Page 72 of Your Coffin or Mine
With her arms behind her back, she toes the ground with her boot, her gaze downcast.
I am going to rip his head from his body and then call in a favor and reanimate him just so I can do it again. My eyes flash red, snuffing out the brown in them for a brief moment, as the many options replay in my head of how to silence this ingrate. I will tear him apart. His entrails will become extrails, and there will be pain, so much pain.
If I had known he would retaliate this way, I... no, recalling how she came on my fingers, her back bowing off the table... I wouldn’t have done anything differently.
“Are you okay?” she asks, her voice small and sweet. Standing in the snow with a look of concern on her face, she is like an angel who has fallen from the heavens to tempt me. She is absolutely stunning.
The male is obviously a blithering idiot.
“I’m irritated on your behalf.”How can she not know how strong she is?“Aubrey, I must tell you that I believe you are extraordinary. Anyone watching you talk about anything will see it too.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t sit quite right. “Thanks, Vlad. That means a lot.”
“Did you like the necklace?” I ask while tipping my head, attempting to change the subject to one less tension filled.
The dipshit will get his comeuppance soon enough.
She turns to look up at me. “It is beautiful, but I can’t accept it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it actually real?” Her shoulders lift nervously.
“What does that matter? Do you like it?”
She pales and comes to a stop. “Oh my god, it is real! I can’t just walk around wearing a necklace worth a small fortune, Vlad. It’s too much.”
My gods. I’ve never had such issues giving a woman a simple gift.I almost want to my roll my eyes with a huff. Most women my from past would have been trying to get their manicured mittens on such a piece. And here’s this one, trying to give it back to me. Who cares what it’s worth?
“But it reminds me of you,” I say.
She snorts and purposefully stumbles into me. She throws her arms around my waist. “I’m still not keeping it, but thank you.”
She is absolutely keeping it.
Her blue eyes are cool pools of liquid, beautiful like the sea before a storm. Her lips part, likely to keep convincing me, and I bend down, silencing her with a kiss.
Her hands reach up to pull at the nape of my neck and bring me closer. I growl against her lips. “Behave, wench.”
She giggles against me, like I said something funny, which only annoys me further.
“It’s too cold out here for you. Come. This way.” I wave a hand toward one of the turret additions I added. “In ages past, many exits were necessary in case the castle was breached by enemies.”
Her face finally lights up, as her gaze spans over the round tower as we walk toward the castle wall.
The castle entrance near the moat is one of my favorites, as there is no way to find the door without knowing which stone to press. She looks at the wall, perplexed as I push the rough stone, the edges worn away from centuries of exposure to the elements. There is the familiar sound of scraping and sliding, and finally a passage is revealed.
“At least if the castle goes under siege while I’m here, we have a secret getaway.” She waggles her brows playfully at me.
I visibly cringe while groaning at her lame joke—despite the humor I find in it, in her. “There are quite a few entrances to the castle. Perhaps if you stay long enough, I will have time to show you them all.”
Her eyes sparkle with excitement. “Where does this one go?”
I grin down at her. “Want to find out?”
“Okay... but you go first,” she says, uncertainty passing over her features.
I grab her hand in mine, pulling her with me. Lifting the lever, I wait for it to shut and throw us into darkness. She gasps, gripping my arm hard, and my chest tightens at how she clings to me trustingly. My sight needs no adjustment. I can see fine in even pitch-black darkness, but I know she most likely can’t see a foot in front of her.
