Page 68 of Marked By Night

His large hand lifts to my lips as he wipes away some of the jelly I must’ve missed, then he pops his thumb into his mouth. The sight shouldn’t be erotic, but it is. My breathing starts to quicken and I can’t seem to bring myself to look away.

In the next second, he withdraws, putting space between us. Which is probably for the best if I’m honest.

He clears his throat, glancing away from me. “The Kings own a grape vineyard, so all of the jellies and jams are locally sourced from their farm.”

Huh. Guess that explains where all their money comes from.

“Well, I’m impressed, Vin. Great job.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your kind words,” he says. “Is there anything else I can do for you right now, Sadie?”

The dark circles under his eyes seem to be worse than earlier and the overall tiredness wafting off him is almost palpable, seeping into the air around us. Not to mention his bruises.

“Actually, am I allowed to give you a break? You look like you need it.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Miss. By Weaver law, we are only allowed one break a day and I’ve already taken mine.”

Anger flutters through me with that revelation.

“Fuck that. I want you to relax for a moment. If anyone asks you about it, tell them to come to me and I’ll set them straight.”

Vin looks torn, but eventually, he gives in with a nod, gratitude shining in his eyes as he leans against the counter. “Would you mind?” He motions toward the second sandwich I haven’t touched yet.

It hurts my fucking heart to hand it over, but I can be nice. Sometimes.

“What did you mean by package?” I ask. “When you were talking to Elian earlier, I mean.”

He coughs, choking on the bite he just took. “I’m sorry, Miss, but that’s not something I’m allowed to discuss with you.”

“Why on earth not?”

“Elian’s orders,” he says with a shrug, but I can sense more under the surface he’s not saying.

For his sake though, I drop it. I’ll take it up with Mr. Brooding Asshole myself.

My stomach rumbles so I sneak back over to the fridge, checking each shelf for something to snack on. So many exotic fruits and vegetables, but no snack foods. I check the pantry and strike out there too.

“Don’t these people have any beef jerky or BBQ chips? Hell, at this point, I’d even take some fucking saltine crackers.”

Vin makes a rumbling noise of protest at my list of snacks. “Those are terrible for you, Sadie,” he says like I don’t already know.

“I don’t need a babysitter but thank you for thinking of my health.”

He sighs. “I go to the grocery store on Fridays and I can stock up for you then if you’d like?”

“Sure, but I’d like to go with you if that’s all right?” As nice as Vin seems I don’t trust him to buy the right kind of snacks. It takes finesse. Not all brands taste the same.

He nods, gazing at me like I’m an enigma.

“Great! I’ll see you then. For now, I’m going to find out what happened to Dante. Let’s go pup.” I back out of the kitchen, turning the corner only to come face to face with a chest. A warm bare chest.

“Speak of the fucking devil.” I laugh when he spins me around in his arms. “Hello there, Dante.”

“Hey, Angel.” He sighs heavily. “Unfortunately, I have bad news.” The spinning stops as he looks down at me.

“Well, don’t keep me waiting. Spit it out.”

“We received word that the compound has been attacked and put on lockdown. Which means we won’t be able to take you there and test out your powers.”

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