Page 130 of Amethyst and Iron
And what he likely wanted, what he was counting on.
To trip me up, to undercut me majorly, just like he’d done before in so many ways.
He was a sadistic bastard in every way, because he knew he’d already messed with me when he’d assaulted me—again, in so many ways—during our last encounter. Going this extra route now was just him proving what an irredeemable, merciless piece of shit he was.
But I couldn’t process that now, couldn’t let it fully sink in.
Deal with the trauma later.
I had to focus through all that. I had to ensure I didn’t lock down in response to it. I needed to access the vampire within properly—fully.
Not just that, though.
No, this time, I needed both.
Something my dad had wanted to work on with me.
But I’d left to see Sylas and deliver this news to him. And I’d needed to see him, Velra, and Cassius. Badly.
Well, I was a self-taught combatant. He’d already helped me with the vampire and drawing on my Ancient blood. I had to believe I could handle this. And I was nothing if not a quick study. Besides, responding to, and figuring a lot of things out on the fly was kind of my thing.
“Remnant has clearly been teaching you. But it won’t be enough.” He gestured out through the open front door. “Also, in case you were counting on it and factoring it into any sort of strategy against me, Daddy won’t be coming to save you this time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know well how your father operates. He is trying to empower you at this stage of your development and training. As such he will be keeping his distance. However, he has demonstrated how much he cares for you and how you impact him emotionally—stepping out of the shadows to attack me is proof enough of that, especially given the current circumstances across the supernatural world.”
In my peripheral vision, even as I kept my attention focused on the maniac just a few feet from me, I saw that Sylas was just about to dip into the kitchen, when Victor’s words had him jolting, and briefly stilling.
I snapped my fingers and he pushed on, making me wince as he staggered a bit.
Fuck.I should have healed him. But he’d wanted to keep my marks on him. And, yeah, I’d obviously fucking liked that too. My vampire side was definitely a lot freer now.
Although, marking somebody with your bite was also a wolf thing, so maybe it was bit of both.
Victor’s grating voice with that know-it-all tone continued on, “That means he wouldn’t have been able to allow you to take your leave entirely, not without him watching over you in some manner. With his intention to empower you and give you space, that won’t be The Shadowed. It will be him scent-tracking you from afar. Right now, my blood is masked by yours. He won’t know I’m here. Even with his incredible intuition, I will currently read as a mixture of you and Sylas Morgrave—given the one who assisted me with this little masquerade.”
“Morien Morgrave’s blood is also in your system?”
“That and his magic—with the black magic properties filtered out, as that would be a giveaway to Dear Daddy.”
My jaw ticked. The thought of him ingesting my blood was so fucking demented. It was… it was a violation. A really fucking sick one.
“Your pulse is jumping, precious. You are deeply unnerved.”
Unnerved?Piece of shit. I was deeply immersed. Highly attuned to every little thing about him—except for his stupid scent.
And because I was, because I didn’t let him fuck with my concentration in that manner, I felt it when his talons twitched.
It was the giveaway I needed.
Sure enough, as he burst toward the kitchen, intending to go for Sylas, I was already moving, smashing my boot into the back of the couch with such force that it sent the entire thing careening into Victor.
He snarled as he was blown back, the impact sending him crashing through the front window, taking a chunk out of the wall in the process.
I heard him smack into a tree trunk outside about fifty feet away.
Sylas’ voice reached me from the kitchen.
