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Adrian slammed his sword across one vampire's neck, neatly severing his head from his body. The
torso fell to the ground, where it began to decompose. Not rapidly-the stench was horrible.
"You are right," Adrian said as he swung to slice at the other vampires. "You'll have to do a spell."
"Spell? What spell?"
One of the women began to keen, her edge of sanity snapping. The dead vampire must have been her
master. Wailing, she tore at her own eyes, and the woman behind her screamed and charged at Amber,
flailing madly with her knife.
Amber jerked her half-moon knife from her jacket pocket and deflected the blow. Do a spell? Oh,
sure. Spells required accoutrements, tools to hone the concentration, and they also needed focus and
quiet, plus time to slide into the fabric of the universe. All three were in short supply here.
"Use the spell you told me about in the car," Adrian shot at her before turning and ferociously slicing
another vampire in half.
He meant her story about Julio. She remembered lying in bed with candles flickering eerie light through
the room. Julio had pinned her with strong hands, while his mouth came down on her. She remembered
her terror and shock when Susan's antiglamour spell had kicked in and she'd finally seen Julio's lips
peeling back from glistening fangs. She remembered her fear, then rage, and then-fire.
Two of the vampires burst into flames. They ran, shrieking, desperately clawing at their hair, and their
blood slaves abandoned the fight and dashed after them. Amber slashed her knife at the remaining blood
slave. The girl danced out of the way, leaving open the way to the car.
Amber brought her finger down sharply, slicing an opening in her protective sphere, then dove through
it and yanked the car door open. The last blood slave followed her, viciously flailing with her knife. She
stabbed Amber's shoulder to the bone just as Amber dove into the car.
She yelled in pain and kicked the girl's leather-clad legs out from under her. The blood slave's eyes
were wide with grief and rage, bloodshot and terrible. She raised her knife again.
Amber clenched her shoulder, pain weakening her, and pointed at the bubble to seal it again. The
magic closed with a snick just before the young woman could strike. The blood slave screamed in rage
and threw her-self against the bubble, but she was mortal and not a witch, and couldn't breach it. The girl
pounded insanely at the sphere, but the magic held.
Amber rummaged in the glove compartment for her first-aid kit, happy she always made sure it was
well stocked with antibacterial wipes and adhesive bandages. The cut she'd taken was deep, she saw
when she eased off her windbreaker and cranked her head around to look, although the bleeding had
already stopped. She'd need stitches-and some painkillers, she thought, wincing-but she could hold it
together now with a big square bandage.
Adrian faced the last vampire. He held his sword loosely, moving on the balls of his feet, his face set in
the ferocious grin he'd worn when he'd slaughtered the Unseelies on the mountainside. Amber wiped off
the cut and slapped a gauze bandage over it, clenching her teeth against the pain. Outside, the vampire
snarled at Adrian and launched himself at him, extending his fingers like claws.
If the vampire thought he'd dive under Adrian's reach, he was wrong. Amber watched as Adrian easily
dispatched the vampire with one wide sweep of his sword, leaving it to decompose on the asphalt. Then
he turned to face the last blood slave, his blade stained black with vampire blood.
The blood slave's eyes widened. Howling, she turned and sprinted into the woods after the others, and
Adrian lowered his sword, looking satisfied.
Amber closed her hand over the crystal on the dash-board and opened the protective circle so he
could slide into the car. Ferrin changed back into the snake as Adrian closed the door behind him. The
snake studied Amber with his black lidless eyes, then wrapped himself around Adrian's bicep and
became metal again.
Adrian started the car. Are you all right?"
"I will be." Amber tossed the first-aid kit back into the glove compartment.
"Let me see." Adrian started to lean toward her, but Amber caught movement out the front window
and froze.
"Adrian..."
From the woods poured a horde of vampires, dressed like the others. They converged through the
silent parking lot toward the car, their intentions clear.
Adrian started the car. "I'll take care of it later. Will you be all right until we get farther down the road?"
He waited for her answer, making no move to put the car in gear and get the hell away.
"Fine, I'll be fine," Amber said hastily. "We should go now."
Adrian turned from the wheel again, sliding his arm across the seat like they had all day. "I don't want
you to be hurt, especially not because of me.
"That's nice. Can we talk about this later?"
He remained studying her, his dark eyes glittering with the fierce joy of the fight and the magic inside
him.
"There's syrup on your lip," he said.
Amber put up her hand to wipe it away. Adrian leaned down and gently moved her fingers aside, then
brushed his tongue softly over her lips.
In spite of danger running toward them at vampire speed, Amber sank back into the seat, her feminine
places warm and hungry. Adrian parted her lips so his tongue could slide in and explore her, and she
welcomed him. She made a noise of satisfaction, the pain in her shoulder forgotten.
Adrian finished the kiss and eased back, his eyes softening. "You taste sweet, with or without the
syrup. But syrup would be pretty on you."
Amber's heart sped, and the warmth between her legs became out-and-out fire. "You're flattering, but
shouldn't we be going?"
Adrian brushed his thumb over her cheek. "Yes. Regretfully. When we reach my house we'll discuss
things."
He was perfectly confident they'd reach L.A. with no problems, despite the fifty vampires who flung
them-selves against the car just then.
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