Page 94 of House of Ydril

Uncle just blinks at me. “I rest my case,” he says. Then he comes closer, so close he’s towering over me. When he speaks again, it’s in a low, tense voice. “I took you in when you were five years old, boy, and I’ve been raising you ever since. So you should listen really carefully when I say…”

He pauses to raise a finger at me. “That girl will only ever bring you trouble.”

For a second, I just look at him. “You’re in luck then,” I say bitterly, “because I’ve nothing to do with her anymore.”

He gives it a think and then nods. “Good,” he replies, his voice turning softer. “I’ll come see you off tomorrow, but remember, if you want to come out a winner, you need to do exactly as I told you.” He motions to my nightstand, where just yesterday he left me the vial with the ‘special blood,’ as he called it. “Understood?” he demands.

I never thought my uncle would urge me to take the vampire equivalent of steroids, but I guess he’s just that scared for my life. “Understood,” I finally echo him, hoping to make him stop mothering me. I need to go back to sleep andnotthinking about things.

And he stares at me for a moment longer, but then he just taps his walking stick on the floor and disappears.

Once he’s gone, I just sit in my bed for a moment, my mind buzzing again. Great, I think to myself as I get up, now it’s going to be impossible to get back to sleep. I’ve only managed to get her out of my head and now he’s put her back in.

I pace around the room, trying to shake it all off, but it’s not working. Before it all happened, the Second Round and all that, there were things brewing under the surface. She was looking at me differently and it was making me feel this...

But then it happened and it all turned to shit. I was so full of anger at whoever did that to her that it didn’t occur to me right away.

That her kicking me out of her room meant that she thought it wasme. That she’d seriously think I’d try to fucking murder her.

I stop to look out the window. I haven’t gone out much since it happened. Just a meeting now and then, mostly with the spies I hired to find out who did it. The rest of the time I spent in my quarters, coming up with the most painful ways to kill someone. It was comforting for a while, imagining being able to hurt the fucker who did it to her.

Now, the only thing comforting me is that the day will soon be over, the late afternoon sunlight slowly getting swallowed by darkness.

And just as I turn to go back to bed, I imagine that I’ve caught a whiff of her scent. Perfect, I think as I grit my teeth, furious at myself for still allowing her so much space in my head.

But then I hear a quick knock at my door and I see Max stick his head in, saying, “Longborn was here, asking if I knew where to find you.”

Drawing in a sharp breath, I ask, “What did you tell her?”

He frowns a little. “Nothing, of course.”

Despite my mind telling me it’s a seriously bad idea, I hear myself say, “Go get her.”

He just looks at me for a second, nods and leaves. I rush to the mirror, my heart racing. My reflection shows a stubble and dark circles around my eyes that I can do nothing about right now. But at least I can put on some pants and smooth out my hair a little.

When I walk out of my bedroom and into the living room, she’s already there, standing near the doorway and looking at me with a funny look in her eyes. “I didn’t know where else to go,” she says in a hushed voice.

It does things to me. My heart tightens in my chest and I move towards her. Despite all the anger that I’m feeling, all I want is to fix things for her.

But once I’m in front of her, she takes a cautious step back.

My heart breaks and almost instantly, all the anger comes rushing back. To hide the whirlwind of emotion, I walk up to the bar and pour myself a drink.

“Your only option was the man who tried to kill you? Must be serious,” I say and I down my whiskey, slamming the empty glass back onto the bar.

“Actually,” she starts, flat-out ignoring my stabs. “That’s something I need to apologize for. I know it wasn’t you.”

That surprises me, but I choose not to show it. I lean on the bar behind me, fold my arms and ask, “Really?” I’m barely managing to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but I don’t care. “Warms my heart to hear you say it.”

She lets out an exasperated breath, her hands balling into fists in that incredibly annoying way of hers. “In my defense, what else was I supposed to think? First of all, the person who attacked me did use mind magic on me…”

“Just likeIdid,” I cut her off, my voice shaky with anger. I appear right in front of her, making her lips part and an almost inaudible gasp escape them. “Do you know the things I’ve done for you?”

“Oh, I know all about the chocolates,” she starts, waving her hands and raising her voice a little. “What, you thought I’d never figure it out?”

“Things to keep yousafe, goddamn it.”

“And now I know you’re telling the truth.”

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