She had her phone. She knew what she was doing.
“Okay. Come back as soon as you’re done. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes.”
To his surprise, she actually grinned at his order. “Sure thing, champ.”
Before he could scowl at her for using that ridiculous nickname, she reached up on the tips of her toes, stealing a quick kiss against the corner of his mouth that left him both speechless and a little stunned. Her eyes twinkled, almost as if that was what she was going for. A second later, she was sprinting away.
Holy shit, she was super fast. And she moved as if she knew exactly where she was going to intercept the bloodthirsty Nightwalker.
Hang on—
How did she know?
“Tabby, wait!”
She stopped on a dime, her ponytail whipping around her, slapping her in the face as she spun to look at him again. “Yeah?”
“Are you going the right way?” he asked. “How do you know exactly where he’s going to be?”
Even though she’d alr
eady put close to twenty feet between them, he could still see the way her teeth gleamed brilliantly in the darkness. “I don’t have to. Don’t worry. He’ll find me.”
With that, she turned again, streaming past a large oak tree and disappearing into the woods.
9
Adam stayed behind.
It was hard, every fiber of his being shouting for him to tail behind her. He didn’t, though, and, for some reason, he thought of Evangeline while he paced next to his coupe.
Ah, Eva… when he finally convinced her to give him a chance last summer, it was after years of Adam watching her from a distance, eager to keep her away from Maddox Wolfe. He’d spent that time convinced the shifter was responsible for Eva’s near-fatal accident. Without a bond tying her to her mate, Adam thought he could protect her. Save her.
He was wrong.
Even if it wasn’t for Maddox being “rehabilitated” and let out of the Cage, it never would’ve lasted. His overprotective instincts coupled with his need to shield her from the bad out there in the world created a wedge between them that he could never overcome.
And what was he doing with Tabby?
The same exact fucking thing.
It made it worse that Tabby was a slayer. Unlike Eva, who worked from home as an editor for a small publishing house, Tabby spent her nights fighting against the dregs of paranormal society. If Eva hated the way he hovered over her, Tabby would despise it.
So he had to stay back. No matter what—
Adam stiffened. As the breeze blew past him, ruffling his blond hair, causing the trees to dance in the weak air, something rich, something hot, something delicious slammed into him.
Blood. That was blood.
And not just any blood.
Tabby. She was hurt. Bleeding.
No.
Adam took off like a shot, only pausing long enough to grab his dagger, stick his claw in the dip at the hilt, and turn it into its enchanted shape. When the blade went from a silver glow to a pale red shine, he knew that he wasn’t the only Nightwalker chasing after Tabby now.
The scent of her blood called to him, like a beacon for him to follow. As he raced through the trees, barely using his glowing blade to lead him toward the bloodthirsty Nightwalker, it finally dawned on him why Tabby had been so sure she’d find the murderous vamp. Like a shark zeroing in on a single drop of blood nearby, all it took was a swipe with her blade and Tabby had all she needed to lure the Nightwalker to her.