Page 10 of Taste of Fate

He winked at me. “You’ll have to let me know.”

Heat surged within my body, the sensation just as overwhelming as it was unfamiliar. Was he…flirting with me? And the bigger question, was it actually affecting me?

“So, uh, what you said before.” I looked everywhere but at him, smoothing my palms, which felt sweatier than a moment ago, over my knees. “Did you mean it, about being able to visit Sapien?”

“I did.” Cyan dropped the charm and became serious. “It’s clear this friend means a lot to you. She was the crying one you said goodbye to?”

A lump formed in my throat. Fuck, I missed her already. “Yeah, that was her. Amy.”

“Good friends are priceless,” he said softly with a sympathetic nod. “I don’t want to be the person who tears two friends apart.”

His voice thickened on the last part of that sentence and I wondered again if something happened that caused him to feel that way.

“If you’re serious, I appreciate that more than I can express.” I laced my fingers and then released them. “I just don’t know if I can trust you.”

Cyan leaned away from the couch’s backrest, sitting up straight. “Here. Let me show you how serious I am.” Before I could react, he whipped off his T-shirt.

And drew out a long dagger from his boot.

Chapter 4

Cyan

Tavi’s eyes widened at the long, silver dagger I drew out of my boot sheath. She backed up until she hit the arm of the couch. I didn’t even notice she had begun inching closer to me until she backed away.

Her once calm heartbeat ratcheted up to a rapid thrumming that made my mouth water. I swallowed the groan of hunger that yearned to escape my throat, stabbing my fangs down into my lower lip. It was annoying really, how much the movement of her blood affected me. I had never craved someone’s blood this much without tasting it first. It was fucking distracting, especially when I was trying to make her believe that I would never feed from her.

“Relax,” I said, twirling the dagger’s handle between my fingers, careful to not touch the blade. “This is for me, not you.”

Her eyes didn’t move from my weapon. “I don’t understand.”

“Look.” I ran my hand over the raised characters carved into the right side of my chest. “Silver is the only thing that can scar us, you see. When we make a vow, oath, any kind of promise, we write it into our skin with a silver blade. This makes it permanent and unbreakable. If a vampire isn’t willing to bear his word in silver, he’s not someone you can trust.”

Tavi’s shoulders and breathing relaxed slightly. Her heartbeat slowed from a frantic rhythm to a sensual one, still elevated but without the spark of fear kicking it into overdrive.

“So what does that mean?” She lifted her chin to indicate the scars I already had.

“This is the oath I made to my clan, Blood ‘til Dawn, when I came of age. They’re my family, and when I reached adulthood, I vowed that my life and loyalty would always remain in service to them.”

“And that?” Tavi’s eyes drifted lower, her cheeks flushing red. Her dark gray eyes dilated and she was enjoying looking at me.

I wanted to tease her, to flirt and make a joke about how closely she was inspecting my body. But the lower markings on my ribs brought no sense of joy or pride. The vow attached to them was simple—to remember who I had lost.

“That’s a vow I will never speak of, out of respect to the person I made it to.” I kept my voice light, grinning as I said it despite memories creating a knot of dread in my stomach.

“Oh.” Tavi pulled back again, a frown of embarrassment crossing her face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You didn’t know.”

She rubbed her face, giving a sheepish little laugh. “When humans want an oath made in writing, we usually just use pen and paper.”

“My kind tends to live longer than those materials,” I said. “Which is why we use our bodies. We also find significance in carrying our vows everywhere we go, and being able to see them in a mirror. A vow is not something to be shut away in a drawer and forgotten about.”

Tavi leaned forward slightly, her fingers lacing together. She was inspecting me again and I liked her gaze roaming over my skin. I liked any attractive female appreciating how I looked, but this wasn’t just lust in her eyes. Her eyes lowered to the markings on my ribcage again. She seemed curious. Had she ever seen a vampire up close before?

“So this is what you’re preparing to do for me, someone you hardly know?” Her brows knitted together. “Cut yourself with silver to prove you won’t feed on me and will allow me to see my friend?”

“Yes.” It truly was that simple. “We barely know each other at this moment, but whether you’re my blood pet or someone else’s, you’re part of Blood ‘til Dawn now. I want you to know I’m someone who keeps my word. Someone you can depend on if shit goes sideways.” I flipped the dagger with a smile. “As a friend, of course. Nothing more.”

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