Free Destiny by Celia Breslin

only Fin’s face remained with those tempting lips I wanted to taste.
    His musical, velvet voice showered seduction over my skin. “You may taste anything you wish, Princess.”
    Mind reader. I leaned closer, breathing in the strawberry scent of his breath. An alarm sounded in my head, my inner vampire howling her displeasure. Wrong vampire. Resist. It’s a trick.
    Some older vamps possessed additional, special powers, as unique as a fingerprint. Clearly Fin fell into that lucky category, and his focused on attraction, like a preternatural roofie of sensual pheromones.
    “That’s quite enough, Fineas.” Lily’s voice tolled like a bell, shattering Fin’s magic.
    The room crashed back into focus, sight and sound making me jerk and lean away from the misbehaving vampire.
    Lily stood behind Fin, all five foot nothing of her vibrating with so much power the air around us wavered like the surface of a pond.
    He scooted his chair back to his table and stretched out his legs, draping an arm over Mohawk Man’s shoulders. A mischievous smile curved Fin’s lips. “My dearest Lily, whatever are you on about?”
    She gazed at him over the top of her tortoise shell, cat-eye glasses, her dark eyes glittering with knowledge and power. She reached into the pocket of her black pencil skirt then put her hand in the middle of our table, chanting softly in Japanese. The air crackled for a few seconds, making the hairs on my arms stand at attention. Lily pulled back, leaving behind a smooth and shiny black stone, roughly the size of a meaty, black olive.
    “Protection,” she explained though the info didn’t enlighten me one bit. Then she cast a stern look at Fin. “Behave.”
    “Lily, my love, I’m always on my best behavior for you,” the naughty vampire crooned.
    She huffed. “We close soon.” Her face softened as she turned her gaze on me. “You stay for karaoke.”
    Warmth filled my chest at her words. My friends and I had frequented her restaurant since our college days, and we’d quickly become like family to Lily and Sam. After-hours karaoke with the staff was one of my favorite pastimes. She left us without inviting Fin. Bad, bad vampire Fin.
    My heart hammered my chest as I worked hard to control my temper. I was sick of old vamps messing with me, but my respect for Lily and my reluctance to make a public scene trumped my desire to grab my chair and smash it over Fin’s head. Besides, I could always do it later, somewhere far from prying human eyes.
    I tossed back a cup of sake in one swallow and settled for spearing him with a disapproving stare. “She doesn’t like you.”
    Fin tapped his empty cup on his table. “I’m like the son she never had.”
    Gen snorted. “Fin, you’re such a troublemaker.” She scooped up the rock Lily left on the table only to drop it in a hurry. “Hey, that shocked me.”
    Claire poked it with a chopstick. “Magic protection rock. Freaky and cool.”
    “Black onyx,” Fin explained. “To deflect and absorb negative energy. Our Lily cast a spell using it as a shield.”
    I mimicked him, tapping my glass on my table. “She’s protecting me from you.”
    He chuckled. “I’m perfectly harmless, Princess.”
    “Harmless like rabid bat, I bet,” I countered, voice heavy with sarcasm.
    He set aside his cup. “Fine, you caught me. You’re now safe from my advances as long as you remain in Lily’s circle. The next time I attempt a seduction, my princess, I’ll ask permission first.”
    I jabbed a finger in his direction. “Using your power on someone is not a seduction. And I’m not your princess. I’m not your anything.” Well, I could very well be his princess, if he were actually one of my father’s cosca , but I wasn’t in the mood to find out. Politesse and vampire court politics aside, the man was flirting, plain and simple.
    Fin put a hand to his heart. “Oh, how you wound me.”
    I almost smiled. With or without his extra mojo in action, pretty boy Fin was