“I’ve put your phone on charge. It’s on your dresser.”
“Wow, great service! Anyway use my phone to call the cab.”
“I could walk home faster than a cab gets here.” Dante replied, laying her back down and getting up to leave.
“Hey…”
Alex was grasping at thin air, she couldn’t see anything, but she knew somehow Dante could see her. Sure enough, she felt his hand come into hers.
“Come here,” she said.
Dante lowered himself to one knee beside the bed, as Alex used her hand to blindly follow the shape of his body to the top of his chest. Finding some shirt, she grabbed it and held on, hoping she could judge correctly where his face was. “I just wanted to say thank you. You were so great, listening to all my crap.”
“You’re very welcome. Just remember what I said, for your sake as much as hers.”
“I will,” she said, pressing her hand harder to his chest, emphasising her vow.
They interlocked fingers and held on. Suddenly Alex felt Dante move closer to her, lowering himself. She felt a jolt shoot through her, causing her body to give a twitch, then it was over. With a quick movement, Dante had given her an open mouth kiss on the neck. She may have imagined it, but she could’ve sworn she felt the cool moisture of his tongue just before he kissed her. So soft, so delicate, yet it certainly hit the right spot.
Dante gave her hand a light squeeze.
“Goodnight, Alexandra.”
Chapter Seven
Honour Bound
Dante walked out of Alex’s apartment and stopped at the sound like a whip cracking and a brief gust of wind ruffling his hair. Out of the shadows to his left stepped a man holding his hands as if in prayer. The man was as tall as Dante but not nearly as broad, with a long, cruel nose and thin eyebrows and lips. His slicked-back dark hair enhanced his pointed chin.
“Ah, Dante…” the man cooed, pointing both hands forward. “It has been too long.”
“No, Julian. Not nearly long enough.”
Julian grinned at this; a grin that Dante recognised. One that came before a statement of victory. “I have a message from my father.”
Dante thrust his hands into his pockets. As much as he hated Julian Kent, Dante could not afford to not at least listen to a message from Vincent. He was, after all, the King of Sydney.
“What does His Majesty want with me?” Dante asked cautiously.
“You owe him. We saved your arse today. A human was discovered looking into your personal records. And picking up very noticeable irregularities. Father had Clive put a stop to it as a favour to you.”
“You say I owe him? For a favour I didn’t ask for? I don’t think so.”
Dante returned the arrogant grin Julian still wore with a hard glare.
“Come, brother. There is no need to be like that. Your debt is simple to repay.”
Dante furred his brows; nothing was ever simple with Vincent. “What does he want from me?”
“For you to return to the fold. You were always the favourite,” Julian said with a slight sneer. “He has done you a service. He didn’t have to. After all, you chose to leave the safety of his house and protection all those years ago. Even so, you are honour-bound to accept his request.”
“As it wasn’t a favour I requested, I am not honour-bound to do anything. Thank him for his gesture and assure him I will be more careful next time.” Dante walked on, but Julian materialised in front of him, again following the sound of another whip crack.
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Julian asked. “You must fight us all the way! You must mainstream with your pathetic humans, feeding off just one. How can you stand it?”
Julian looked up at the apartment building as if the mere sight proved what he was about to say. “Their very existence is a joke. They have such short lives and what do they do? Make them even shorter with drugs and alcohol. They corrupt, pollute and breed. They have no semblance of how precious their lives are, seeking thrills they are not conditioned to handle. They destroy their own world in the process and you wish us to not kill them? What is it about them that endears you so?”
Dante took a step forward. “If I valued your opinion in any way, I would debate it with you. Since I don’t, I have better things to do. If you’ll excuse me.” He walked on again. This time Julian did not teleport in front of him, but was content to stand still. But what he said made Dante do the same.
“I warn you, Dante. There will be consequences for your defiance.”
Dante looked straight ahead, speaking more to himself than to Julian. “I have been cursed for over two hundred years. There is nothing you can take from me.”
“Not since I now have Melina, you’re right. She is an exquisite fuck. Do you not agree? Or has absence made the heart grow…forgetful?”
Dante turned, trying to control himself, gritting his teeth—teeth that were beginning to grow.
“Her hair is still the same red as our sustenance, my friend. I find myself needing her like I need blood...and just as often.” The corner of Julian’s mouth turned up in a sadistically proud grin. “And how is my former pet, Michelle? Don’t forget, I tasted her first—every inch of her. Does she miss me? Does she miss my more…aggressive touch? The touch Melina adores…”
Dante roared and was suddenly inches away from Julian’s face, moving quicker than the human eye could’ve seen. Julian remained in place, his face impassive.
“Does Michelle weep for you too, Dante? Do you hurt her like I did?”
Dante’s
