Page 20 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

He shrugs, his green eyes still on me.

“I don’t take kindly to gents trying to hurt a lady.”

I glare at him.

“Well, I could have handled myself just fine,” I say with a huff.

“The right thing to say isthank you.” He pauses. His lips quirk up. “Miss…?”

I roll my eyes at him. I am not certain what he wants, but the more time I waste here, the fewer demons I will kill tonight—especially now that he took one of my kills.

“The right thing to do is to mind your own business,” I tell him sternly and move to leave.

He doesn’t move. His eyes are tracking my movements, shrewd and calculating.

I don’t know who this Lucien de Vitry is, but my instincts tell me to be wary. There’s something about him that I don’t like.

Perhaps it’s simply my pettiness for him stealing my kill. Or perhaps it’s the way he’s watching me with that dangerous glint in his eye as if I’d ever allow him to come within a few paces of me.

Dream on, soldier boy.

“Still waiting for mythank you,” he says when I move past him.

I glare at him.

“You might have to wait forever.”

“A feisty gal. I like it,” he murmurs appreciatively as he turns toward me.

“Take one more step and I will gut you,” I warn in a harsh tone.

His brows shoot up in surprise. Then he smiles and takes a step forward.

My eyes flare. For all my talk, Icannotkill a human. Could I get away with a little torture, though? Just enough to wipe that smile off his face.

He moves slowly, methodically, until he’s right in front of me.

It’s dark. As a human, I doubt he can see much. But I can see him well enough.

And Ihateit.

I hate that I have to look up at him as if he were one of those buildings that scrape the skies. I hate that he dared to killmydemon. Most of all, I hate that he’s daring to talk to me as if we are equals.

“You puny little hu?—”

“Little?” He straightens his back, towering over me.

I glare mutinously at him—upat him. Okay, maybe little is the wrong word choice.

His sole response is to smile. Heonlyknows how to smile. It’s not a bad smile, if I were to assess it objectively. But as of right now, I am anythingbutobjective when he just killed my demon! Now he’s making me lose precious time when I could be out there finding another demon to fill my quota for the night.

“Step away or Iwillgut you,” I grit out.

Those pesky little demons will not kill themselves—though how I wish they did, but when you’re evil to your core and your only purpose is to prey on those weaker than you, I suppose there is no reason to get depressed about life. Alas, this is not the moment to contemplate the mental health of demons—though, really, perhaps that is a good topic for a dissertation, which might earn me another commendation if all goes well.

Stop this, Minerva! You willnotget any commendation for doing nothing.

In fact, the only thing I will get is a reprimand if I tarry for much longer, which will only serve to stoke my ire about not meeting my nightly quota, which might make meactuallygut him.

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