Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,75

Chief said and gently let me go after he made sure I had my balance. He frowned at the damage and knelt as close as he could without jamming his knee into a pile of broken glass.

Putting his hand on the floor he whispered the word of his canting and my legs prickled as he poured his magic into the foundation. Blue tendrils of power fanned out and crept over the debris and shattered frontage. Everything blurred as the shards slowly rolled and tumbled back into their original position as the cracks slowly sealed shut. Within a few minutes, you couldn't even tell someone had launched an incendiary device into my place of business. The only irreparable items were the poster board promotions that were burnt beyond recognition. As the damage faded, so did my heavy breathing.

"Thanks, Chief."

"My pleasure." He smiled as he nodded.

I poured even more power into the shields and wards, expanding them outward a smidge. Next time, if there was one, the rocket wouldn't even make it through the window. Smiling as I finished, I managed to stammer, "Everybody take the rest of the day off," before passing out.

∞ ∞ ∞

At least someone had taken me home and put me in my own bed and not left me passed out on the carpeted floor in front of the registers. So, I had that going for me. A splitting headache was the other.

"Welcome back," Yuki whispered from behind me.

"Ow, my head."

"I thought witches didn't get headaches?"

"We don't. Hangovers, sometimes, but headaches no. This is the second one this week. What the hell." I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I rolled over on my back.

Yuki propped her head up on her hand and gave me a worried look. "When was the last time you fed?"

"This morning. I had a burger and a bite of steak before bookstore went boom boom."

"I didn't say ate, I said fed."

"Tomato, tomahto."

"Damn it, Master. You need blood now, too. I thought you figured that out."

"Liquid diets are for when I get dentally challenged. I used my witch power at the store."

"We need to get you a supernatural nutritionist or something." I heard a soft crunch and then she held a bleeding finger over my lips. "Does that make you hungry?"

I looked at the ruby red drop hanging from the tip of her index finger and nodded. It was almost seductive in its allure. Without thinking, I lifted myself from the mattress and licked the drop from the source, nearly whining as the flavor exploded in my head.

Yuki sighed and snapped her fingers.

To my surprise, a shirtless Ellis entered my room.

The hunger that had been momentarily filled by diner burger instantly expanded and demanded to be filled again by sangreal du noir elf.

Ellis crawled into the bed, pulling me on top of his rather chiseled chest, and offered me his neck. My fangs pierced his flesh and his blood splattered across my tongue. Inhaling his scent, I pressed my forehead against his silky hair and pulled my meal from his vein, refusing to stop until he started slamming his open palm against the mattress between Yuki and me.

"Master," she warned softly.

I let go and rolled off him, letting him catch his breath.

Preparing to be sated, I rubbed my tummy and smiled happily until the pain twisted in my gut again. "More," I groaned.

"Shit." Yuki offered me her wrist.

Grabbing it frantically, I sank my fangs between her tendons and guzzled her blood. She had a completely different flavor from Ellis. He was spicy, she was sweet. When she frantically pulled her arm from my mouth with a twist and a wince, I cried out for more.

Shea and Dar stepped from the shadows and looked at the three of us worriedly. Without thinking, Shea stripped off his shirt and crawled atop me, offering his shoulder. If he had been three times his size, he wouldn't have filled my hunger. When he tapped out, Dar took his place.

Shea was a side dish, but Dar was a meal. Wrapping my arms around him, I drank and fed and drank some more. He was endless. When his hips started bucking against me and he cried out with a shudder, I was full.

"Houston, we have a problem."

I looked over at Yuki. "What?"

She sighed and let her head fall to the pillow beside me. "Think about who and what you just ate."

I looked at the men spilled across my bed and the vampire beside me. "Shit."

"Yeah. Your belly needed to