Page 9 of Thorn of Sorrow

Malachi took a step closer, his move impossible to detect. The quit stealth of a predator, but I could hear the hum of his sword and the gentle flutter of his feathers. At the moment, the humans couldn’t see the obsidian wings. Not unless he wanted them to.

A growing scent drew my attention. My gaze slid toward the back hallway, my head slowly following.

I could smell them.

Kyson and Dane.

Their anger and fear ripened the air around me, sinking into my lungs. I tilted my head back and drew in a deep breath, teasing my senses with the full-bodied aroma. My fangs ached, threatening to extend, as I rode a razor-thin edge between control and indulgence.

“Giovanni.” Malachi’s warning had teeth. “Touch Dane and die.”

I started to give him a false promise, but Dane’s scent was an afterthought. It wasn’t the one I was drawn to, consumed by, or savoring as it lured me deeper inside the station.

Kyson’s was.

Malachi had made the male’s scent repulsive to vampires for safety reasons, but… I inhaled again, even deeper this time. Every heartbeat in the building pulsed in my ears, but it took very little effort to pinpoint which one was Kyson’s.

For years it had lulled me, its rhythm striking the sweetest notes. The sound had drawn me to his bedroom door hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times in the past.

Right now, it was the blend of fear, adrenaline, and fury that seduced me, a combination I wanted to sink my fangs into.

“Hey! You’re not allowed back there,” Harrington said brusquely, like he could actually stop me. Then he folded his arms, purposely causing his biceps to appear larger. “That’s for personnel only. Now, I’m gonna ask you both to leave. Your possessions won’t be released until Sheriff Whitmore arrives tomorrow morning.”

Concentrate. Pull your monster back. Now is not the time to bathe in his blood.

Pivoting, I locked my gaze on the human, running my tongue over my slightly extended fangs. Malachi grew even closer to the deputy, as if playing a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Only, Harrington had no idea he was the mouse. I became acutely aware of the way the deputy’s vein throbbed in his thick neck, growing thirsty at the sound of his rushing blood.

But it wasn’t the heady scent of fear and rage pulling at my darkness.

It was the pure arrogance and stupidity of the deputy trying to stop me from reaching Kyson.

The fool had no idea what he was trying to stand between—no clue of the lengths I would go to in order to protect my petit oiseau. Little bird.

Even from me, who always craved just a small taste.

My smile blossomed, my gaze still fixed on Harrington’s neck. Even though the deputy’s eyes had been on us the entire time, Malachi and I now stood so close to the human, his surprised breath tickled my cheek.

“Malachi. I’m gonna ask you and your brother to ease away from my deputy,” Sheriff Whitmore said slowly from behind us, his quiet authority filling every corner of the room.

I gave one quick, inhaled breath that mingled with a barely formed smile. “And if I refuse?” The tiny hairs on the deputy’s neck brushed my lips, causing my fangs to throb.

Malachi took a step back, his nostrils flaring. “You would do well to teach your deputies impulse control, Sheriff.”

My nose grazed Harrington’s jaw, tracing a path until my lips hovered by his ear. His heart beat a little faster, his breath a little quicker. Every word spoken carried a soft yet insidious promise. “Take what is mine again, and I will break you into pieces too small for even death to gather.”

Harrington’s jaw clenched, but I saw a glint of fear in his eyes. “Then tell them to stop breaking the law.”

My gaze narrowed.

“What exactly did they do, Harrington?” Sheriff Whitmore walked casually toward us, but there was tension in his smooth strides.

He feared the Winterhavens.

As he should.

I’d never pretended to be something I wasn’t. Even Kyson, who had lived in our home for years, tempted me beyond measure. While other vampires ran from him, the human smelled sweet to me.

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