Page 25 of Marked for Desecration

“Do you like your new blood farm?”

Logan’s question came out of nowhere and was out of place. What was up with this civility? My eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Am I supposed to? Seems to me like you guys made all the decisions beforehand. I’m just the trophy wife that haunts the Cromwell home.”

He stepped forward until we were toe to toe, towering over me with his dark presence.

I blew an upward breath, shifting my hair out of my eyes. I had braided the sides today, leaving the top combed forward to add a dramatic flare to my sharp features. I was in a sassy mood and horny as hell, but in none of my plans did it involve running intoLogan fucking Cromwell.

I stared at him with exasperated expectation and he sneered at me.

“I need my brother for another run. If you see him, tell him to look for me.”

“Fucker, why should I?”

He forced me to walk backward until I hit the wall of the hallway. Placing a hand beside my head, he leaned down and sneered at my face again. Was that the only fucking expression he had? For a guy who hates my guts, he sure likes to violate all sorts of personal space.

“One of these days, he’s going to see you for what you really are.”

I ran my finger down the front of his shirt without a care. His nostrils flared, but he didn’t push me away. Interesting. “Seems to me this is exactly where you wanted me to be. Wasn’t that the agreement between you and mother? You admitted as much the last time.” I bit my lip and looked at him with hooded eyes. “Are you spending time between her legs too?”

Wouldn’t be the first time someone got their rocks off a mother and daughter duo. Before her scar, everyone thought we were twins.

His eyes dilated with restrained fury. I liked this look on him. Very murdery-schmurdery. VeryLetos.

“I wouldn’t dip my dick into that disgusting cunt again even if I was the last Letos vampire left in this world.”

I barked out an uncontrollable laugh.

“It’s not what you said the last time, but I’ll ignore that. I’m not your bitch on a leash. Deliver your own message and leave me the hell alone, Logan.”

Shoving him off me, I turned and walked away. The slits of my dress showcased my athletic thighs every so often teasingly. I hope he died of blue balls at what he saw because he was never getting a piece of this again. His dick game wasn’t even that good. That’s what happens when all you fuck are corpses. No one could complain.

Some of the Spectres in the halls who witnessed our exchange grinned at me. I flipped them off and descended the steps to the first floor.

Heading toward the kitchen, I grabbed the closest familiar and questioned him. “What do you know about our new butcher?”

The woman trembled in fear, then her eyes glazed over. Her face went from terror to calm. I growled.

“Don’t scare the workers too much, Valka. We need to keep the system moving here for a good transition. A lot of changes are in place.”

Jordan swaggered in, an eyepatch covering his empty socket, and pulled me into his body by the waist. William never had to use thralls before. Why now? Was there a threat from the human servants I didn’t know about?

“Were you looking for me?” he whispered.

I let my annoyance go and plastered a smile on my face. “Yes. But Logan is looking for you as well. He was in the upper halls, last I saw, causing all sorts of trouble.”

“Yeah?” The cogwheels of his mind moved and a flash of suspicion crossed his features. This was interesting. “I’ll be home later. You don’t need to be in the kitchen with the servants. Go hang out in the other areas and be the woman of the house.”

I nodded like the good little wife I was supposed to be and stepped away from him, opening and closing my hands into fists. I would claw his other eye out if I could, but he was still useful. Another plan was brewing in my mind.

I made my way to the lounge where my first wedding was held. The large room was empty, filled with antique furniture and velvet curtains lining some of the walls.

The table that housed the blood fountain was left behind, the meat hooks empty and hanging from the ceiling still on display. I ran my finger along the table and aimlessly explored the rest of the room. Quickly bored, I exited the mansion through one of the back doors.

It felt like in the blink of an eye, a building was halfway built. It was a fraction of the size of our mansion, but the foundation was large nonetheless.

Humans milled about quietly, calmly putting up fencing around its perimeter. Little did they know, this prison would housethem. That was the thing about thralls. Their minds weren’t their own.

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