Page 20 of Fangs and Family
I wasn’t afraid of Adam. The cold-hearted bastard would never harm me, but it felt like I wasn’t in control of my life anymore. Whatever I did, fate pushed me into Adam’s arms, and I didn’t trust how long I would be able to resist the temptation, losing myself in his love.
I sat there waiting, absentmindedly toying with my phone. My thoughts were a tangled mess that isolated me from the world as I tried to straighten them out, and it was several seconds before I noticed the shadow blocking the sun. When I finally looked up, I flinched at the look of concern in Adam’s eyes.
‘Nina, what’s happened?’ He asked, forgoing the usual platitudes in favour of meeting the problem head-on.
He wore what I could only describe as casual combat gear. Dark cargo pants with pockets filled with God knows what, steel-toe boots and a leather jacket that made him look deadly, beautifully deadly.That’s what I bought with my blood,a lethal weapon,I thought, sending him a tight smile.
‘Thank you for coming, but we need to go. Pawel may already be waiting for me, and it sounds like he’s in danger,’ I said, avoiding his outstretched hand, afraid that if I touched him again, it wouldn’t stop there, and I’d end up crying in his arms because that’s exactly what I wanted to do.
‘Fine,’ he replied, tightening his hand into a fist and dropping it to his side. ‘My car’s in the parking lot.’ He continued, and we walked toward it in silence.
‘Where to?’ he asked once we were settled in the car, and I gave him the description of the overgrown, unused playground in the New Port district. The place had been derelict when I was younger, just like the entire district. Even though the area had been gentrified recently, the old playground, close to the abandoned shipyard, was still there, covered in so much wild vegetation that the rusted equipment and evidence of casual drug use were well hidden. Despite that, it was still the happiest place of my childhood.
After I repeated the conversation with my brother, we again lapsed into silence. Adam’s attention was entirely on the road, manoeuvring his car skilfully through the dense traffic. My mind was reeling in fear and anxiety, thinking about all the worst-case scenarios, but I kept my lips sealed. I could no longer pretend I could sort it out myself, hating every minute I knew I was not capable of dealing with my family troubles.
I studied the man next to me. I bought his service, and I intended to fulfil our contract, but why was he willing to help, especially after setting such ridiculous conditions? I don’t think I’d ever treated someone so poorly, yet here he was. Adam had an agenda, but he was very open about it. I knew he wanted me, though I didn’t know exactly what he wanted. Revenge for how I’d treated him? My blood? My body? If he was going to punish me for how I ended things between us, I would accept it. Maybe that’s why he insisted on reversing our situation, forcing me to live in his home. Still, right now, he was here, and that was all that mattered.
I reached out and touched his thigh with my fingertips. I didn’t want to look at him, but I wanted to feel he was real and I wasn’t alone.
‘Thank you,’ I whispered, and Adam’s hand slid from the gear stick, covering mine. It was a small, silent gesture; he didn’t even take his eyes off the road, but it meant the world to me, and finally, I could breathe easier.
‘This dump is where we’re meeting your brother?’ Adam asked when we parked next to the barbed wire fence.
‘Yes, a veritable childhood paradise, but only Pawel and I know we used to play here, so….’ I answered, getting out of the car. ‘I’ll go first. That way, he’ll know it is safe.’ I couldn’t help noticing the questions forming in Adam’s eyes, but he chose not to voice them for the moment.
I slipped through a hole in the fence and headed into the former playground toward a concrete structure that resembled an old steam train. It was the perfect place to hide, and of the places we spent as kids, I knew I would find Pawel there, except I didn’t even get halfway there before three men emerged from the overgrown bushes.
In a blur of movement, Adam pushed me behind him, positioning himself like a shield.
‘Identify yourself,’ he barked, expecting an answer.
‘We are not here to cause trouble, Spymaster, but this woman has answers my Lord seeks. Step aside, and no one needs to get hurt,’ said the likely leader of the group, his two cohorts falling into formation behind him.
‘You come to my land and dare to demand I surrender my human?’ Adam was outraged. I saw his muscles tense when he looked the leader of the group in the eye. ‘Get the fuck out of my way and tell your boss the next time he wants to visit Tricity; he should introduce himself as per custom instead of sending his spawn to do his dirty work.’
‘He did, to the Leshy, the true master of this land. You didn’t break your tethers, and you are not recognised as the Master of the Seethe. Therefore, you won’t be treated as such. All we want is the woman behind you, and I can even promise that as long as she cooperates, we will return her to you unharmed.’
‘We both know the only reason I didn’t break the tether is that I don’t know my maker. But I’m not here to explain myself. Tell me what will happen if I choose to refuse your generosity?’ Adam slid one of his hands behind his back, and a short hunting knife appeared in it, which he passed to me.
‘That… would be unfortunate. We simply need the female to lure her brother into the open; that’s all my master wants. He knows you are meeting with him here, so all we need is for her to encourage the boy to surrender, then you can have her back,’ the leader said as he held his hands up in a non-threatening gesture, taking a step in our direction.
‘Touch her, and I rip your heart out of your chest. Tell your master that I will meet with him and compensate him for what her brother stole, but he must cease the hunt.’ Adam’s insistence and cold fury shocked me, and I couldn’t help but stare at him. He knew something I didn’t, but as long as this worked, I would not undermine him by asking questions.
‘I’m afraid that will not be happening. I will warn you one last time; step aside or be made to.’
I knew that tone of voice from the time I’d spent on the humanitarian mission in Kosovo with Sara. The men in front of me were fanatically dedicated to their leader, and unless Adam yielded, there would be violence. Fuck, there’s three of them to his one. I didn’t hold any illusions that I could help, these bastards had supernatural written all over them, but if I surrendered myself… Adam’s hand pressed against my chest as if he knew what I’d been thinking. I saw a menacing grin spread over his features, almost as if he welcomed the challenge.
‘No, I think I’d like to see you try,’ he smirked, enunciating every word, and then all hell broke loose.
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Chapter 7
Isneered, confronted by three foreign vampires who acted far too comfortably in my territory. The sheer audacity of coming to another nest’s domain without asking permission violated one of our most fundamental laws. They were set in place to prevent overpopulation, overfeeding, and exposure to human authorities. However, these bastards not only pretended I wasn’t the master of the territory but insulted and belittled me in front of Nina. Worse, they were partially correct. I couldn’t gain independence because I didn’t know my sire. Somewhere walks the bastard who made me who I am, binding my life with his, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
I might have let it slide under different circumstances. Leszek didn’t need another war in the region, but there was no way I’d allow someone under my care to be taken, especially not a woman I cared for. No, I only had one answer for such impertinence: pure, unbridled violence.
This was my domain, my woman, and no one would take either from me without killing me.
