Page 24 of Bitten By Chaos

Trying not to tremble, I stood my ground. Elsa cocked her head as she considered me.

“Has the queen given you more orders? I’m surprised she let you return. Tell the truth.”

I felt her glamour slip inside of me again like a silken glove as she pushed it behind the words. She’d used it on Tomas, and compared to him, I was a newborn.

“She wants me to kill Grival and bring her his heart.” The words fell from my lips easily.

Elsa’s mouth coiled upward like a snake about to strike as she reached out to glide her knuckles along my cheek. “Very good. You will kill Grival, then bring me his heart first. You will still deliver it, so this does not break the terms of your bargain. Do you understand?”

My throat threatened to close with fear, but her glamour cemented the command in place, and I nodded my agreement.

“Feel free to assist her,” Elsa said, glancing at Julian. Then once again, swept from the room.

My father ducked his head and scurried out after her, possibly to avoid me, possibly to get back to his greatest love—work.

“Thank you for the most entertaining brunch I have attended in at least a century,” Merl said as he bowed with a flourish. “If you need any help, you know where to find me.” With a wink, he strode from the room as well, leaving me alone with Julian.

Silence hung in the air, and I dared a peek at him. Every tendon in his body stood erect, and his face was a mask of neutrality, but his eyes… His eyes glowed indigo, rimmed in scarlet and shone with rage. But who was the rage directed toward?

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I whispered.

A muscle in his jaw ticked, but otherwise he remained still.

“I knew you’d be upset.” I tried this tactic a bit louder as I fidgeted with my fingers.

“I am in need of some space,” Julian said, voice steady, but as formal as when we’d first started working together, and he had to act like he’d never met me.

My throat closed over my protests as he left the room, footsteps echoing in the empty space. When the doors closed behind him, I sank to my knees and cried once again, with no actual tears to release.

Chapter 8

Temptation

Iwanted to take a bath and hide from the world, but I didn’t dare go back to our suite when Julian needed space. I wandered instead, eventually strolling outside to the gardens. Circling to the back of the mansion, I tried to suppress the memory of Carmichael, the previous vampire sect leader, blackmailing me with the hopes of making me his pledge in exchange for protecting my sister’s secret portal powers. He’d ended up dead, possibly because of me and my mind-bending abilities. Somehow, I could no longer bring myself to feel much about it, I realized as I reached the tree where the body of his previous pledge had hung as a visible threat.

As I set a palm against the trunk, my stomach grumbled, reminding me that I had to feed soon or risk losing control. I had the passing thought that should I kill someone accidentally—no one would care much about it, other than perhaps Julian’s concern for my own trauma. A hollow laugh worked its way from my throat. How ironic that I should be the only one worried for my potential victims.

“What’s so funny?” Lydia asked from behind.

I spun around to find her with her hands on her leather clad hips and her signature Doc Martins planted shoulder width apart. A spiked choker surrounded her neck.

“You gave my father the formula,” I said with no real malice behind the words. I just felt…tired.

She joined me beneath the tree, staring up at its branches from below as the sun sank into the horizon, painting the sky several shades of pink and purple. She stood on tiptoe to grab a low hanging branch and let it spring back up, watching it bounce.

“I used previous studies to send him in the right direction,” she said, staring me in the eyes. “It’s painful to watch the old man struggle through the same calculations over and over that are so far off track. I figured he’s your father, so he can’t be that bad. I guess I screwed up.”

I smiled sympathetically and shrugged. “I don’t blame you. You did your job, and as far as my father goes, I stretched my trust way too far. Turns out he only cares about the work, not whether it’s used for good or bad or who it effects, even his own family.”

“He’s an asshole.” Lydia opened her arms, and I returned the hug, appreciative of her support. I didn’t know what I’d do without my friends. “From now on, I’m exclusively your lab assistant again. If you want me.”

“Always,” I said with a grin as we released each other.

“Ah, there you are!” Merl’s commanding voice had us both turning toward the wizard’s unexpected presence. He clapped his hands together and bounced on his toes. “I thought you may need some company after the stressful morning you had, but I see you already found a lovely friend.”

The scent of his blood had me shifting my body in an attempt to find a comfortable stance that didn’t appear desperate. I really needed to find a donor, the sooner the better.

Lydia narrowed her eyes at me, reading me like I had a sign on my forehead that said Starving Vampire. “I’d try another time if I were you,” she said to Merl, “we’re about to look for dinner.”

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