Intoxicating Magic by Deanna Chase

damned happy I didn’t have the information. And he’d use that to his advantage for as long as possible. The one thing I knew that he didn’t, however, was that I didn’t need the information that badly. There were other ways to get answers. “Gonna use that as a bargaining chip, huh? Well, good luck with that.” I stepped back and folded my arms over my chest.
    “It’s eating you up inside. I can see it in those pathetic blue eyes of yours, cupcake.”
    I almost laughed at his choice of nickname. No doubt he already knew I owned The Fated Cupcake back in New Orleans. “You’re deluded.”
    “Maybe.” He gave me a tiny bob of his head. “But I have the answers you both need.” His words came out short as if he was low on air. But vamps didn’t need to breathe. It was the bolt lodged in his heart.
    My fingers twitched, and I had to grip my forearms to keep from lashing out at him. He’d play this game all day. Maybe just to keep us busy until reinforcements arrived. “You think you can last all day, vampire?”
    He gave me a flat stare.
    “Ahh, so I’m right. There are no other daywalkers coming to rescue you, are there?”
    “Why would I tell you that? I’m not a fucking idiot.”
    “Yes, you are,” Tal said from behind me, his voice full of rage. “Not only five minutes ago, you talked about Hunter coming for you. Well, I’ve got news for you, you sick fuck. Hunter is a fae and he’s never coming to help you. No one is.”
    Then Talisen leaped forward, grabbed the bolt, and twisted. The vamp’s lips formed an O as his expression turned to one of pure shock. There weren’t any traces of pain or agony. Just shock. And as I stood there, unable to comprehend what was happening, his face started to disintegrate right before my eyes. His skin decomposed into tiny granules of sand just before his body combusted into complete dust.
    “Oh my God,” I breathed into my shaking hand.
    “You okay?” Talisen pulled my hand away from my mouth gently and kissed my palm before tucking it into his.
    “I don’t… know.” Staring up at him in awe, the tears gathered and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
    “Hey, hey. It’s okay now,” he said, wrapping me once again in his arms.
    “I know,” I said into his shirt. “It’s just… just that you and Link almost died.” The last word came out in a whisper as the full weight of what had almost happened bore down on me.
    “We’re okay.” He kissed my forehead and then glanced down at Link, who was now sitting at our feet.
    I nodded, blinking back my tears of relief. My fingers were rough on my skin as I wiped the remaining tears away. The only thing left of our ordeal was the metal bolt and a pile of sand. I stared at it, finally registering the barb on the end of the bolt. Metal bolts normally couldn’t kill vamps, just incapacitate them. Holes in the heart healed quickly, but hearts shredded beyond repair couldn’t. Tal had literally ripped the vamp’s heart to shreds when he’d twisted the large bolt.
    I shuddered, remembering the look of shock on his face. He hadn’t seen it coming. It made me wonder what exactly he’d thought we were going to do with him. “Tal, what did you say to him while I was tending Link?”
    “That his only hope of survival was if he gave up Asher’s location. He steadfastly refused, as I knew he would.”
    “And that’s why you dusted him before we had a chance to question him on other important things.” Like who the other fae was who’d changed Asher’s small army into daywalkers.
    “No.” Tal narrowed his eyes at me. “I dusted him because he was fucking with you. And he’d have kept it up until the next round of searchers found us. He was never going to give you any information. You know that. The best soldiers never do.”
    “You knew him well.” I rested my hands on my hips and waited for the ensuing explanation.
    “You could say that. I knew him before he turned vamp, back in high school.