Page 115 of Sinner's Sacrifice

“She stabbed me in the heart,” the doctor said, his voice rising to a squeak.

“Good,” Yvgeny snarled at him.

“What?” The man’s wide eyes were almost comical.

“If I’d gotten to you first, I would have ripped it right out of your chest.” Yvgeny slid off the bed and took a step toward the doctor. “I still might.”

“But...but—”

“You have a big mouth, doctor,” Yvgeny said, taking another step toward the weasel. “You reported Samantha’s genetic results to the entire Vampire Council, didn’t you?”

“Well, of course, I did.”

“As a result, several families threw caution to the ground and stomped on it with steel toe boots until it was flat, because you made them believe that she could solve our biggest genetic problem.”

The doctor closed his mouth and backed up a step.

Yvgeny followed him. “They openly attacked my home to get to her. They weren’t being careful. They didn’t care who saw them do the impossible.” Yvgeny bared his teeth. “This has exposed us to who knows how many law-enforcement and government agents.”

“You don’t know that for cer—”

“One of the members of the task force I was trying to cultivate a positive working relationship with held her at gunpoint, called me a freak, and told us both there was no use pointing it at me because I’d heal any wounds his gun made. When Sam argued with him and called him a moron, he shot me in the head to give her proof.”

“She stabbed that officer in the heart,” his aunt said.

“Then she came here and stabbed you in the heart, doctor,” Yvgeny drawled. “I wonder why.”

“I would never have allowed her to be forced to have children,” his aunt said in a tone that shouted her contempt. “As if she were a cow.”

The doctor turned to face her. “The needs of the majority of us supersede the wishes of a few people,” he said, as if he was the voice of God.

Sanctimonious asshole.

Yvgeny grabbed the man by the head and neck, and twisted. The crack of his spine shattering calmed something raw and bleeding inside him.

He dropped the moron and glared at his aunt, daring her to say something, anything, derogatory.

She sighed. “Feel better now?”

“Yes,” he said, flashing his fangs at her. “He’s a threat to Samantha, a threat to the stability of our people.”

“I agree. He’s made bad choices, but we also need him. I’ll see that he’s educated.” She glanced past him to Sam, unconscious on the bed. “We have other problems to deal with. She murdered a police officer. She thinks you’re dead, and she isn’t going to be happy when she wakes up.” His aunt gave him a small smile. “I do, however, appreciate her viciousness.”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course you would.”

“You are going to have your hands full, Yvgeny.”

It was his turn to sigh. “I think it’s best if Sam and I leave New York.”

She studied him for a moment. “I’ve had Bazyli’s farm cleaned up and renovated,” she said, her tone approving. “That might be a good place for you two to work out your issues.”

“You mean the issue of her being a prize that so many of our people are going to want?”

“You love her,” his aunt said, with no derision at all. “Convince her of that. Believe me, it’s the only thing that will matter to her. It’s the only thing that truly matters in life at all. Give her something to live for.” She looked at Sam again. “She would die for you, Yvgeny, but living for you might be harder. It requires a different level of trust.”

He studied his aunt’s face, at the sadness tugging the corners of her lips and eyes down. Who had she loved and lost? A mystery for another day. He had a big enough job in front of him.

“Challenge accepted.”

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