Twice Bitten (Love, Lust & Magic #1)

Griff

A what? A witch? It was becoming clear to that he had exhausted all of his knights in shining armor and he was, in fact, on his own. Instead of bothering to ask for an explanation or plead for mercy, he threw caution aside and just rolled with the absurdly supernatural situation he had found himself in.

“Y-you know, that’s not all they say about, um, uh, witches, right?” a panicked shouted as both Kale and Julian sniffed his skin. Each vampire kept him in place by clutching his wrists.

“Is that so?” responded an entranced Julian.

Think fast , .

“Obviously,” feigned a scoff. “Clearly, I’m dealing with amateurs. A witch can overpower his enemies at any time.”

“Says the short little twig pinned to a table,” replied Kale. “Regardless, he’s got to taste better than the rest of the late-night dining options on campus.”

Julian nodded in agreement.

felt Julian’s teeth gently graze his neck. “When Uriah told me you guys sucked, I didn’t think he meant it literally.”

Kale smacked Julian upside the head. “Did you hear that?”

A perturbed Julian shoved Kale. “Uriah’s full of it! And we’re about to be full of his friend.”

“What was that, boys?”

The possessed vampires turned to the patio entrance to see Uriah, followed closely by Pruitt. Struggling to break free from his captors, hollered for help.

Kale chuckled before giving Uriah a toothy grin. “Just talking about how we were about to eat what I can only imagine is your little boyfrie?—”

, having broken free of Julian’s grip, kicked Kale as hard as he could in the face.

“Damn!” Kale howled in pain as he released the human.

“Damn!” shouted, completely in shock that he actually landed the blow.

“Damn ,” both Uriah and Pruitt said, an impressed look on their faces as they watched it all unfold.

As slid off the table, Julian grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the patio. “Not so fast, bud.” swung frantically at the vampire, his necklace bouncing out from underneath his shirt and his pendant rocking against his chest.

This is it. This is the big climax for my character, I guess , a defeated thought to himself.

“Put him down!” a charging Pruitt demanded as Uriah’s fists met Julian’s already bloodied face.

’s eyes widened with surprise as Pruitt let out a wolf cry, his muscles bulging to where the fabric of his shirt started to buckle. As Uriah pummeled Kale, his eyes bulged with red veins and his incisors appeared to sharpen and extend, much like ’s attackers. For , it all happened in slow motion.

Seconds before being tackled by Pruitt, Julian’s eyes illuminated with color. His concentration immediately turned from to Pruitt—and with the fling of his arm, he sent the werewolf crashing into the railing.

Oh, god. Pruitt. And now me , thought to himself. If I really had some kind of magic, now would be a great time to use it.

“ Never send a vampire to do a witch’s job, I guess, ” Julian said with an uncharacteristic laugh. “Now, where was I?”

As the possessed vampire turned back to him, ’s eyes grew wide in disbelief as his pendant emitted a near-blinding light. The sheer shock of the situation almost seemed to energize him, giving him an inexplicable boost of uncharacteristic courage. “Leave. Us. Alone.”

“Gah!” cried Julian. “It’s burning!”

Pruitt felt an unnatural breeze push him again to his feet. Looking up, he almost couldn’t believe what he saw. “What the hell?”

“Holy fuck,” said Uriah with the same sentiment.

What looked to be an isolated magic atom bomb erupted in Julian’s face, sending him flying onto the next building’s balcony full of dancing college students. The blast knocked the dueling Kale and Uriah to their feet. Although the flash quickly faded away, it surprised Pruitt to see that was suspended in the air.

A separate, invisible force shook both Kale and Julian’s unconscious bodies. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on?!” a confused Kale shouted as he came to. “Is this some kind of trick so that Uriah can shortchange us for the gig again?”

Uriah and Pruitt locked eyes—both with the mutual understanding that even they couldn’t fully explain what was going on—before turning their attention to the floating freshman.

“Uh, hey,” spoke softly. “A little help down?”