Edward worked quickly—presumably because even with a silver knife, the wound would heal in almost no time. With a final low incantation, he reached for the glass of blood and poured half of it over the shallow wound, smearing it with his hand until it covered the entire design. A flare of energy shot out from the mark, sizzling through me for a bare instant before it was gone.
“There you are, sir,” said the butler.
He set the glass down and picked up a damp towel, wiping his hand clean before passing it to Rans. The vampire swiped it over his chest to reveal the wound already disappearing, only pale skin left behind.
“Thank you, Edward,” Rans said, before glancing at me with a raised eyebrow. “Ready for your turn, love?”
I took a breath, let it out, and pasted on a patently fake grin. “Are you kidding? You know me—I live for this kind of shit.”
This time, Rans did snort in amusement. “You wild party animal, you.”
Edward waited patiently while I tugged my shirt up and my waistband down enough to bare the area where I felt my magic was centered, above my womb. He looked apologetic as he turned me toward the light and handed me a clean towel.
“I’m afraid this will sting rather badly, Miss. I do apologize ahead of time for that.”
I hid a grimace. “I expect I’ve dealt with worse in recent weeks,” I assured him. “Just don’t ask me to watch while you’re doing it.”
“No need for that.” He tilted his chin toward the towel. “You might want to tuck that in your waistband to protect your clothing from bloodstains, though. Are you ready now?”
I did as he suggested with the towel, and tried to steel myself. “Yeah, sure thing. I was born ready.”
Cool fingers brushed the hand that I wasn’t using to hold my shirt out of the way, and I looked at Rans in surprise. Standing beside me, he twined our fingers together and squeezed. His other hand cupped my cheek, and warmth flowed through me almost despite myself.
“Eyes on me, love,” he said, hypnotic resonance bleeding through his voice. “You’ll barely notice what he’s doing, promise.”
Vampiric mesmerism wasn’t totally effective on me because of my demon bloodlines, but I could still feel his will pressing against mine. Whether it was because of his words, or simply the addictive nature of gazing into his eyes like this, I wasn’t sure... but the pressure of the knife breaking my skin and the resulting sting of pain seemed suddenly unimportant.
I lost myself in those glowing depths, and before I knew it, Edward was straightening away from me. I turned to look at the butler properly, and Rans’ fingers slid away from my cheek. Sure enough—once I started paying attention to it, the burning discomfort low on my stomach immediately took center stage in my awareness.
“Ow,” I said faintly, glancing down at the smeared mess of red with trepidation.
“I truly am sorry, Miss,” Edward said sincerely.
Rans gave my hand a final squeeze before releasing me. “I can’t add my blood to the mix covering your wound without risking the ward’s effectiveness,” he said. “But drinking a few drops will heal you from the inside out within a minute or so.”
My nod of agreement was without hesitation. He bared a fang and used it to score his thumb. Blood welled, and I wondered idly if he was somehow able to control his blood flow consciously, since both his bullet wounds and Edward’s marks on his chest had barely bled at all.
I took his hand when he stretched it toward me, wrapping my lips over his thumb to lick the blood off. The suggestive nature of the act didn’t occur to me until Rans’ eyes flared with blue flame, fixing on my mouth wrapped around his flesh with single-minded intent.
I... might’ve blushed a bit, at that point. But only because Edward was still in the room, puttering around as he cleaned everything up. Someday, I suspected my human nature would catch up completely to my succubus nature, leaving me one hundred percent embarrassment-proof. Today was not that day, at least when it came to people I actually knew.
After letting Rans’ thumb slip free, I cleared my throat in an attempt to drag my mind out of the gutter before turning my attention back to Edward. “Will you be leaving for Hell right away, now that the wards are taken care of?”
Edward smiled and nodded, once more an unassuming elderly servant, rather than someone who could carve pentacles into people’s flesh and make houses invisible using demon magic. “Yes, Miss. I believe Nigellus also intends to deal with some business while he’s there, so you’ll be on your own for a few days. Keys to the house are on the table by the front door, and the refrigerator is well stocked.”
“Thank you, Edward,” Rans said. “I’m certain we’ll be fine.”
I wondered if Nigellus’ business in Hell involved the delivery and magical preparation of the blood he’d just stolen from Rans, but I kept those thoughts to myself.
“Yes, thanks,” I said. “And not just for this. I really do appreciate you going to watch over Dad. I’m worried about him.”
Edward’s eyes crinkled. “It’s no problem, Miss. Sometimes it’s nice to spend time in a place that’s never heard of dry cleaning or ironing boards.”
Fondness flooded my chest. Damn it, anyway.
Why did Edward have to be caught up in this whole mess with Nigellus? I liked him. Trusted him... and I didn’t want to. I wasn’t sure I could afford to trust anyone
