Free Davy Harwood (The Immortal Prophecy) by Tijan Page B

neck. “You dropped your shield.”
     
    I had, but I hadn’t done it on purpose. ‘Please don’t hurt her. Please… she’s… she saved my life.’
     
    His eyes bore into mine. “I’m a marked Hunter. You know I can’t.”
     
    “What do I do?”
     
    “You save her life. You return the favor and you make sure she doesn’t do what her carnal desires are thirsting for. Make sure she doesn’t kill any vampires or you know what’ll happen to her.” He moved back an inch and signaled for two more drinks. He replaced my empty bottle with a full one. “You’ve seen up close what Hunters will do to anyone who violates the decree.”
     
    I closed my eyes as I saw Craig on fire, his face twisted and angry. I could still smell the charred skin and I couldn’t repress a grimace. My eyes flew open when I felt Roane tip my bottle up. My mouth opened automatically and the cool liquid helped wash some of the bad memories away. I swallowed and held my breath when Roane brushed his thumb over my lips. He held my gaze, but I knew he wasn’t doing the eye radar thing on me. I’d put my shield back in place, but he wet his lips. “I have enough on my plate. I can’t worry that a slayer is going rogue. Take care of her, take care of your friend or… you know what I’ll have to do.”
     
    Talk about no pressure. Save your friend or she’ll die a horrible violent death. Yeah… I downed the rest of my beer. “Yeah… yeah, I can do that.” I highly doubted it.
     
    My eyes wandered to Kates, but when I couldn’t find her, Roane supplied, “She just took a guy out the back door. If you hurry, you can get there before my guys.”
     
    I was forced to do what he bid so I shoved away from him and swept through the crowd. My body calmed a little as I moved further away, but it also grew cold. I hadn’t realized how I’d been cocooned by Roane… . I caught sight of the red exit sign and pushed past three vampires that stalked towards it. I hardened my jaw and vowed to do what I needed to do, but when I pushed out the back door I stopped dead in my tracks.
     
    Kates was sharing a smoke with the vampire and laughing. I’d expected—not this. Before I could react, the door slammed shut behind me.
     
    “Davy?”
     
    Oops. I smiled sheepishly. “Uh… hey. I didn’t know…”
     
    Kates stared at me, long and hard, and then flicked her cigarette on the ground. “If you tell me that you didn’t know I was here, I will skin you alive.”
     
    “I knew you were and there are three vampires on the other side of this door that know you’re here too.” I’d be awful under torture.
     
    Kates rolled her eyes. “Honey, every vampire in that bar knows I’m here. I’m a branded slayer, remember?”
     
    Okay. This wasn’t going how I thought it would.
     
    “This is Cherry,” Kates introduced with a back wave. “Cherry, this is my best friend, Davy.”
     
    “You’re the Empath.”
     
    The way he made it sound, it was like I was the only one. There were nearly a hundred thousand of us in the world, but I was probably the only one stupid enough to meander into a vampire bar twice in one night.
     
    Kates frowned at him. “Yeah, she’s empathic. What of it?”
     
    His quick eyes snapped to hers and read the warning. He straightened and ran a hand through his auburn curls then he flashed a charming smile. “No, she’s not just empathic. She’s the empath that was cozying up with the Hunter.”
     
    “What?” Kates whirled to me. Her mouth didn’t drop, but I felt her bristling in shock. Kates hated being surprised.
     
    The Hunter. That made him sound like he was famous or something, but then I realized he was famous in the vampire community. All hunters were known. “I—it wasn’t like that.”
     
    “Sure,” he scoffed with a knowing smirk.
     
    Kates looked between us. “Okay.” She turned and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’ll be seeing you.”
    He didn’t respond, but