Free Dead If I Do by Tate Hallaway

zompire? Anyway, it’s Teréza, Sebastian’s . . . well, Mátyás’s mom.”
    “Who’s Mátyás?”
    “Sebastian’s son.”
    “Ah, I see.” After a moment’s consideration, Parrish added, “The man you prefer comes with a surprising number of extraneous family members.”
    Parrish had a point, and I was definitely starting to see the downside of that. Teréza lurched forward.
    Like a gentleman, Parrish put his body between Teréza and me. She hissed at him, like something out of a B movie. Parrish frowned down at her, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “She seems rather harmless,” he noted, as she continued to make booga-booga noises at him.
    I cowered helplessly behind his back. I peeped around his torso, and Teréza lunged at me. Her fingernails raked my cheeks. Parrish used that super-ninja speed of his to grab her wrist in his hand. She squeaked. He held her firmly, casually. “Your vambie is unimpressive,” he said.
    Teréza made a few swipes at me, but Parrish deftly kept her from reaching me.
    “Don’t underestimate her,” I said. “She’s a witch.”
    As if in response to my words, Parrish let go of her like his hand was on fire. Actually, it was. Bright whitish yellow flames leaped from his fingers and palm. He stared at it, horrified. I could smell burning flesh. Teréza made a grab for me, but I ducked. Grabbing a handful of snow in my mitten, I quickly pressed it into Parrish’s hand. Teréza snarled, as she came around again for another attack. I watched her warily as I continued to dump snow on Parrish ’s still-burning hand. Our eyes met. I thought Teréza was going to make another jump at me, but she held her fingernails up to her lips and licked them, as though licking my blood from her fingers. Then she blew me a kiss. Lilith sparkled under my skin and began to rise in defense—to what, I wasn’t sure. I felt myself begin to surrender to Lilith’s control. But just before I lost consciousness, Teréza winked. A moment later, she disappeared. I almost got magical whiplash from the speed at which Lilith retreated back into me. I turned my attention back to Parrish. The skin on his hand had puckered and swelled. My astute medical opinion was, “That looks bad.”
    “Hurts like a sonuvabitch, too,” Parrish said with a weak smile. I could tell it really did pain him. Hospital was out of the question. The guy was a two -hundred-year-old vampire. They wouldn’t know what to do with his physiology. “Will it get better? I mean, like, soon?”
    He shook his head. “Takes time.”
    “Should we wrap it or something?”
    “That would be helpful,” he agreed.
    So I needed to get him into the farmhouse. Problem was, Benjamin the killer ghost would fricassee another vampire in Sebastian’s house.
    “Hang on,” I said. I ran up the drive to the door. I put my hand on the ward and opened the door with my key. Stepping over the threshold, I felt the heat of the interior on my cheeks. “Benjamin?” I called softly. “I need to let another vampire in for a moment. He’s a friend, he . . .”
    The lights flickered.
    “It’ll only be for a second.”
    A lamp tipped over and smashed onto the floor.
    “Okay, I’ll just get what I need.” I ran upstairs to the bathroom. In the cabinet, I found some gauze and medical tape. I grabbed them, even as I felt a cold breath at my neck. “He was burned,” I told Benjamin. “By Teréza.”
    The atmosphere changed instantly. The cold at my neck disappeared and was replaced by a pleasant warmth. I got the sense Parrish would be welcome. Apparently Benjamin disliked Teréza more than the idea of another vampire.
    “Should I go get him? Bring him in?”
    Nothing broke or flickered. That seemed like a good sign. I grabbed the stuff and bounded down the stairs.
    “I think you can come in,” I told Parrish.
    Parrish appeared at the door using that freaky undead speed again. “Shouldn’t you be more formal?”
    “Like you really need