Page 29 of Fated In Blood

Not surprising, since he’d bagged his real quarry.

Us.

Our nameless charge was dazed, but her subdued state wouldn’t last long. We had to get her back to the manor house before true hunger set in. Maybe it already had, from the way she kept clenching and unclenching her shaking hands.

Or maybe she was imagining wrapping them around Tyrell’s throat.

I tried not to stare, but she was beautiful beneath the dirt and speckles of dried blood flaking off her, the rare kind of beauty that poets wrote incomprehensible shit about, and males twisted themselves into fools over. Ethereal, like an angel, someone might say, if they were good with words.

But I wasn’t interested in her beauty. I wanted those deadly skills. Her vicious fury. I wanted to turn her loose and let her fuck up everything Laurent Tyrell cared about.

Last night I’d planned to leave her here at Darkmore Castle, but…this was better.

Blake could feed her, since he was so goddamned noble, and once she was through her transition, we’d get a read on her abilities and send her back into the lion’s den. Whether or not she came back out wasn’t my problem, only that she did my bidding.

She’d been a formidable little thing as a human; with Blake’s blood inside her, all that rage, and a little training…

Tyrell wouldn’t know what hit him.

“We were there for too long, Blake. Fuck knows what we’re walking back into,” I muttered, the weight of responsibility crashing back down on my shoulders. Running a kingdom—especially one with a corrupt Ancient in charge—was a shit job, and I was stuck with it for life.

Or until Tyrell killed me.

But until that day, I’d keep fighting him, keep undermining him, until everything he’d spent four hundred years building crumbled beneath him.

I just hoped I was alive to watch the bastard fall.

“This is far enough.” We stopped a distance away from Tyrell’s castle, surrounded by chunks of rock and debris, but even the wanton destruction didn’t cheer me up. “We’re flying back to the manor house, and you’ll just have to trust us, this is the fastest way, even though you’ll probably puke your guts out.Just try not to throw up on Blake if you can help it. Makes him grumpy.”

My friend shifted on his feet, clearly torn about letting go of the girl. “This could be another fucking trap. You should go first, Rohr. I’ll guard our retreat, make sure Tyrell doesn’t send some guards or a revenant after us.”

I held out my arms awkwardly, feeling far too big when faced by this wisp of a girl. “I suppose that means I’ve got to carry you,” I explained, trying to look as non-threatening as possible so she didn’t get spooked and I ended up having to chase her across the fucking grounds. “We’re taking you somewhere you’ll be safe.”

Comparatively.

“You mean somewhere different than this shithole castle filled with bloodthirsty ghouls?” She swallowed but kept staring at the castle. “Normally escape would be my first choice, but my sister’s in there. Withhim.”

She choked out that last word.

“And there’s nothing you can do about that right now.” I made “come here” motions with my hands. “Look, things are about to get fucked up for you, and I’d prefer not to be standing on Tyrell’s doorstep when true hunger takes you over. Trust me when I say this, neither do you.”

“You throw the word trust around an awful lot for a soulless bloodsucker.” She eyed me like I had the plague. “No thanks. I’ve got places to be. Weapons to procure. Explosives to make. I’m sure you understand.”

Behind her, Blake's eyebrows disappeared into his hair.

“I’m not wasting time arguing with a baby vamp. You’re coming with us.” I ceased trying to be nice and spread my arms wider. “One way or the other.”

“That’s some caveman shit, right there. No thank you on the trust, and I’ll pass on whatever”—she waved her hand up and down the length of my body—“this bullshit is.”

“Youwillobey me. This is for your own fucking good. Can’t you see that?”

“We need to leave, Rohr,” Blake urged softly. “Tyrell’s up there enjoying every second of this.”

She scanned the front of the castle and the darkened windows. “He’s nowhere to be seen.”

“He’s there. Can’t you feel him?” I motioned to her stomach. “Right there. Like a kernel of cold deadness, twisting around in your gut?”

She narrowed her gaze on me. “I thought I had heartburn.”

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