a no-nonsense lady, and it was from Wanda he’d learned to respect the hell out of a tough woman. He was one of three foster kids Wanda took care of at any given time, and while others came and went, Shane remained constant. He acted out, and she punished him. Her bullshit tolerance was so low he learned fast to not bother testing her.
She’d also taught him even a fuckup like him still had something to offer the world.
He finished school, not with any stellar results but at least he’d done it. Wanda was there to watch him get his diploma.
When Wanda was killed by a rogue vampire, Shane’s whole world was shattered.
He never went to college, not that he’d planned to. He got married to a cocktail waitress named Heaven, and ten months later she left him and went to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting. She took their pug with her, and it was the only thing about his marriage he missed.
Alone with his demons, he went to a dark place and never really came back again.
To this day he was still in that dark place.
But one turn of phrase from Siobhan had brought back a wave of unwelcome memories. Things he thought long buried. Like the butter-yellow wallpaper in Wanda’s kitchen or the crocheted slippers she wore in winter. Her wheezy smoker’s laugh and the way she smelled faintly of nail polish remover. Somewhere a family was cultivating tiny memory shards like that. Things that would haunt them for years after a cult of psychotic druids killed their daughter.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, his voice steeled.
Siobhan wasn’t looking at him anymore, and he let her keep a half-step lead. She felt bad, he could tell, but he didn’t have the skill to lessen her guilt.
“I know where the ritual site is. Since they’re not bound by the timeline of my birthday, I think they’ll move fast. If they think there’s a possibility something might interrupt the rite, they’ll want to do it as soon as possible. I was hoping to catch them before they got someone, but the city is too big and…”
“And you guys have that fun, fancy travel by light circle thing.”
“Exactly.” They were off the bridge, and he followed her to a parking garage where they took an elevator to the lowest level, an empty and shockingly dark space.
“This place is a rapist’s wet dream,” he said, shaking his head.
“It’s also a handy place to travel by light circle ,” she countered, repeating his words with no small amount of sarcasm.
She pulled him between two large concrete pillars and stood close. Close enough the heat from her body radiated against him, and he was hard-pressed—so to speak—to not recall the way she had writhed under him the night before. He sucked in a breath.
Siobhan removed the long knife from her boot sheath and didn’t so much as flinch as she cut open her finger. Bright blue light illuminated the parking lot like a second sun. When Siobhan dropped to her knees, her head was precariously close to Shane’s crotch, but she didn’t seem interested in giving him a blowjob right then. Instead she traced a small circle around them, bracing herself against his legs to complete it.
When she stood and sheathed the blade, Shane’s heart was hammering.
“Hold on tight,” she instructed.
He looped both arms around her waist and tugged her against him, making her gasp, but she didn’t try to wriggle free of his hold. “Just doing what the lady tells me.”
“Do you always follow directions so…literally?”
“Tell me to do something else and find out.”
“Shut up.”
“You asked for it.” He dipped his head and kissed her.
Chapter Eleven
The next thing Shane knew he was throwing up on the sidewalk.
“Idiot,” Siobhan said, but she was laughing as she said it. “You’re lucky we didn’t end up trading tongues in the transport.”
“ Hurrruffff ,” Shane replied, seeing his SpaghettiOs dinner for the second time that night.
She gave him a gentle kick in the ribs. As gentle as a
She’d also taught him even a fuckup like him still had something to offer the world.
He finished school, not with any stellar results but at least he’d done it. Wanda was there to watch him get his diploma.
When Wanda was killed by a rogue vampire, Shane’s whole world was shattered.
He never went to college, not that he’d planned to. He got married to a cocktail waitress named Heaven, and ten months later she left him and went to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting. She took their pug with her, and it was the only thing about his marriage he missed.
Alone with his demons, he went to a dark place and never really came back again.
To this day he was still in that dark place.
But one turn of phrase from Siobhan had brought back a wave of unwelcome memories. Things he thought long buried. Like the butter-yellow wallpaper in Wanda’s kitchen or the crocheted slippers she wore in winter. Her wheezy smoker’s laugh and the way she smelled faintly of nail polish remover. Somewhere a family was cultivating tiny memory shards like that. Things that would haunt them for years after a cult of psychotic druids killed their daughter.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, his voice steeled.
Siobhan wasn’t looking at him anymore, and he let her keep a half-step lead. She felt bad, he could tell, but he didn’t have the skill to lessen her guilt.
“I know where the ritual site is. Since they’re not bound by the timeline of my birthday, I think they’ll move fast. If they think there’s a possibility something might interrupt the rite, they’ll want to do it as soon as possible. I was hoping to catch them before they got someone, but the city is too big and…”
“And you guys have that fun, fancy travel by light circle thing.”
“Exactly.” They were off the bridge, and he followed her to a parking garage where they took an elevator to the lowest level, an empty and shockingly dark space.
“This place is a rapist’s wet dream,” he said, shaking his head.
“It’s also a handy place to travel by light circle ,” she countered, repeating his words with no small amount of sarcasm.
She pulled him between two large concrete pillars and stood close. Close enough the heat from her body radiated against him, and he was hard-pressed—so to speak—to not recall the way she had writhed under him the night before. He sucked in a breath.
Siobhan removed the long knife from her boot sheath and didn’t so much as flinch as she cut open her finger. Bright blue light illuminated the parking lot like a second sun. When Siobhan dropped to her knees, her head was precariously close to Shane’s crotch, but she didn’t seem interested in giving him a blowjob right then. Instead she traced a small circle around them, bracing herself against his legs to complete it.
When she stood and sheathed the blade, Shane’s heart was hammering.
“Hold on tight,” she instructed.
He looped both arms around her waist and tugged her against him, making her gasp, but she didn’t try to wriggle free of his hold. “Just doing what the lady tells me.”
“Do you always follow directions so…literally?”
“Tell me to do something else and find out.”
“Shut up.”
“You asked for it.” He dipped his head and kissed her.
Chapter Eleven
The next thing Shane knew he was throwing up on the sidewalk.
“Idiot,” Siobhan said, but she was laughing as she said it. “You’re lucky we didn’t end up trading tongues in the transport.”
“ Hurrruffff ,” Shane replied, seeing his SpaghettiOs dinner for the second time that night.
She gave him a gentle kick in the ribs. As gentle as a
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