Her Vampire Addiction - Tabitha Black Page 0,29

and check. Had I not seen what I saw, I would have tucked it back into her purse, given her aftercare for long enough that she was fully recovered, and sent her on her merry way.

At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

But when I read the messages, I was so glad I’d bothered to look. The contents were bad enough, but when I spotted the little picture of the sender—Zeke, I want to spit his name—I was able to recognize instantly what he is. Something Sabina probably isn’t even aware of if they only dated for a few weeks.

Her ex-boyfriend is a fucking dirty shifter. Cheetah, from what I could tell, but that’s not the worrying part. Regardless of what she says, I know his type, and they are absolutely capable of carrying out their threats. They’re also nearly as possessive of their women as we vampires can be.

It was immediately clear why he’d told her to stay away from the club. There’s been a feud between shifters and vampires for the longest time. The bastards have the audacity to call us leeches. My fingers tighten briefly on the steering wheel as anger surges within my chest. They roam around in packs, love to fight, and are generally just troublemakers all round. You’d think us non-humans would stick together. It’s hard enough to hide superpowers and blend in when we’re surrounded by mere mortals, but no. There’s been all kinds of wrangling over territory and other nonsense. Not even Lucius making Selene—who’s half shifter herself—his queen has completely smoothed things over.

No, I have no time for their kind at all. Selene is all right, we’ve accepted her—not that Lucius gave us much choice—but as for the rest… The males, especially, are prone to uncivilized behavior: starting fights, squabbling over mates, holding metaphorical pissing contests to prove their dominance. So we vampires try to stay out of their territory, and they stay out of ours… at least for the most part.

If Zeke considers Sabina his mate, however, and has somehow found out that she’s now spending time with us vamps, she could be in a lot more danger than she realizes.

Which is why she’s in my car, being taken to my house, where she’ll be safe from him.

To be honest, I haven’t planned much further ahead than that. Eliminate any immediate threat to start with, worry about the rest later has always been my motto. And she could be right. He could just be bluffing, hurt pride making him lash out to try and frighten her.

But until I know for sure, I’m not taking any chances.

I glance over at the gorgeous creature in the passenger seat. Her arms are crossed defensively over her chest and she’s staring sullenly out of the window. Returning my attention to the road, I attempt to start a conversation. “Are you going to sulk for the rest of the night?”

“I’m not sulking.”

I suppress a grin. “You shouldn’t lie to me, Sabina. I might make you regret it.”

“I couldn’t regret anything you did to me now more than I regret agreeing to play with you,” she retorts.

Ouch. “That’s another lie. You don’t regret playing with me. In fact, I bet you’d do it again if I asked you nicely.”

She doesn’t reply to that, and I grace her with an audible sigh as I turn into my long driveway. Unfortunately, my mansion is less impressive at night, and I never get to enjoy the stunning views over the Catalina Foothills during the day, for obvious reasons. But it’s big and comfortable, and fifty acres means I have absolute privacy. I’d love Sabina to be able to explore and enjoy it while I sleep tomorrow but the way she’s behaving right now is making it much more likely that I’ll have to lock her in somewhere. More’s the pity.

The security gate slides open when I hit the button on my remote, and then I roll the car up the remainder of my driveway, pressing another button to open the four-car garage. Right now, I only have one other car—a Rolls Royce, my pride and joy—but that’s parked at the other end. As I use this vehicle more often, I reserve the spot right beside the entrance to the house for the Cadillac.

If Sabina is impressed, she’s hiding it well. “I guess this place is home,” she mutters.

“It is. Well, technically this is just the garage…” I press the remote and the door to the garage slides shut behind us.

“You