Page 40 of Fated In Blood

A drink. I needed a fucking drink.

I ripped open my cabinets, finding the moldy bread, which went into the trash and didn’t remotely improve the smell of this place. I finally got dressed—my real clothes felt like they were made from sandpaper—then headed to Valentine’s. My blistered feet had already healed, which put another big check in the vampire plus column.

I gagged when I pushed through the swinging doors, hit full in the face with a mix of stale beer, semen, piss, cocaine, and perspiration. Okay, I so did not need to smell all of that. My new sense of smell was a big, fat check in the negative column, for sure.

I wound my way through the sweaty bodies gyrating on the dance floor and headed for the bar. I didn’t know why I’d come here, of all places, but Valentine’s was familiar territory and better than being cooped up in my apartment.

“Bourbon, please.” I slid onto the barstool, wincing at how my jeans stuck to the vinyl seat. “Two fingers, one cube.” God,being surrounded by humans—people—wreaked havoc with my mouth, my fangs protruding no matter how hard I tried to maintain control. Finally, I just sat with my hand in front of my mouth.

All I heard were the hundred racing heartbeats around me, and anticipation curled in my gut like a cat waiting to pounce. This felt like right before I’d go on a hunt, except…now the roles were reversed. This time…I was the predator.

Wait.No. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking like that.

“Evie. Didn’t think I’d be seeing you again.” Steve pushed my drink over to me with a grin. He was one of my favorites, a stand-up guy who looked out for the college girls while also being slavishly loyal to Vince, which was kind of an oxymoron.

He frowned, arms braced on the bar. “Vince will want to know you’re here. Especially after what happened.”

Oh yeah, the fighting. Almost forgot about that.

“Of course he will.” I took a long sip of my bourbon. “Let me finish my drink first, will you? There are few things I enjoy in life, Steve, and this is one of them.”

He swiped a dingy towel around the inside of an equally dingy glass. “Then you’d better drink fast. The boss man is heading out of his office as we speak.”

“Fucking hell, can I never catch a break?” I tossed the whole thing back, relishing the burn. There was none of that pleasant warmth that followed, my head every bit as clear as when I’d set foot in here.Must be a vampire thing.

I had a feeling I’d be saying that a lot in the coming days.

“Evie. Bold of you to show your face in my bar after that disappearing act you pulled.” I tried to keep my eyes on Vincent’s sweaty face and not the heavy gold chain playing hide and seek in his chest hair. “You’d better have paid for that drink, given how much you still owe me.”

“I paid.” Behind the bar, Steve pretended to wipe down the bar as he leaned closer to eavesdrop. “And I held up my end of our bargain, so now we’re even.”

I pegged Vincent with a level stare, adrenaline sending a fresh jolt of power rushing through me. “You wanted me to fight. I fought. Now I’m saying we’re done. If you expect more, that’s your problem, not mine.”

Where my newfound boldness came from, I didn’t know. Normally I didn’t give Vincent a lot of shit, because just last week he would have buried me out back for such openly bold defiance and nobody would have ever known.

My, how the tables have turned.

“Idecide when it’s enough.Isay when you’re done.” I gripped the edge of the bar, barely concentrating over the frantic thudding of his heart, the blood rushing through his veins. I would drink this asshole dry, even while he disgusted me on a cellular level. A dilemma I definitely never expected to grapple with.

Totally predictable Vince pressed his lips to my ear. “Don’t ever forget how important I am in this town, Evie. You don’t want to cross me.”

Was that still true? Even if Vincent wasn’t the threat, he imagined himself to be. I had to take this down a notch, because I’d seriously underestimated my hunger and overestimated my self-control.

I had to get out of here before I did something stupid, like tore his throat out in front of a hundred people. I was wrong. Steak wasn’t going to cut it. I wanted blood. Needed blood.

Cravedblood—even this hairy dumb fuck’s.

And seriously, just kill me now. Because if I came to my senses with my fangs in Vincent Valentine’s sweaty throat, my life might as well be over.

“I fought eight times, Vincent. You made at least ten thousand every night, so we’re even. Now I’m finished. Don’t worry, I’ll never darken your door again.” I was trying to be reasonable, but clearly, Vincent wasn’t having it.

His hand closed around my arm, fingers biting in deep enough to bruise. “What did I just say? Cross me and you’ll regret it.” Something about the entitled way he was manhandling me sent my fury spiraling out of control.

“Or maybeyouwill.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile since my fangs wouldn’t go back in, another check in the negative column. “Let’s not find out. You should really let me go now, Vince.”

“Yeah, uh, boss, maybe…” Steven interjected before Vincent rounded on him.

“Shut the fuck up and stay out of this.”

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