Vampires Rule // Colby Brock

|~34~|

"Witches are the only other supernatural creatures in this world. They're immune to this thing called compulsion, which is basically when a vampire controls a human's mind. And vervaine heals them. They cast spells, obviously. The stronger the witch, from what we know, the more dangerous they are to us specifically."

"Go back. I'm a witch? How? And how do you know?"

"We believe you're a witch, yes. Annalise tried to compel you back at the bar. Do you remember when she told you to forget everyone?" I nod. "That was her attempt. The necklace would have protected you from that but she pulled it off, which begs the question of why you weren't compelled. That was the first sign. Then you managed to use that necklace to blind us all when you were asleep in here one time—only witches can do that. And earlier, as soon as I placed the necklace on you, your bite wounds healed."

I didn't even think to look at my bite marks until now and he's right; they're all gone. Every single damn one of them. Holy shit. Maybe I'm going mad, honestly.

"You're consistent with signs of a witch. The only thing we don't understand is why you don't already know." I frown to myself, flicking my eyes down to my lap. I start to play with my own fingers, my rings occasionally bumping together to make a gentle metallic ding fill the silence. "Are you alright?"

"Just . . . processing. This is a lot."

"I know. You can take your time." He places his hand gently on my knee, tapping it before retracting it. I stare at the spot he touched, feeling the tingles all over the area.

Slowly, I come around enough to glance at my phone for the time. Holy shit, I've missed work. That's really not good—Kirsten's gonna kill me, let alone my boss. I haven't even told them I'm not coming in and I have three missed calls.

Whatever. I'll tell them I got mugged or something and that I was sorting it out with the police all day. They shouldn't question that. For now, though, it's getting dark outside and I'm still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

As if Colby reads my mind, he says, "don't freak out." Then I'm scooped up and we move in a literal blur. And then we're in his room. I look around in complete and utter shock and confusion. To show me what happened, he moves from in front of me to the other side of the room then back. Wow . . .

He sits on the bed as I go to his closet to find some of my clothes and I change into them. I make sure they're black and a little extra showy. I know the secret now. That's what I've wanted pretty much this entire time. I'm feeling good about myself, thanks to Colby, and I want to show off just a little.

The look on Colby's face when his eyes land on my legs is priceless. I playfully bend forwards to pick a shirt up from the floor then meet his eyes. He looks like he's about to pounce at me . . . and I love it. But I don't give him the chance to do that. I walk quickly forwards, crawling over the bed until I'm over the top of him and leaning down. He lets me kiss him, his hands pulling my lower half against his.

The sound of a door opening then footsteps going down the hallway makes me pull away and look at his door, just to make sure. "It's Sam and Kat." He tells me. I nod, turning back to him. We get stuck kind of just staring at each other for a moment.

My hand, without my consent, reaches out and touches his face gently. He closes his eyes, letting me trace just my fingertips over his features. There's the tiniest smile on his face that makes my heart melt in my chest. He may be a vampire but he's stolen my heart and I don't want it back. He can keep it.

After a couple of seconds—and lots of other doors opening later—I drop my finger to his jaw, leaning forward to kiss just beside it. The tiny smile gets bigger as his eyes open and meet mine. I smile back, feeling like that's the only thing I can do. It's contagious.