Blood Bond . Amy Blankenship

to keep his feelings for Tabatha bottled up and protect her from Misery at the same time.

      He still got the chills knowing that Michael had finally figured out that it was Tabatha who had set him free from his grave. If he’d been thinking clearly, he would have found a way to keep Scrappy away from Tabatha for a while longer while he tried to figure out how to tell her… if he told her at all.

      In his opinion, some secrets were meant to be kept. Truth was he’d never planned to tell Tabatha.

      Kane growled becoming annoyed when his thoughts were interrupted. He could feel demonic eyes on him as he walked… watching every move he made. He wondered if they had been sent by Misery. He couldn’t sense her among them, which actually made a lot of sense. Why should the bitch stalk him when she could have her underlings do it for her? The city was now crawling with her minions… dark entities he’d helped create.

      He quickened his pace to the point where the headlights of the cars coming toward him were suddenly moving away behind him. The red glow of their taillights illuminated the street for a few short seconds before even that disappeared. He’d never been this fast before but, with the mood he was in lately, he’d been ignoring the upsurge in power.

      Right now all he wanted was to be alone in his own bubble, instead of around Michael and whoever his best friend slash brother had with him. He wasn’t so sure he was capable of wearing his ‘I’m sane now’ mask… not tonight. His true self was close to the surface and that was something Michael didn’t need to see.

      Shoving his hands into his pockets, Kane continued on in an attempt to ignore the spying bastards following him. He’d reached a more upscale area of the city now and he headed toward the section where a large majority of clubs were situated. He needed a good drink and perhaps a bit of a fight, even if it meant he had to start it himself. The clubs would provide the mind-dulling liquid, and it should be easy enough to locate a nest of vampires for the other.

      Turning a corner onto a busy street, Kane caught a sweet scent on the wind and stopped, letting the sights and sounds of the city come back into focus. He could smell her very close by and looked around trying to determine her location. He inhaled deeply, wanting more of her, then wondered if he was a masochist for torturing himself.

      He knew he should stay away from her since he seemed to be a homing beacon for demons, but his flip side instantly argued that his soul mate had a way of finding trouble on her own. If she was crazy enough to be roaming around in a demon hot spot, then maybe he should refresh her mind on how bad of an idea that really was.

      His sharp gaze landed on a club called Silk Stalkings and he frowned knowing that’s where the fallen, Kriss, worked as a dancer. It was an interesting career choice for a fallen but Kane wasn’t one to judge. Sighing in resignation, Kane crossed the street and entered the club so he could take Tabatha home before she got herself into more trouble.

      Chapter 2

      Tabatha stepped through the entrance of Silk Stalkings and looked around. She’d come here looking for Kriss… and prayed she would find him. He’d gone missing a few days ago and hadn’t even called… and he’d been avoiding her longer than that. She missed him and was starting to worry. If he was gone for any length of time in the past, he’d at least called and let her know everything was all right.

      Just catching a glimpse of him would take away her fear that Misery had eaten him or locked him in a cave somewhere.

      Sitting down at one of the tall tables, she continued to watch the stage hoping Kriss would come out and perform his act. It was almost an hour later that she realized the time and knew Kriss should have hit the stage by now. One of the waiters walked by her and she touched him on the arm to gain his attention.

      “Do you need something, Miss?” he asked.

      Tabatha smiled, “I’m hoping you can help me. I’m looking for Kriss Reed. Can you tell me when his next shift is?”

      The waiter sighed and shook his head, “You’re the sixth woman to ask about him this week. Unfortunately, he quit a while back, no one’s seen him since.”

      Tabatha felt like she’d been slapped in the face. A sinking feeling appeared in the pit of her stomach and she lowered her head to hide the tears that started to gather… she’d lost her best friend.

      “Are you okay?” the waiter asked softly.

      Tabatha looked up at him and smiled, wiping away the wetness that threatened to ruin her mascara. “Yeah, I’m fine. But you can get me a Malibu and pineapple?”

      The waiter gave her a questioning look before sighing and going back to the bar. He recognized Tabatha as one of Kriss' close friends and figured Kriss had skipped town without telling her. It was shame too… she seemed to be a nice girl and Kriss leaving had obviously hurt her.

      Tabatha made a show of taking her compact out of her clutch purse and examining her makeup. He’d left without even saying goodbye… he’d promised when they went to Florida with Devon and Envy that he’d never leave her. They had even become closer since her kidnapping… so much closer.

      “Here you go,” the waiter announced and set her drink down in front of her.

      Tabatha lowered the compact and smiled up at him, “Go ahead and start up a tab… I’m going to stay for a while.”

      The waiter nodded and started weaving around his tables making sure everyone was all right, occasionally looking over to make sure his newest guest didn’t drink herself into oblivion.

      Tabatha quickly knocked back the drink and set it down on the tabletop. Why was she worried anyway? Kriss was one of the fallen… he had better things to do than mess with humans… much less humans that were his friends. God she hated being pouty and angry at the same time… it made one feel disturbed.

      Another drink was set in front of her and she quickly drank that one down, too. About six drinks later she was nice and tipsy. Glancing toward the stage, she pouted seeing a new guy come out wearing only a silver thong and wings. She wondered where the crying drunk Guru was when she needed one and narrowed her eyes hating the dancer for unknowingly mocking her.

      “One more before I leave?” she asked the waiter that had hovered close since she sat down.

      The waiter smiled softly and shook his head. “I think you’ve had quite enough. Would you like me to call you a taxi?”

      “No,” Tabatha said and stood up, grabbing her purse. “I want you to tell Kriss that if he remembers who his friends are, to give me a call.”

      Of course she didn’t mean it, but at the moment she was very angry with Kriss… hurt that he didn’t think enough of their friendship to at least tell her he was leaving… or being kidnapped. Opening her purse, she took out her wallet and tried to pay for the drinks but the waiter shook his head again.

      “Your tab has already been paid,” he said. “Now go home and sleep it off… I’m sure he’ll call you soon.”

      Tabatha fished her car keys out of her purse and dropped them on the floor. “Damn it!” she hissed, wanting to leave before she did something stupid like cry in public.

      She bent over to pick them up but another hand closed around them and snatched them up. Tabatha followed the hand to an arm and then a shoulder. Her eyes widened when her gaze locked with Kane’s handsome face.

      “Come on, Love,” he said seeing the way the lights shattered within her light blue eyes. She was on the verge of crying. It seemed he wasn’t the only one in a mood tonight. “Let’s get you home.”

      Tabatha’s lower lip trembled as she looked up at him and she latched onto his arm instantly feeling his strength. Her bigger-than-life stalker had come for her and for once… she was glad.

      Kane nodded over Tabatha’s head to the waiter and led her out of the club. He growled inwardly knowing why she’d chosen this club. She wanted to find the fallen bastard who was hiding from her.

      Didn’t