Magic Burns

Page 100

 

 

 

“It’s jealous. Of the vampire!” He laughed, throwing his head back like it was the funniest thing.

 

I knocked his hands off my shoulders and jumped off the roof.

 

I landed in a crouch on the ledge and slipped. My back slapped the ice. I slid, rolling down the narrow path. I dug my heels into the snow, grasping at the wall to slow myself down, but my hands slipped. I hurtled along the path, helpless to stop my fall.

 

The end of the ledge flashed, feet away.

 

I ripped a knife from its sheath and stabbed it into the ledge. The momentum carried me forward and I jerked to a halt, my legs suspended over the edge. Carefully I flexed my arms and slid myself back onto the ledge, trying very hard not to think of the bottomless chasm yawning at my feet.

 

Derek grabbed my shoulder, pulled me up, and neatly deposited me on the carpet within the apartment.

 

“Some expert,” he growled.

 

“Yeah. Last time I come here.” My brain finally realized that I wouldn’t be falling from fifteen stories and impersonating a pancake on the ground. I scrambled to my feet. “I owe you one.”

 

He shrugged. “You had it anyway. I just sped it up a bit.”

 

The vampire met us as we untied our horses.

 

“You dance very well,” Ghastek said.

 

“Not a word. Not another bloody word.”

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 14

 

 

“SO THIS SAIMAN, HE HAS A THING FOR YOU?” DEREKasked.

 

“Right now Saiman has a thing for everyone, including you, from what I saw. He’s drunk on magic and bored.” I finished rebraiding my hair and guided my horse up Marietta Street toward the dense forest that used to be the twenty-one acres of Centennial Park. I really didn’t feel like continuing this conversation.

 

The magic fell. It would reassert itself in a minute: the waves had been coming one after another, short and intense.

 

“It appeared you were definitely his preferred entertainment,” Ghastek said.

 

Asshole. “It didn’t matter who was up on that roof, he would’ve changed his shape until he found a perfect fit.”

 

“In more ways than one.” The vampire cut in front of the horses again.

 

“Thank you for your commentary. I noticed you didn’t do anything to help.”

 

“You seemed to have the matter well in hand.” Ghastek sent his vamp galloping forward, ahead of us.

 

When confronted, run away. My favorite strategy.