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danger.
    In addition to my inclination to help a fellow magical
creature, I didn’t approve of kidnappings and beatings and I thought Acayo was
right. These assholes would make lousy vampires.
    “Okay…here’s the deal. When I get close to the inner circle
I want you to yell something magic-sounding. I’ll release the circle and create
a smoke bomb to hide your movements. Leap out of the circle and hit me. Not too
hard please—I’d rather not be broken—but hard enough to knock me down and shake
me up. After that, you’re on your own.”
    He stared at me, hope dawning in his dark eyes. “You’ll
really help me? Are you sure they won’t hurt you?”
    “Hey, I’d like to see them try!” I told him, thinking to
myself that actually, I really, really wouldn’t.
    He gave me a look of disbelief and I bristled.
    “I’m tougher than you might think. Besides, I don’t see a
lot of other options. You ready?”
    He nodded, eyeing me in an evaluating way, and I stepped
into the inner circle to release the wards. I nodded back at him and prepared
myself. Suddenly Acayo yelled out a string of gibberish as mystical as anything
I could have come up with, and I released the smoke spell. The smoke bubbled up
around my feet as he leaped at me. I cried out, genuinely afraid, and he
smacked me upside the head. I fell backward and hit the floor hard. Lying there
on my back, I saw stars and didn’t have to pretend a thing.
    After a moment, a little less dazed, I heard a commotion and
yelling through the smoke and a loud thud sounded next to me. I gasped and
scrambled back along the ground, my head swimming as I moved. Eyes wide with
shock, I stared at the tall man. He was very, very dead and his lifeless eyes
stared back at me. I coughed and retched before turning away. As the last of
the smoke wafted out of the building, I heard cursing and looked up. Ryan
stormed back across the room toward me, anger distorting his features.
    “What the hell happened?” he yelled at me.
    “I don’t know,” I whimpered, playing the pitiful woman for
all I was worth. “You didn’t tell me he was a warlock. You didn’t say he was a
vampire either. I thought I’d be using a truth spell on a guy—on a human. How
could I know he’d break the wards? I don’t even know what he did—”
    I broke off pathetically and let tears trail down my face,
lowering my chin and shuddering. He snarled and turned to stalk angrily out of
the warehouse. I drew a deep breath, painfully pulled myself to my feet and
gathered my bag before hobbling to the door. Frowning, I murmured a few words
and then hummed a few bars and every surface in the warehouse was wiped clean
behind me. I glanced back one more time, grimacing at the sight of the tall
man’s body, and then I left.
    * * * * *
    Back at the small apartment above my shop, I ran a hot bath
and tried to stop shivering. What a horrible day. I lay there in the water and
tried to think positively. What good things had happened today? I thought for a
moment and really the only thing I could come up with was that I had met a
gorgeous man. Granted, he was currently probably fleeing the country, but hey… I’d
met him and he was sexy as anything. At least I could daydream about him in the
future. I’d bet he looked amazing shirtless. Oh… Another good thing—I was still
alive. Definitely a positive. For the moment at least, assuming the clients
weren’t going to come after me for failing them. I shook off that thought and
by relentlessly focusing on how attractive Acayo was, I managed to put myself
in a better mood before getting out of the bath.
    I toweled off and slid on my silky pajama bottoms and a silk
camisole. I wandered out of the bathroom, feeling calm, but had a minor heart
attack when I realized there was a figure standing in my darkened living room. I
staggered backward in surprise and barked a few words. A flame sprang up in the
palm of my hand and I was about to hurl it at the intruder when I