Page 84 of A Dawn Of Blood

Swallowing it down, I watch him come to a stop in front of me and throw Raven a hostile look. Squeezing my upper arm in greeting, she almost instantly makes herself scarce.

Once she leaves the room, there’s a moment of silence during which we just stare at each other, my heart pounding. Then I collect myself, put the glass down and smile. “To what do I owe the honor?”

“I want to bargain,” he says flatly.

I raise my eyebrows at him. “Bargain, really?” I drawl, dropping my voice teasingly. “What is it that you want? Is it a kiss from your favorite witch?”

His jaw clenches, but he quickly collects himself. When he answers, his attitude and the tone of his voice are that of a general. “You will arrange for me to go for a run.”

I narrow my eyes at him. It’s not exactly hard to believe, that he’d try to get something for himself, but I can’t shake off this feeling that there’s something else going on here. Still, I choose to play along to see where it takes me. “Yeah? And what do you have to bargain with?”

He picks the book up, opens it to the bookmarked page and points at the first two parts of the three-part symbol. “I’ll tell you how to translate this.”

I blink then laugh at him. “Youwill tellmehow to translate this? I think you’ll have to excuse me for not believing you.”

His flat glare coupled with the way he just remains standing there tell me he knows I have no other choice but to explore this option.

But there’s still the matter of his increasingly dubious motives. Will this be another attempt to escape? I narrow my eyes at him again. “Why would you do such a thing? For a run at that?”

“I’m not explaining myself to you,” he replies flatly.

Frustration spikes through me. I collect myself. I lean a little forward, I smile and I use my most velvety voice to say, “Then you’re not going anywhere.”

At least that makes a muscle in his jaw jump. “Fine,” he bites out after a moment of pause. “There’s not a chance in the world you’ll end up using some sword to kill my father,” he recites, “you seem to be delusional and stubborn enough to spend the next hundred years working on it regardless, and I want my run to happen in a much nearer future.” He locks eyes with me. “There, is that clear enough for you or should I borrow your crayons?”

I tilt my head at him. “Delusional and stubborn enough? Thank you for believing in me,” I purr.

His jaw clenches.

I laugh and then get up. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

It makes me frown when he doesn’t follow suit. “Well? If we wait until the morning, you’ll see I can be grumpier thanyouare.”

He looks at me for a second. “You’re not having me fulfill my end of the deal first?”

Leaning a little forward, I smile. “I think I’ll trust you to keep your word, Hot Stuff.”

I see a vein in his forehead popping. “Don’t call me that,” he grits out.

I laugh again. “Oh I will. Now let’s get moving. There are grumpy vampires to be walked and ancient books to be translated.”

Chapter 59

Cain

It takes me a moment to shake off the anger and realize I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted. Contently, I start following her out of the castle.

After all, it was imperative for this to work. I’ve already tried messing with the collar magic, but it’s too strong and tricky even for me. Withthatoption out the window…

I have my Mind Magic barriers in place at all times, and I still have my strength and stealth, but all my powers are still being blocked, every second of every day.

I’ve delayed coming to the conclusion as long as I could, but if I want to escape, my only option is to figure out the person I’m literally tied to.

As soon as she leads me out of the castle, she shifts and turns around to stare at me. It takes me a second to tear my eyes away from her, but as soon as I do, I get into the position and break into a sprint, heading straight for the Lycan Forest.

I hear her follow.

I try to focus on letting off steam for the moment, but as always, her presence is making it impossible, so I go back to thinking about the mission.

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