Page 72 of Barely Breathing

“What do you want?” Costin’s voice carries deadly calm.

Elizabeth leans to the side, and her attention fixates on me. She wiggles her fingers to wave. Her fangs extend as she takes a step closer. “Well, hello there, my little amuse-bouche.”

I lean closer to Costin.

“Oh,” Elizabeth wrinkles her nose. “What did you do to the poor thing? She looks like roadkill. Didn’t our mother tell you not to play with your food? I honestly can’t remember. It was so long ago.”

“What. Do. You. Want?” Costin reiterates.

“You’re especially testy today.” Her predatory smile never falters, but it never reaches her cold eyes. “I’d have thought centuries would have mellowed you. If you don’t want to share your treat, all youhave to do is say so. Rude,” she lifts her brows in mock affront, “but fine.”

I grip Costin’s arm as another wave of pain threatens. The amulet feels heavy against my chest, and I feel Draakmar begging to be unleashed.

“Actually,” Elizabeth studies the back of her hand, “I came to deliver a message from Thane. Time’s up. He wants to know if your toy has an answer to his offer. Her for Paul.”

Elizabeth shows her fangs, the gesture practiced to instill fear. She’s enjoying her sick game. Her eyes swirl with blood and power. I can tell she would like nothing more than to rip out my throat.

Elizabeth directs her gaze to me. “Though, maybe we should find you a bath first. All the dried blood might give the wolves ideas.”

Chapter

Nineteen

“The answer is no,” Costin says, grabbing my arm like he’s going to lead me from the room.

“Do you always let him speak for you?” Elizabeth jibes. “I guess the rumors of your strength are just that…rumors.”

“You heard him,” I say. “No.”

“If you knew my brother, I don’t think you’d be so eager to be under his…” She gives me a once over, and it feels a little sexual in nature. It makes me uncomfortable. “…thumb if you knew how he really treats women.”

“He treats me fine.” Okay, so it’s debatable, but a united front feels like the right call.

Her eyes move deliberately over me, and she laughs. “Yeah, so I see.”

I self-consciously touch theblood under my ear.

“We’re leaving. Try not to destroy anything before you go.” Costin makes a move for the door.

Elizabeth’s form blurs and shifts, her body dissolving into that of a bat. She darts with supernatural speed. One second, she’s by the fireplace. The next, she’s blocking the doorway to prevent us from leaving. Her wings beat as she hovers before us, and she lets loose a high-pitched screech.

Costin shoves me behind him toward the corner. “Stay back.”

He launches himself at his sister, his own form shifting mid-leap into a larger, darker bat. They collide in the air, wings striking, bodies tumbling in violent circles as they tear at each other. The sounds they make are deafening—leather wings beating against stone walls, inhuman shrieks echoing over the room.

I watch them closely, sidestepping to stay out of the way when they somersault too close. I bump into the couch, but I don’t care. I can’t look away.

I scream as Elizabeth’s bat form darts toward me before turning at the last second, leading Costin on an aerial chase around the room. I know she wants to hurt me, but the amulet’s magic stops her. Costin pushes her toward the ground, smashing her into an end table so that the legs splitter into thick pieces. They fly so fast they’re barely more than dark trails, crashinginto the walls and ceiling with bone-crushing force.

They shift back into human form in mid-air. Elizabeth’s heel catches Costin’s jaw with a spinning kick that sends him crashing through his desk. She follows through with impossible speed, grabbing a broken table leg and driving it toward his chest. He catches it inches from his heart, using her momentum to flip her over his head so that she lands upside down against the wall above his desk.

“Stop this, Elizabeth,” Costin growls, rage filling his tone with gravel. “Enough!”

Elizabeth falls to the floor, hands first, catching her weight before twisting to her feet to stand as if it’s no great achievement. Decorations from the wall clatter around her. Rage pours out of her. “Enough? Remember when you arranged my marriage, brother? That is what I used to beg of Marcus. Enough. Enough.Enough!But it never was.”

“I didn’t know—” he tries to answer.

She picks up the metal shield and hurls it at him like a frisbee. When he deflects it, she’s already moving, her supernatural speed blurring her figure as she continues her attack.

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