle of her face. The glitter seemed to be coming off with the blood, which only made me hate Curtis more.
“I can handle far more than a few wolves, little siren,” I said, my anger fading slightly. “There’s a reason I lead the vampires. I’ve spent much of my life training and fighting.”
I couldn’t blame her for not realizing the extent of my abilities. She had never lived in the Manor, and she interacted with the magical world as little as possible. There would inevitably be things she didn’t know.
“If I’d realized, I would’ve hidden with my sisters,” she said. “I was no match for the wolves anyway. It’s been too many years since I had to fight anyone, and even then, it was just practice.”
“You killed one of them. Curtis didn’t send any of his best fighters, but taking down a creature their size is still impressive.”
“He wasn’t allowed to hurt me,” she pointed out.
“Take the victory anyway.” I finished cleaning off her face, and pressed the wet rag to her still-bleeding wound. “You might need stitches.”
She made a face. “I haven’t been to see a doctor in more than a decade.”
“Time to break the streak, then.” I carried her out to the truck, setting her down in the passenger seat and buckling her in. “I’ll pack your things. If you move from this chair, I’ll have no choice but to tie you to my side.”
“You’ve threatened that before.”
“It’s almost like I’m daring you to let me do it,” I remarked, pressing her hand harder to her forehead. “Hold the pressure, like this.”
She nodded, and I fought the urge to kiss her before I sped back into her house to pack her things.