Fangs and Fur- Beta Read Along
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Hadrian returned before dawn. Dili only knew because Toad woke her up by licking her face, then pawing at the open window and meowing. She didn’t need words to understand why he’d woken her so urgently.
The witch groaned as she dragged herself out of the warm bed. It was unseasonably chilly, though her mountain cottage always got the worst of the wind. She changed into her dress and slipped a pair of woolen pants on underneath. The shivers stopped once she’d also wrapped a thick blanket about her shoulders.
She braced herself before she went out the back door. Toad, though, trotted out unbothered by the temperature and disappeared into the dark foliage.
Icy gusts billowed around her. The air wasn’t so cold that it stung in her lungs, but she didn’t even consider carrying a lantern and exposing her fingers. Not that she needed one to navigate her garden, and as luck had it, a brilliant moon hung overhead, not a cloud in sight.
Hadrian already stood far back from the edge of the garden wall. The moonlight outshone the stars, but it gleamed on the vampire’s scowling face. Against the dark of night, his skin looked pale instead of pallid. His eyes glowed, brilliant emeralds set in the marble of his skin, over hollow cheeks.
His long hair danced in the wind, but the shimmering silver locks flowed over modern clothes instead of the black cloak she’d lent him. He wore a turtleneck and jeans, and though she couldn’t make out the color of either, she noted how the fabric emphasized his broad shoulders and long legs.
Dili leaned against the back garden wall, openly appreciating the pretty sight. The vampire wore the night as well as Toad did, a strange similarity that was nice, if inconsequential.
“That must have been quite a long chat,” Dili said before the vampire could accuse her of ogling. “You missed supper.”
The vampire flicked his hand dismissively. “I can feel the lightning still cloaking your home from here.”
Dili smirked and propped her chin on her hands, enjoying the distance the lightning kept between the vampire and her house. She had no intention of risking another close encounter with him until she knew how he was involved with the Forgotten woman.
“How do you know Nile?” Hadrian asked directly.
The name rippled through Dili’s mind, and not a single memory surfaced. Though upon reflection, the feeling that she was swimming through her thoughts about the Forgotten woman felt right.
“Nile? Really?” she asked, with genuine skepticism. “I don’t think it suits her.”
“What do you call her then?” Hadrian asked, a little snappish.
“Trouble,” Dili said firmly.
Hadrian grunted. “On that we agree.”
“Why is she following you?” Dili asked outright.
The vampire’s scowl deepened.
“Why did she involve Jasmine in her schemes?” Dili asked.
Hadrian took two long steps forward, stopping ten feet away from the wall. Dili could almost see the air go fuzzy as the electric charge built with his proximity. Still, she could see the mesmerizing green of his eyes clearly.
“You asked me what I got out of making Toad my disciple,” he said, far calmer than she expected given his dark expression. “I have been searching for a particular witch for a very long time, and I thought a familiar’s help would be advantageous. Nile doesn’t want me to find her. I don’t know why. If she’s shown up, though, I must be close.”
Dili kept very still. Hadrian took another step closer. Gentle static filled the air, and she knew the tingle on her skin must have burned against his.
“Nile and I go way back, so she knows I don’t bother with humans,” he continued. “Sending one of her lackeys to impersonate the only person in town who you were supposed to check up on was a decent strategy to get to you behind my back. Fortunately for me, she didn’t know about Toad’s split loyalty.”
Dili didn’t gulp. She couldn’t even breathe. Thankfully, Hadrian didn’t dare come closer, but he did dare murmur:
“All this time… you’ve been hiding just here. I’ve checked these mountains four times, even that dump of a town at the bottom of the hill for a handful of forgettable nights. Not once could I find you—until he found me.”
Everything except the vampire’s piercing gaze melted away. There was no space to feel the cold or see the night or defend her home with the unsaid truth glaring in her face.
“I don’t think I’m the witch you’re looking for,” she whispered.
The wind should have stolen her words, but she knew he’d heard. Hadrian’s eyes blazed, then he advanced until he was all but touching the other side of the garden wall. The air crackled, he grimaced, and Dili stepped back a single step. The outline of his beautiful form blurred with electric power and garbled the sound of his deep voice.
“For both our sakes, I hope you’re not. It would make things complicated.”
She couldn’t let herself hope. “What things exactly, Hadrian?”
Hadrian lifted his hand and pushed against the lightning barrier. He flinched and grunted as lightning zapped his fingers, but he didn’t fly back like when Dili had blasted him. He ground his other hand into the wall and strained against the electric shield.
His fingers slid through, and though he yelped as the orange lightning embraced his forearm, he grinned. Dark green flared against the orange sparks as his own magic pushed back.
He reached sparking fingers toward her face, and she didn’t pull away. The vampire bent the relic of divine magic just to smooth the wild short hairs whipping around her face. Then, he cupped her chin, and she didn’t resist as he pulled her closer.
The magical lightning didn’t burn its caster, but fireworks exploded in Dili’s chest when Hadrian’s lips kissed hers. Heat pooled up from the base of her spine until she burned hot enough to complement the vampire’s icy touch. Such searing desire short-circuited her brain. She wanted to reach her hands up and embrace those strong arms, knot her fingers in that gorgeous hair, but before her body could respond, Hadrian’s steady grip on her chin pulled her away when she would have leaned in.
She gasped, realizing the lightning had dissipated around him. He hadn’t broken the spell; she’d let go the moment she’d drawn his breath.
Dili had let him in. Truly welcomed him in beyond the verbal or the physical, and there would be no taking that invitation back without considerable magic and severe consequences to their relationship, which she couldn’t risk for Toad’s sake.
Strangely, she didn’t feel as bad about that realization as she should have.
Hadrian stroked his thumb along her jawline. He stared down at her, an unknowable mixture of emotions clouding his green eyes. He frowned.
“You’re shivering,” he grumbled.
Dili smiled, unaware of the cold, and stretched her hand up. She pressed her fingers into his palm and pulled his hand down from her face. She held on as she turned back toward her cottage. Hadrian hesitated.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
He still asked, and Dili couldn’t help the chuckle bubbling up inside her. She glowed, and she didn’t suppress it as she tugged him wordlessly along.
*Chapters 20-22 have been modified to blend the end of volume 1 and the start of volume 2 together. The final publication will read differently, though the general plot points will remain the same. Learn more on my blog.
Next chapter on Friday, November 28.