Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel #1)(34)

“Would you be standing in a darkened hallway with a murderer?”

“I’ve done worse. And I can protect myself.”

“Without a weapon? Without shoes, even?”

Yeah, he had a point. I was woefully underprepared. I could blame the witches and their potions all I wanted, but I’d gotten myself in here.

I stepped back. “Well? Why are you so interested?”

“Carrow?” Mac’s voice sounded from the room outside the hall. I turned to look for her and saw her enter the hallway with a confused frown. “What are you doing back here alone?” she asked.

“Alone?” I turned back to the Devil, but he was gone. “Shit. That bastard.”

“What bastard?”

“The Devil of Darkvale came here.”

Mac laughed like I was crazy. “That ambrosia hit you hard.”

“No, I swear it.” I turned to her, heart pounding. “I know he was here. I saw him.”

Mac’s brows rose. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. That’s unusual.”

“He doesn’t normally come to this party?”

She laughed again. “He doesn’t socialize at all. Honestly, I don’t know what he does in the evenings. Torture people for fun?”

“If he really was Vlad the Impaler, then maybe.” The thought made me shiver. If history was anything to go by, Vlad had done horrible things. If he was truly a vampire, then those horrors could have been multiplied tenfold.

And if the Devil really was that man, then I didn’t want his interest at all.

Liar.

“He came here for you?” Mac sounded nervous.

“He said he was interested in me. And I got confirmation that his power doesn’t work on me. And that he didn’t commit the murders.”

“He took Eve’s potion?”

“Yep.”

Mac whistled low. “Well, try to avoid him if you can, anyway.”

I nodded. It was the best idea I’d heard all day, even as part of me screamed to get closer to him. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Jeeves gave me the potions to change our faces. And I got some stuff to sober us up.” She shoved a glass at me. “Drink that. You’ll feel normal in no time.”

I swigged it back as she drank her own.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said. “It’s nearly dawn.”

“What?” Shock lanced me.

“Time flies at the Witches’ Guild.”

“No kidding.” Exhaustion tugging at me, I followed her from the house. As we walked through the pool room, I passed Coraline and pointed to the bikini I still wore. “Can you put me back to normal here, please?”

“Fine.” She gave me an up and down look. “But you look better like that.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. My own clothes, please.”

“If you insist on those abominations.” She waved her hand at me, and my clothes reappeared on my body, replacing the bikini.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, babe. Come on back anytime. We like you.”

A bit of warmth flared to life inside me. More possible friends? The witches were kind of iffy, but that was cool.

Not to mention the magic. That part, I certainly didn’t hate. It filled the air here, sparking off people as they partied and drank.

Though it was almost dawn, the party was still heaving. People danced, so many of them that the crush of bodies was nearly impossible to navigate. All around, revelers with horns and fangs and wings danced the night away, living their best life. Like it was normal that they existed.

Which it was.

Thank God it was.

My life had been in black and white, and now it finally felt like it was in color.

We were almost to the foyer when a hand grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop. I spun around, instinct making me ready to lash out.

A small woman held me, her grip shockingly strong for someone her size. Her face seemed to flicker between age and youth, a shimmery apparition that was hard to focus on. She was beautiful in either version—I just wanted her to pick one.

Her eyes burned with pale fire as she stared hard at me, her brow creased. I felt Mac appear at my side, but I couldn’t turn away. The woman’s gaze had me snared.

The crowd parted to give us space. No one turned to watch us, but there was something about the woman’s presence that made them give her a wide berth.

“Yes,” she said softly. “You are as I expected.”

“What?” I frowned down at her.

“You are the one who will thaw him.”

“Thaw who?”

“She’s not a Fire Mage,” Mac said.

The woman ignored her, leaning up to peer more closely into my eyes. “Be wary, girl. You are bound to the Devil, and you may grow to like it, but there is danger there. Grave danger.”

“Bound?” Was she talking about the Devil of Darkvale?

“Like, Fated Mates?” Mac demanded. “Impossible.”

“Yes, impossible,” the woman said. “Turned vampires do not have Fated Mates like born vampires do. But turned vampires like the Devil—the immortal ones—have Cursed Mates. Beware. It could cost you your life.”