Page 35 of Life Blood
Screw that! I’m not the parasite.
I smiled and arched my eyebrow at her.
“So,” red-nails narrowed her eyes at me. Her voice was smooth and deadly all at once. “You definitely are a Life Blood. It’s a shame you lack manners given how revered your kind are to all of us.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I folded my arms and sat back. “Sorry, I’m hungry.”
“If we fed on humans the way you’re eating your food, they’d all figure outvampires were realfor being so sloppy with our meals. You know, leaving dead and damaged bodies after we drained them.”
I gulped. She snickered.
“I thought that vampires don’t drink human blood.”
“Is that what your groupies told you so you can sleep at night?” Her eyes glistened to match her wicked humor.
“Tone it down, Val,” Cole came to my defense, sitting at her side.
“Really?” Val said in disgust. “You aren’t going to tell your new little pet the truth? She doesn’t think we feed on humans?” She glared at Braden, “Was ityouridea to lie about what we really are? To protect the human girl’s precious feelings?”
“Val,” a vamp to her other side nudged her in warning, “shut up.”
“Or what?” she smiled wickedly and looked back at me, “Will your new boyfriend get up and kick my ass?”
She looked over at Braden, and her face suddenly fell.
Looks like he’s about to kick your ass, bitch.
I watched Val sit there nearly paralyzed by the facial warning from the dangerous vampire sitting by my side. Braden’s features were cold and dangerous. He never said a word, but even I flinched away from that expression.
“Fuck,” I heard a female’s voice say.
“Kicking you out of this house would be too simple for me right now,” Braden finally spoke. “Say one more word to insult Elle, and I’ll rip your goddamn head off.”
“It’s just…”
“Shut the fuck up, Val,” the girl to her other side said.
“Easy, Braden,” Zac said, “Val is all right. You don’t need to rip her head off to prove anything. No one is going to hurt Elle, and you know it.”
I could hear the trepidation in Zac’s voice. It was pretty obvious Braden was very close to making there one less vampire in the house.
“It’s fine,” I placed my hand over Braden’s rigid one, “If she wants to be rude, that’s fine. I really have bigger things to worry about than someone I don’t know insulting my table manners. I can handle it.” I looked at her, “Oh, and fuck you too,” I said, pissed and wishing I could leave this tense and possibly hostile situation.
“You should probably relax,” Zac said in somewhat of a warning. “She’s here to make sure you aren’t picked up by a collector. It’s her duty whether she likes it or not.” He looked back at Val. “You’d be smart to shut your mouth because Braden obviously has no intentions of holding back. Elle is a Life Blood, and it’s all of our duty to protect her.”
Well, thanks for having my back.
This was definitely a side of Zac I hadn’t seen before. He was a lot different compared to the flirty vamp who drove me home from school and knocked David out.
The vampire bitch stayed silent. Zac was annoyed I was here, that was obvious, but what the hell was I supposed to do about it? This wasn’t my idea. I quite literally would rather have been anywhere than a vampire nest.
“Listen,” Logan stood, “Zac’s right. We’re all here to make sure the only Life Blood we’ve come across stays hidden from Enzo and the collectors. If you’re in, then start acting like it. We’re lucky today was a false alarm, but we all know it’s just a matter of time.”
“Wait a minute,” my mind went directly to where it needed to be. Answers. “What happened with my mom?” I asked Braden.
“Word’s gotten back that your mother is safe.” Braden answered.
“Apparently, your friend Jen…” Cole started before he took a drink of water to wash down his food. “Her family is very wealthy. They left you that money. Seems that her dad had been planning this for weeks, knowing that they were leaving you.” He looked at Zac, “Your investigative abilities suck. You should have picked up on that when we realized Elle was a Life Blood and they left town. What the hell is your excuse now?”
