I yanked the drawer open, and Jonathan’s gaze darted back to me. His mouth spread in a grotesque grin before he taunted, “You called Thana yours, so that must mean she’s your fated consort. The last thing this world needs is more daywalker brats being born. If I go to hell, I’m taking her with me.”
I had no idea what Jonathan meant about me being a consort—Kieran hadn’t mentioned anything about them when he’d told me about vampires—but his threat to take me to hell was freaking me out even more than I already was. I reached inside the drawer for the garlic and holy water, hoping it wouldn’t come down to me needing them.
Kieran whipped a wooden stake out of his pocket—I needed to ask him where it came from because the only hard rod I’d felt while sitting on his lap had definitely been his dick—and leaped toward Jonathan. I stumbled to the side and backed myself against the wall again, wanting to get as far away from their fight as I could while still being able to keep an eye on what was happening. Not that I was able to see much since they moved faster than I was able to track. I felt as though I was watching a fight scene in a movie on fast forward. Limbs blurred as punches and kicks were thrown at lightning speed. I pressed the back of my hand that was holding a bulb of garlic to my mouth as I tried to stop myself from crying out because I didn’t want to distract Kieran.
About a minute later—which felt much longer to me—he drove the stake into Jonathan’s chest. His body burst into flames and then turned to a small pile of ash on the floor.
“Holy crap,” I whispered, stunned by everything I’d just witnessed. Now that the danger had passed, I dropped the garlic and bottle of holy water and rushed forward to throw myself into Kieran’s arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Kieran stroked his hand down my back and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “There was no need to worry. A newly turned nightwalker is no match for a daywalker as old as me.”
His response raised an important question and reminded me that I had others that needed answering. Leaning back, I asked, “How old are you? What’s a fated consort? And what in the world am I going to tell Jonathan’s parents and my aunt about his disappearance?”6KieranThe adrenaline from the fight was still coursing through me, and it was adding fuel to the fire inside me that burned for Thana. Jonathan was no match for me, but it didn’t stop my mind from imagining what would have happened had he gotten ahold of my girl. I wrapped my arms around her even tighter, the feel of her in my arms helping to calm me down.
I barely registered her questions but did my best to find focus so I could answer her, especially knowing where the conversation was headed. Without warning, I scooped her into my arms and began to stalk through the house. “You don’t need to worry about his parents,” I assured her, trying to keep the rage out of my voice so she wouldn’t mistake my anger as being directed at her. “You aren’t going to be seeing them again. I’ll deal with it.”
We reached a set of stairs, and I quickly jogged up to the second floor and turned to the right, heading down the hallway.
“You shouldn’t have to do that.”
I cut her off before she could say any more. “You are mine, Thana. I take care of you, protect you, and give you anything you need. And as for your aunt...well, we’ll figure out how to handle her later.”
“Yours…” she echoed thoughtfully. “Does that have something to do with the fated consort thing Jonathan mentioned?”
I gritted my teeth and growled, “Do not ever mention that bastard again.” I kicked open one of the double doors that led to the master suite, and it slammed into the wall with a loud bang. Thana jumped a little but pressed herself closer to me rather than pulling away. Fuck, I needed her naked. Now.
Setting her on her feet beside the huge canopy bed, I turned her around and brushed her gorgeous hair over one shoulder. Then I bent my head to brush my lips over her mark and gave her a little lick. She tasted the way she smelled, like cinnamon and something that was all her own. My teeth ached to see if her blood was just as sweet.
“Being my fated consort”—slowly, I began to lower her zipper—“means that you were born to be mine. It’s your destiny, Thana.” Her bodice gaped forward when it was fully unzipped, and I licked my lips at the sight of all that pure, milky skin. She had on a lacy, blue bra, and I popped the catch and pushed all of the material off her shoulders.