Dangerous Things. Amy Blankenship

had Micah then they were no better than the soulless vampires.

      She slid the small heart-shaped crystal around her neck. It was more than a simple trinket. She’d been studying magic as long as she could remember and this crystal would make it impossible to put her under the thrall of vampire this time… even a powerful vampire like Kane or Michael. And she’d also remembered some of the simple spells from the book Kane had taken from her.

      Tonight she was going to find out what it was like to really be a part of this family… she was going to fight in this war whether her brothers and the jaguars liked it or not.

      *****

      Damon leaned back in the over-stuffed chair and stared into the fireplace watching the flames mate with the shadows it cast within its brick enclosure. Picking up the glass of red wine, he watched it swirl and felt his complete calm slide away from him. He could hear Syn whispering to him again.

      As the glass shattered against the brick he pressed his fingers against his left temple knowing he’d just woken up his midnight snack.

      The luscious brunette sat up in the bed to his left and pouted seeing she was alone on the sheets. Climbing out of the covers, she made a show of sensually crawling toward him across the mattress but he didn’t give her time to think it was going to work. Faster than the human eye could detect, Damon was beside the bed with his fingers wrapped firmly around her throat.

      It wasn’t meant to mar her beauty or hurt her, only to keep her still as his pupils expanded and he placed her completely under his thrall. Up until this point, he’d had no need to do so. She’d been a most willing partner but it was now time to end their lovely friendship. Slowly opening his mouth he revealed the sharp fangs. He didn’t know why he did it, girls always reacted the same.

      Her eyes widened in horror and he quickly choked off the scream that was making its way through her dimmed mind. Mortal girls were useless… just like Katie had been. He could still hear the crunch of metal and it darkened his mood.

      â€œI’m going to do you a favor little girl.” One corner of his lip lifted in the hint of a sarcastic smile, “You came to LA to be a model, but this city is full of other little girls wanting the same thing so this is what you are going to do. Trust me… it’s for the best.”

      He pulled her closer and gazed deeper into her eyes. “You hate it here. You hate LA and want to go back to whatever small town you crawled out of. If you stay here, the monsters will use you up just like I did. Go home and find the boy whose heart you broke when you split town and beg his forgiveness because no one will ever want you here.”

      He let go of her neck watching her blink back tears as she hit the mattress. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to her cry. “You need to leave… now.” He turned his back to her and strode across the room to glare out the window. As far as he was concerned he’d just done his good deed for the day. This city was a mess anyway.

      Out of the corner of his vision he saw a few young vampires flit around the corner of a building and into an alley. He wondered where all the soulless creatures had come from since LA seemed to be overrun with them.

      He’d forgotten all about the girl on his bed until he heard the door to the penthouse slam… yeah, he’d done her a favor. She was lucky he’d found her instead of the monsters that were crawling the streets of LA right now… and he wasn’t just talking about the paranormal. He opened the balcony doors and stepped out into the night air inhaling deeply.

      He’d left the rolling hills of the quiet city the moment he’d felt Syn start to stir within his grave. Being so close to the vampire, he’d actually felt Syn’s awakening coming on for months and he hadn’t wanted to stick around for the reunion. Syn had little tolerance for the soulless and right now Damon was well aware that his soul was weak. He had a flashback of what Kane’s soul had looked like at the church and wondered if his own soul was in that bad of shape.