Page 44 of Immortal Unveiled

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Believe him? Yeah, maybe Kim believed Manus that he wasn’t going to physically harm her. After all, he’d just thrown himself in front of a dagger meant for her. But did that mean she would also believe whatever explanations he was going to serve up for the things that had happened?

Kim had no time to think on that any further because two men raced toward them just as she’d taken a few steps to join Manus and Aiden. Already on edge, she stared at the two young men. Her heart stopped, and the small hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The two men carried sharp daggers, the same kind Aiden had tried to kill her with.

Fight or flight? That was the question. Flight it was because the two looked bloodthirsty. Their eyes glared red, and their lips had peeled back from their teeth, revealing long, pointy canines: fangs.

“Where’re the demons?” one of them yelled, still charging toward them.

“Did you leave us any?” the other added.

“No demons,” Aiden answered rather calmly.

Heart still pounding, Kim shrank back, taking a couple of steps, when Manus’s hand on her arm stopped her from retreating any farther.

He glanced at her. “They’re with us.”

She shook her head. No, this wasn’t real. Nothing of this was real. She’d probably hit her head in that secret passageway when she’d been tossed around.

“But Pearce said you were fighting with an intruder,” one of the bloodthirsty men said.

The two stopped in front of them, their eyes normal now, but their sharp teeth still protruded from their mouths. There was no denying it. “Vampires,” Kim murmured to herself, trying to shake herself out of this nightmare.

“Put your fucking fangs away, guys. You’re scaring our guest,” she heard Manus order in an authoritative tone.

And just like that, the fangs of the two bloodthirsty monsters turned into normal teeth, making them look entirely human again. She blinked. No, she must still be dreaming.

“Hybrids, actually,” Manus said in a more soothing tone. “They are half vampire, half human.” Then he stared at one of them. “Grayson, I need you to go with Aiden and teleport to the strip club’s portal and find out if any demon followed us there.”

“Sure thing,” the half vampire, half human Grayson said with a rather charming grin.

“We’ll be back soon,” Aiden promised. “Ryder, bring Manus to Leila and make sure she takes care of his wound.” He turned halfway, then stopped and pointed at Kim. “Oh, and watch this one. She’s got a habit of shooting people.”

“I don’t—”

His get real look was meant to shut her up.

“It’s not a habit,” Kim called after him, incensed. “It was one time. One fucking time!”

Manus tugged at her arm. “Let’s make this time the last time.”

To her surprise, the beginnings of a smile curved his lips upward. For the fact that she’d just shot him and that his arm had to hurt like hell, he was surprisingly conciliatory.

As they walked along the corridor, Kim stayed as far away as possible from the vampire Aiden had called Ryder. He seemed to have noticed her apprehension because he cast her a sideways look and smiled.

“I don’t bite,” Ryder said.

“Ryder!” Manus ground out. “Bad joke, really bad joke.”

Ryder dropped his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it the way it came out.” Then he shrugged and looked at Manus. “You could’ve prepared her. I mean, why bring Kim here and not warn her about us? Kind of a dick move.”

At the sound of her name, Kim stared at Ryder. “You know who I am?”

“Yeah, sure, you’re Nancy Britton’s daughter. I was there when you met Manus at that café. But you probably didn’t see me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, when he was using his charm to make you think your mother’s death wasn’t related to anything super—”