the last ones I’d expected to hear. My mouth
dropped open and I whipped my head around to keep him in my sights. He stopped
in front of me and stepped close, the tips of his shoes hitting mine. His
nostrils flared and his hot, roiling energy cocooned me.
“You will kill vampires and demons.” He motioned to Jared
with his chin. “But this pathetic creature earns your mercy? Why? Because he’s
human? Bullshit. I suggest you choose a side, your majesty, before it’s too
late.”
He grabbed the knife I’d tucked into its sheath. My heart
hammered at the challenge in his eyes. He held out the blade to me, hilt first.
He was asking me to kill this man, to prove my loyalty to the vampires, to the
wolves, to the creatures who’d taken to the darkness.
I stared at him, my stillness a silent protest. I wasn’t a
murderer. Liar . Sickness rose and I pushed it down where it belonged,
tucked in some shadowed corner of my psyche. Doubt surfaced and try as hard as
I might, I couldn’t push it away. I’d killed demons and vampires, not all of
them the red-eyed homicidal kind, without batting an eye. Had they had friends?
Family? How many demons at the Vault had I orphaned? I didn’t, couldn’t, add to
that list.
“Pathetic,” Eiven said.
I flinched at the truth I saw in his words—at how they
mocked what I knew was fact.
He dropped to his knee and shoved the blade directly between
Jared’s eyes with a sickening thwack. Eiven pulled out the blade and rose,
wiping the excess blood and other matter on my sleeve. Moisture seeped through
the fabric and onto my skin.
I had a strange flashback to seeing my mother’s bloody body.
I’d touched cold, thick blood, rubbed it between my fingers until my father had
pulled me from the carnage.
Jesus. Jared had a little girl. Would she grow up with an
uncle instead of a father, as I had? For that matter, did Hellix and Ja-air
have kids somewhere? I’d never asked, never invested the time in getting to
know any of the Fenrir.
Headlights flashed through the trees and cut the darkness,
illuminating the grisly scene. I knew the sound of Micah’s car, felt the knot
of tension easing inside my gut.
Eiven drew the point of my blade down my cheek as if it were
his finger, light and caressing. I sucked in a breath that tasted of blood and
death. I lifted my head to meet his ice-cold gaze.
He curled his lip, exposing the tips of elongated teeth. The
tip of the knife pressed harder, cutting skin. “I might owe you my allegiance,
but not my respect. That’s a right you haven’t earned.”
As much as I wanted to disagree, to pull away from the bite
of his blade, I couldn’t. Staring into Eiven’s gaze, I realized he was right. I’d
done nothing to earn the respect from anyone around me.
I’d been weak. Emotional. Plagued with doubt and indecision.
I’d lived the last seven years of my life fighting for
esteem from the agency before discovering I didn’t agree with what they were
about. Now I was among people who had one priority—protecting me and mine.
It was time to pull me head from my ass and start acting
instead of reacting.
Chapter Six
The car’s headlights cut through the darkness, the beams
reflecting off a silver blade before exposing the rest of the scene. Bodies
littered the driveway—blood darkened the snow. Ella stood, back straight, chin
high, the tip of a knife pressed to her cheek. Her dark hair whipped furiously
around her, dancing in the drifts of wind. Toe to toe, she and Eiven stared at
each other. The white puffs their breaths made mingled.
What the fuck?
The packmaster drew the blade down the curve of Ella’s
cheek, a line of red appearing in its wake. My girl stood there without
flinching, without blinking. Why the hell wasn’t she fighting back?
Heat uncurled from the depth of my soul and I pressed harder
on the accelerator, the car’s motor a loud vibration over the chaotic sounds of
Slayer blaring through the speakers. I stopped
dropped open and I whipped my head around to keep him in my sights. He stopped
in front of me and stepped close, the tips of his shoes hitting mine. His
nostrils flared and his hot, roiling energy cocooned me.
“You will kill vampires and demons.” He motioned to Jared
with his chin. “But this pathetic creature earns your mercy? Why? Because he’s
human? Bullshit. I suggest you choose a side, your majesty, before it’s too
late.”
He grabbed the knife I’d tucked into its sheath. My heart
hammered at the challenge in his eyes. He held out the blade to me, hilt first.
He was asking me to kill this man, to prove my loyalty to the vampires, to the
wolves, to the creatures who’d taken to the darkness.
I stared at him, my stillness a silent protest. I wasn’t a
murderer. Liar . Sickness rose and I pushed it down where it belonged,
tucked in some shadowed corner of my psyche. Doubt surfaced and try as hard as
I might, I couldn’t push it away. I’d killed demons and vampires, not all of
them the red-eyed homicidal kind, without batting an eye. Had they had friends?
Family? How many demons at the Vault had I orphaned? I didn’t, couldn’t, add to
that list.
“Pathetic,” Eiven said.
I flinched at the truth I saw in his words—at how they
mocked what I knew was fact.
He dropped to his knee and shoved the blade directly between
Jared’s eyes with a sickening thwack. Eiven pulled out the blade and rose,
wiping the excess blood and other matter on my sleeve. Moisture seeped through
the fabric and onto my skin.
I had a strange flashback to seeing my mother’s bloody body.
I’d touched cold, thick blood, rubbed it between my fingers until my father had
pulled me from the carnage.
Jesus. Jared had a little girl. Would she grow up with an
uncle instead of a father, as I had? For that matter, did Hellix and Ja-air
have kids somewhere? I’d never asked, never invested the time in getting to
know any of the Fenrir.
Headlights flashed through the trees and cut the darkness,
illuminating the grisly scene. I knew the sound of Micah’s car, felt the knot
of tension easing inside my gut.
Eiven drew the point of my blade down my cheek as if it were
his finger, light and caressing. I sucked in a breath that tasted of blood and
death. I lifted my head to meet his ice-cold gaze.
He curled his lip, exposing the tips of elongated teeth. The
tip of the knife pressed harder, cutting skin. “I might owe you my allegiance,
but not my respect. That’s a right you haven’t earned.”
As much as I wanted to disagree, to pull away from the bite
of his blade, I couldn’t. Staring into Eiven’s gaze, I realized he was right. I’d
done nothing to earn the respect from anyone around me.
I’d been weak. Emotional. Plagued with doubt and indecision.
I’d lived the last seven years of my life fighting for
esteem from the agency before discovering I didn’t agree with what they were
about. Now I was among people who had one priority—protecting me and mine.
It was time to pull me head from my ass and start acting
instead of reacting.
Chapter Six
The car’s headlights cut through the darkness, the beams
reflecting off a silver blade before exposing the rest of the scene. Bodies
littered the driveway—blood darkened the snow. Ella stood, back straight, chin
high, the tip of a knife pressed to her cheek. Her dark hair whipped furiously
around her, dancing in the drifts of wind. Toe to toe, she and Eiven stared at
each other. The white puffs their breaths made mingled.
What the fuck?
The packmaster drew the blade down the curve of Ella’s
cheek, a line of red appearing in its wake. My girl stood there without
flinching, without blinking. Why the hell wasn’t she fighting back?
Heat uncurled from the depth of my soul and I pressed harder
on the accelerator, the car’s motor a loud vibration over the chaotic sounds of
Slayer blaring through the speakers. I stopped
Similar Books
