Blood Magic (After Dark Book 7) by Sarah Bailey (historical books to read .txt) 📕

He folded his arms over his chest and eyed Neave. The other vampire smiled at him.

“Not that I’m surprised you two ended up in bed together or anything, but I’d rather you didn’t fuck on my desk next time.”

Jamie’s brows drew down.

“You’re not going to tell Gav?”

Neave’s eyebrows shot up.

“As if. He would most definitely shoot the messenger. Besides, I don’t care either way. You’re the one playing with fire, not me.”

Jamie grinned. He shouldn’t have been worried. Neave might be Gavin’s second, but she was like Jamie’s big sister. Neave was technically younger than him in vampire years, but she certainly didn’t act like it.

“Nice to know you have a heart.”

Neave stuck her middle finger up at him, causing him to smile wider, showing a bit of fang.

“You’re lucky he had to go home and see Daisy or he’d have been with me and you’d have been screwed.”

Dani looked between the two of them with an odd expression. Almost as if she couldn’t work out why they were both so casual about this. Jamie would talk to her about it later. There were things he needed to ask Neave.

“You know who’s trustworthy amongst demon kind, right?”

The other vampire didn’t change her expression.

“Perhaps, why?”

Jamie eyed Dani who nodded at him.

“Dani needs to speak to someone in Hell.”

“Someone specific?”

“I need to speak to Candace,” Dani said.

Neave’s smile faded entirely.

“You know no one has heard from her around here since she went to Hell, right? I could maybe ask Alistair since they were close or Lukas and Ella.”

Dani’s eyes widened.

“You don’t want to know why?”

“It’s fae business, right? I assume you know her from the fae court, but no, keep your secrets.”

Jamie knew very well Neave wasn’t a gossip. She just liked helping people out. That’s what made her special and unique for a vampire. She maintained her human emotions and compassion far more than most he’d encountered.

“Alistair? How is that narcissistic bastard?” Jamie asked.

Neave barked with laughter. Jamie had met the witch on several occasions last time he was in London. He’d be surprised if Alistair hadn’t fucked half the women in London by now.

“He’s settled down. Grace is a sweet girl. No idea why she puts up with him. He owns a little shop in Camden with her.”

“Seriously?”

“No word of a lie.”

Seemed even the most resolute of ladies’ men had a weakness. That woman who tamed them. He glanced at Dani.

She’s definitely taming me.

Even if they couldn’t have a normal relationship, Dani was still his. Just as he was hers.

“Anyway, probably worth asking him,” Neave continued. “I can give you his number or maybe Dani wants to pop into his shop.”

“Just text me both and she can decide,” Jamie said.

Neave nodded, pulling out her phone.

“How’s the search going?”

Neave looked up at him, her eyes narrowing.

“Badly. Whoever is behind all this shit is good at covering their tracks. I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to mess with Gavin’s business. They’ve successfully tanked one of his investments and it seems others will fall soon. The council are breathing down his neck.”

Dani curled one of her hands around his which was resting on the desk. He looked at her ice blue eyes, so full of concern. He’d not told her what was going on. He didn’t want to admit what he’d done to Mrs Travsmead for Gavin. Not that he’d done anything wrong, strictly speaking.

“If you ask me, I think it reeks of supernatural involvement, but Gavin doesn’t want to hear it. He reckons it’s just a bunch of humans with some kind of vendetta against our kind,” Neave finished.

Jamie was inclined to side with Neave. Whoever was behind this had far too much knowledge of the community. Someone had to be feeding the humans information.

“I agree. I think you should look into who could want Gavin taken down,” Jamie said.

“I’ll work on it.” Neave turned and walked towards the door, pausing for a moment. “In the meantime, clean my desk before you bugger off.”

She left the room.

Dani hopped off the desk and stood before him. Her eyes were full of caution.

“Why didn’t you tell me your brother was having problems?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Vampire society is secretive, Dani. I suppose it’s ingrained. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep things from you.”

He cupped her face, running a thumb along her bottom lip.

“I understand, it’s not like the fae are any different.” She looked away. “I think it’d be better if I saw this Alistair by myself.”

He wondered for a moment why she’d say that, but he’d respect her wishes. This was fae business and he really didn’t have any reason to interfere. Except he worried about her. Dani was still so innocent of their world.

“If that’s what you want.”

She nodded, stepping away from him. His hand dropped. Her expression was closed off and it concerned him.

What is she thinking?

“I want…”

She paced away, wringing her hands in front of her. His senses prickled.

“Jamie, I need to replenish my magic. And when I’ve done that, I want…”

“You want what?”

She turned back to him, her ice blue eyes wide and her pupils dilated.

“I want you to bite me.”

His throat tightened. The thought of her blood sending his senses into overdrive. His fingers itched to hold her down and take it from her by force, but he held himself back. That wasn’t the type of vampire he was. And he cared about Dani too much to ever touch her without her consent.

“Are you sure?”

She stayed where she was, but she put her hand on her heart.

“You have to have my blood in order to fully claim me, don’t