23. Meical
Chapter 23
Meical
M y mate was beautiful.
She giggled and chatted with Urien as my shadows wrapped around her gorgeous legs. Between rounds of poker, I would walk over and chat. Urien was monitoring her, like I knew he would. One shifter had already told me that Jake had booted him out of the tournament before we arrived this evening. Much like many of the predators in this room, I could smell her arousal as I wrapped around her body. I enjoyed knowing how much she really wanted me. She could deny it all she wanted, but I knew. Various shifters and other monsters who could smell her were losing control. It was perfect. I smirked as I watched them shift uncomfortably in their chairs as they toyed with their cards. Eyes shifted to their beasts as they glanced at the innocent human at the bar. I licked my lips as I put down my cards again. It was the last round, and I was confident I had won. The vampire beside me threw the glass he had at the wall.
“You fucking cheat!” he roared.
I blinked. The shadows surrounding him rose from the ground as he stood up. “You brought that human in here to distract us! Fucking shade!”
“I am not a shade,” I hissed.
The vampire smiled and leaned forward. “And you cheated with that human.”
“You live in a human world. It’s not my fault you can’t control your baser instincts,” I hissed. He lunged at me and my shadows grabbed him. They threw him into the wall and he grunted as he landed. My shadows enveloped him but did not eat him. I didn’t need to eat, and he didn’t deserve it. There were more of his kind that deserved a true death. He was a sore loser. They come in all breeds. I stood up and turned to the orc and the shifters at the table. My awareness could hear Janie’s heart racing. My shadows gripped her tighter. I hope she understood I would always protect her. She was my mate. The only reason I needed to live now.
“Would you also like to fight?” I asked with my hands extended. Shadowy tentacles grew out of my back until they expanded around me menacingly.
The doors to the back of the bar crashed open as Jake ran this way. Janie slipped off her stool and shouted, “Meical!”
My eyes involuntarily flickered back to Janie, and a sigh escaped my lips. I pulled my shadows back and released the vampire on the floor. Jake walked over and threw the stacks of money in front of me. “These are your winnings. Get out.”
I grinned and spun around in a slow circle as if I was on a stage. “Nice playing with you, fellas,” I said. The tendrils gathered up my cash and handed it to me once I was done with my cocky performance. “No hard feelings?”
“No. Nial shouldn’t have accused you of cheating,” Jake said with a glare at the vampire. The vampire struggled to his feet.
“He’s been taunting me with his human!”
I grinned at the accusation as more tendrils floated around me. By this point, they had two options: I was a fae with dark powers or I was, in reality, their worst nightmare.
“Have you considered that’s his kink?” Jake hissed. “Although if a little human distracted you, that’s your issue. Get out.”
The vampire bared his teeth at Jake, and Jake returned another hiss back. The vampire turned and stalked out the door. Jake turned back to me. “Meical.”
“Thanks, Jake.”
My shadows pulled Janie toward me. “Let’s go,” I said.
“You don’t have to drag me by your shadows,” she whined. I pulled the shadows back, and Janie sighed as she stumbled a bit. She righted herself and grabbed my hand as we walked out of the bar. “How much money did you win?”
“A lot. The bank should be open.”
“A twenty-four-hour bank? Is that all your money?”
“Vampires and other nocturnal ilk,” I said. “And no. I was well-off before. This just proves to you that I am willing to make money to help you. Provide for you.”
Her brows were furrowed as she thought of my words while we walked. We walked into the bank, and I went to the counter. This time, it was a vampire woman at the counter. I deposited the money into my account.
The vampire gazed at Janie behind me. Janie spun around as she looked around the room with awe on her face. “What’s that?” she asked.
I didn’t move. Through my shadows, I could see her point to the gargoyle in the corner. “Gargoyle.”
Her eyes widened. “What? Really? ”
“She new?” the vampire asked with a head nod.
“Yes. She’s my mate and she’s Urien’s friend.” It was a threat. Urien was well-respected and feared inside the paranormal community.
The vampire nodded with a well-placed smile on her face. “I understand.”
I turned toward Janie and passed her the leftovers. I already knew how much her rent was; I watched her pay it for months. “I’m ready. With your rent,” I said.
Her eyes widened, and her delicious lips parted softly. The urge to kiss her filled my entire body. “Oh. Wow. I did really say that,” she said. Her fingers rubbed together the bills as she counted them with her eyes. A bloom of appreciation and gratitude emitted from her.
“Let’s go,” I said. I grabbed her hand and walked back to her car.
She pulled at her arm and I turned to her. “Did you use me? To distract them?”
“No. I genuinely wanted to spend time with you. I wanted to show you the sights.”
She stopped walking and turned. As she walked away from me, the sound of her footsteps reverberated through the air. Confusion filled me as my brows furrowed. I slid into my darkness and popped in front of her. The moonlight lit up her face except fear and apprehension slid over her in waves. Her eyes narrowed at me. “What about the . . . tentacle thing?”
I leaned forward. A tentacle wrapped around the back of her head, pulling her closer to me and licking the shell of her ear. “I absolutely love knowing that I caused that. It’s just a bonus that every other person knew just how much you wanted me, too. Any of them that were unmated were filled with jealousy that I had such a pretty mate like you.”
Another tendril caressed the side of her cheek and her face darkened as her lips parted. More of my shadows wrapped around her waist. “I just don’t want to be used,” she whispered. “Other than the bank and all the supernaturals I saw in the bar, I didn’t see much.”
“I realized that I have done this wrong. I’m very sorry about this,” I said. “Even before I slunk into the dark, I wasn’t the best with humans. I’ve messed this up and I am sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
“What about the fight?”
I stroked her cheek again. Another tendril wrapped around her neck and she swallowed against the tentacle. “I would never let anything harm you. You are safe with me. While my awareness is everywhere, I am focused on you. Even if I am not there. Plus, Urien would have pulled you out of there if, for some reason, I could not,” I said.
She smiled sweetly. “Okay. Let’s go home,” she said.
“You said home. Like it’s my home, too.”
She pursed her lips as she kept walking to her car. “You gave me no choice. Didn’t you list it in your paperwork? You’ve got rent, right? Times are tough around here.”