Page 40 of Daddy Frost

Hearing his name on the stranger’s lips sounded icky, making him shudder with revulsion. It also dawned on him that Mr. Fox had sent that text on purpose.

“All I had to do was wait for your next move. Nighttime thirst really sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Whichello sent you,” Delta managed to say with a trembling voice.

Mr. Fox’s eyes narrowed as he stepped closer.

“Scream or give away my presence, and my friend outside will torch this place. He’s pretty skilled at creating fast and devastating fires, so think twice before you open your mouth,” he warned.

“What’re you going to do, kill me right here?” Delta sounded a lot braver than he felt.

He didn’t know if Mr. Fox was lying about his friend, but he couldn’t risk everyone’s lives by calling his bluff.

Mr. Fox motioned to the right with a jerk of his head. “Quietly walk out the back door, and remember, lives depend on your cooperation.”

Delta’s heart was already pounding loudly, but when Arion casually strolled into the kitchen, his face glued to the screen of his phone, he was completely unaware of the danger he was walking into. Delta quickly moved toward him, pushing the small man behind him and causing Arion’s phone to fall to the floor with a loud clatter.

“Snatching two wasn’t part of the deal.” Mr. Fox’s expression hardened as he drew a gun from the back of his waistband and aimed it at them. “Step aside, Delta.”

“Fuck you.” He held out his arms to shield Arion. “And stop saying my goddamn name like you know me.”

Arion poked his head around Delta’s side and asked, “Is that a gun?”

Did the guy have no sense of self-preservation? Jesus. He pushed Arion’s head back behind him.

“You’ll have to shoot me before I let you kill him,” Delta stated defiantly. Did you really just challenge this lunatic to shoot you?

But Mr. Fox had said “snatch,” which led Delta to believe he wasn’t here to kill him. He prayed he was right, even though the gun suggested otherwise.

“Move away from him now,” Mr. Fox ordered, his voice low and threatening.

It was one thing for this maniac to threaten him, but Arion’s scars said the man had seen enough pain. Plus, he had a baby on the way.

Delta knew what it was like to grow up without a father, and he would be damned if he allowed the innocent child to lose one of their parents because Leo was a piece of garbage for starting all of this in the first place. “No,” he replied evenly.

A deafening bang filled the room. Delta felt a searing pain in his gut as something hot pierced through his body. He looked at Mr. Fox with wide eyes and witnessed Arion moving lightning-fast across the room to tackle the stranger. Then Delta’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Chapter Eleven

Arion had reacted too late. He should’ve disarmed the intruder as soon as he realized the man had a weapon. Instead, he’d froze from memories of the few times Akai had shot him. He was a vampire, and a bullet wouldn’t kill him—unless he was shot in the head—but Akai had just used the gun as another form of torture.

“How in the fuck are you so strong?” the muscled stranger asked frantically as Arion shoved him to the floor and disarmed him then kept him pinned down. Oh god! If Delta died, Kalen would never forgive Arion for not acting sooner.

It had been only two months since Arion had come to live with the Frost family, and although he felt welcomed, a part of him was still afraid he would be kicked out for the smallest mistake.

Letting the human get shot wasn’t a small mistake. It was a colossal, epic screw-up.

Grabbing the intruder by his shirt, Arion dragged him across the room and shoved him next to Delta, who lay there shaking, his eyes wide as if he were in shock. Arion had no idea what to do. His interactions with humans were few and far between. That’d been why he simply stared at Delta earlier. He’d been fascinated with the guy.

Pounding footsteps drew close.

“Get the hell off me,” the stranger yelled, raw panic in his voice. It was clear he didn’t want to face the men who lived here, and had no idea the shitstorm he’d just created.

Gripping the son of a bitch’s head, Arion was sorely tempted to snap his neck. “Who are you?” he demanded. When the human wouldn’t answer him, Arion whapped his forehead against the floor then yanked his head back again. “Who in the hell are you?”

The stranger pressed his lips together. Arion patted the guy’s pockets and came away with a wallet.

“Give that back!”

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