Page 62 of Fated In Blood

His speculative look sharpened into something lethal. “So youhavebeen trained to hunt us.”

I opened my mouth to…do what, I didn’t know. Protest, maybe?

“Don’t bother denying it. All that means is you aren’t completely worthless after all, Slayer. You’re telling me you can scent our kind?”

I winced. Outing family secrets would have gotten me beaten to a pulp back in the day, but now, the truth could very well get me killed. But my father had to catch me first.

“Sometimes,” I hedged. “Not always.”

“God, you’re a terrible liar. I hope you’re a better fighter.” He headed for the door. “Tomorrow at dawn. Meet me in the training room. Riordan wants me to gauge your hand-to-hand and weaponry skills so we know how much of a liability you are.”

Oh, he wanted to gauge my hand-to-hand? Tomorrow at dawn I was going to kick his ass so hard he’d never walk right again.

He raked me with a cold glare. “I hope you have something to wear besides that.”

“Only if you let me go back to my apartment. I have clothes there.”

Andmy go bag,andan extra set of silver knives imbued with wolfsbane. I couldn’t help the smile spreading over my face when I thought about stabbing this asshole.

Numerous times, in various sensitive parts of hismaleanatomy.

“Fucking hell, I suppose it’s too much to hope that you could just”—he waved his hand at me like I was a dog with mange—“find something here to wear?”

“This was the only piece of clothing in this entire cesspool you call home. But fine, go fetch me some suitable clothing while I breathlessly await your return.” I made a show of sniffing the holey material, nose wrinkling. “Or we can go to my apartment, where all my stuff is, and I can get out of this fucking shirt that stinks of mildew.”

Bile floodedmy mouth when Blake dumped me onto the floor of my apartment, which truthfully didn’t smell much better than the mausoleum. My head spun so violently, it took me a couple tries to catch my breath while taking in the worrying number of dust bunnies congregating beneath the couch.

“You did that on purpose,” I hissed, climbing to my feet while holding down the hem of the shirt so it didn’t ride up over the tops of my thighs. “You almost ripped my arms from their sockets.”

“You wanted to be brought to your apartment, here you are. If you think I’m going to touch you any more than necessary in the process, you’re delusional.” He jerked his head toward the only door in the apartment. “Get on with it, then.”

Without a word of warning, he’d grasped my arm and yanked me into a whirlwind of chaos and shadows. My head was still spinning and every joint burned, strained from being whipped viciously about on our way here.

“I’ll be walking back, thank you very much. Or taking an Uber.”

He looked appalled. “Vampires don’t Uber.”

“This one will.” I headed for my bedroom, so nauseous I figured I’d better throw up and be done with it. “Stay here. I’ll be out when I’m ready.”

“Like hell I’m letting you out of my sight for a single second.” His heated breath skimmed the nape of my neck. “Your go bag is in the footlocker beside your bed and there’s a fire escape outside your window. Nice try, Slayer, but I wasn’t born yesterday.”

I skidded to a stop and he slammed into the back of me, sending me stumbling headfirst into my bedroom. I spun around and poked him in the chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here to get changed into something decent.”

“You so much as try stabbing me with one of your little play knives, I’ll snap your neck.” His smile sent a shiver skating down my spine as I yanked out a drawer and picked out a clean, soft shirt. “You’ll heal, but trust me, the experience won’t be pleasant.”

“Funny how your version oftrust mehas changed so drastically in the last twenty-four hours.”

“Funny how a name turned you from an ally into a stone-cold murderous bitch.”

“Then at least turn around.” My cheeks heated, the niggle of doubt in my stomach growing stronger when that cold appraising gaze coasted down over my half-naked body with deliberate slowness.

“I’ve seen it before anyway. Nothing special.” His dismissive snort had my eyes pricking before I yanked out my bottom drawer and started hunting for jeans.

My entire life I’d dreamed about the special man who I’d give everything to, including my heart. The one who was supposed to be myforever.

Maybe because my life had been nothing but pain and fear and a desperate fight to survive, I’d shaped this particular romantic fantasy into something special. Something sacred. Something for me to hold on to during the darkest of nights, when everything seemed so hopeless.

True, there hadn’t been candlelight and roses with Blake, but to have him turn what we’d shared into something dirty and meaningless knocked the breath from my lungs.

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