Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes (read aloud books txt) 📕

give you their real name, because if you knew it, you would be able to exert a certain amount of power over them. Nobody likes being controlled.”

“Is it just the fae that are strange with names?”

He shrugged. “Some vampires are too, but the fae are the ones who really take this no name matter to heart.”

“Is Sawyer your real name?” I asked, flashing him a smile at the subtle frown he gave me.

“It’s Sawyer to you.”

Damn it. “Well, I’m just Cat. There’s nothing special about me.”

His shifted his gaze from my face to my chest. It was barely a flicker of movement, but it was enough to make the opal warm. I had no idea what was going on with the damn thing. It was just a necklace up until this morning. Now, it acted like it had a mind of its own.

“We shall see how special you are, just Cat.”

Clearing my throat, I asked, “Can I keep this?” I raised the blade a little to show him what I was talking about.

“For now.” His fingered the sharp edge of the blade delicately. “It seems to like you.”

“How can a sword like someone?”

His crystal gray eyes met mine. “Magic doesn’t play by the same rules that we do.”

I loosened my grip on the hilt, the idea that the sword was real magic that was touching my skin, and that it actually liked me was next level. The opal flared briefly, then settled back into body temperature warmth.

“How am I supposed to carry this thing around. Do I need a permit?”

Sawyer actually laughed at that. “No.” He tapped something at the base of the blade, a glyph I hadn’t noticed, and the sword simply disappeared.

“Well, this is great and all.” I motioned to my now empty hand, but it wasn’t empty, was it? I could still feel the hilt lying snug against my palm. “It’s still there.”

“It is. It’s simply vanished from view…for now.”

“Ooo, sounds ominous.”

He ignored my comment. Smart guy. He was learning quickly. “It’ll reappear when you need it.”

“How will it know?”

Again, he gave me that infuriating shrug. “Magic knows what the heart wants. Plus, if you blood the blade, it’ll be more in tune with you.”

“Look, I don’t know a lot about magic and the supernatural world, but forgive me if I don’t jump at the idea of cutting myself and bleeding all over the blade. Magic can be sinister and unforgiving.”

“A lot like people,” he said. “If you don’t want to blood it, that’s fine. It’ll still work. Still kill. But it won’t be as receptive to you.”

“But you just said it liked me.”

“It does. But liking someone does not bind you to them. Sharing blood will though.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself.”

He gestured for my sidearm.

I was hesitant to give it to him. “You’re not putting blanks in it, are you?”

“No. Silver ammunition. Silver can damage a lot of supes.”

“Let me guess, you won’t tell me which ones.”

He shook his head, reloaded my gun, then handed it back to me. With the conversation clearly over, he turned around and began selecting a couple of blades and a gun that looked like it had come out of the old west. He strapped the blades to holsters on his thighs and concealed the gun in an underarm holster. I had to admit, if I saw him coming for me, I’d probably piss my pants…after I threw my panties at him.

“Ready?”

“Sure. But where are we going armed to the hilt as we are?”

“Elementary school.”

I grunted. “It would have been cooler if you’d said ‘hell.’”

“How do you know ‘elementary school’ isn’t a euphemism for hell?”

I nodded. Well, he had me there.

Four

We didn’t go to hell. We rolled up in front of Buxton Elementary School before pulling into the parking lot. We’d taken my truck because apparently, Sawyer only had a motorcycle, and there was no way in hell I was about to jump onto the back of that thing.

“Could you have driven any more slowly?” he asked, irritated, from the passenger seat.

“Possibly, if I’d known it would piss you off so much,” I shot back sweetly. I’d always been a careful driver. Taking the driving test at the academy had stretched my limits of fear of dying in a fiery, fiery crash. I’d still passed, so I could drive like I was being chased by a dinosaur, but chose not to when I didn’t have to.

“We could’ve been here twenty minutes ago if you hadn’t balked at the idea of my bike.”

“Seriously? You seriously expect me to get on the back of that death-trap with you when I hardly know you?”

“What does knowing me have to do with it?”

I put my truck into park. “If I don’t trust you, I’m not getting onto the back of a freaking bike with you.”

“You fill my heart with warmth,” he replied in a drawl.

“Hey!” I shoved my finger into his chest. “I’m the snarky one in this relationship.”

He growled. “Noted. Now get out of the truck because this is getting weird.”

He had no idea what weird was. But I got out and waited for him at the tailgate. He prowled along the side of the truck, his face a mask I couldn’t read. He was definitely playing bad cop today.

“You want me to do the talking in there?” I asked.

“No,” he barked.

“Geez, you could at least let me down easy,” I replied, secretly happy that I didn’t have to take the lead. I would’ve been happy to just disappear into the background.

“Just keep your mouth shut and your ears and eyes open.”

I mock saluted him. “Yes, boss.”

He led the way into the main reception area and walked up to the desk. The older woman behind it looked up and smiled. She was dressed in a pressed-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life dress jacket that I suspected had a matching skirt hidden beneath the desk.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m Detective Taylor with PIG. We’re here about the incident that occurred last night.”

“Of course!” the woman practically shouted. Cleary, she