Page 10 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

Every cell in my body froze as I saw her form slumped on her bed. She was still breathing, her chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm.

“What did you do to her?” I whispered, my voice sounding small and weak.

“I mesmerized her.”

As he brought me closer, I frantically scanned her throat for any signs of bite marks, but to my relief, there were none. He pushed me onto the bed and held my nose to her throat.

“Do you smell that, Princess?”

I hadn’t been this close to my own mother since I was a baby. She smelled like the old person’s home she worked at and cheap shampoo. It wasn’t a smell anyone else would have found comforting, but so many nights when she’d bring me my meals, I’d catch the scent of her and imagine it as strong as it was now, simply because she’d open the door and asked for a hug.

The lump in my throat swelled, making it hard to swallow, and thick tears burned my eyes. I’d lost count of how many times I wondered why she didn’t want to be near me. Turns out, she’d been afraid of me.

I wasn’t the sick daughter she’d locked up to keep me safe from the world. I was her monstrous daughter she’d locked away to keep the rest of the world safe.

My heart hitched in my chest, and all my muscles clenched as a new scent met me, making my mouth water. The thirst was something I was no stranger to, but it wasn’t ever this bad before.

I hadn’t taken my pills. On top of that, I was now certain Dr. Sharpe was one ofthem. A vampire. Because he hadn’t smelled anything like my mother.

“Tell me what you smell.”

A whine leaked from my throat as if some creature was trapped inside me, clawing to be released so it could feast on my mother.

Mom smelled absolutely divine. Like food. Like something that should be eaten. I could practically taste her blood already, even though it was something I’d never sampled before. It was like my body needed it, lusted for it like it had never lusted for anything else.

My teeth ached with a sharp pain I’d never experienced, maybe because I’d never been this close to her. I could practically feel them growing in my gums, elongating.

No, no, no. She was my mom, not something to be eaten. This couldn’t be happening. I was a person, not a feral animal.

As if he could sense my thoughts, the vampire leaned closer from behind me until his mouth was practically pressing against my ear. “She locks your door, bars your window…” He jerked my head so that my gaze rested on the cross mounted above her bed.

“And she hides behind her crucifixes not because she cares about your safety, but because she cares only of her own. You terrify her. And do you know why? Because she knows what you are. She thinks you’re the devil’s spawn.”

He pulled on my hair and positioned my head so that I was forced to look at him. He licked his smirking lips. “And take it from me, Princess. You are.”

Chapter seven

Vincent Feral is an Asshole

Thecoldnightairhit me like a slap in the face.

I hadn’t been outside since I was a toddler, and I barely remembered that. To normal people, it wasn’t anything special. Normal people went outside every day.

For me, being out of my room was like being on a different planet.

I had dreamed about going outside pretty much every day of my life. But now that it was actually happening, my dream had turned into a twisted nightmare, one that I couldn’t wake up from.

“Ow! You don’t have to manhandle me, asshole.” I jerked my wrist out of his hand as myrescuertried to pull me to a car across the street.

To my surprise, he let me go and whirled on me, baring his teeth in warning.

“Fine. But if you try to run from me, I will catch you, Princess.”

A shiver darted through me, and I pulled my hoodie tighter around my body. It was cold outside, colder than I thought it would be. At least he’d let me change. Wherever he intended on dragging me, I wasn’t super down to go anywhere dressed like I was previously. It’s not like I had tons of clothes for going out. Most of my wardrobe consisted of ratty band t-shirts and sweatpants. For tonight, I put on my favorite outfit—a Ramones’ hoodie and yoga pants.

“You don’t treat me like a princess, so how about you stop addressing me as one, okay?”

“After we make our appearance in front of the Elders tonight, I’ll be the new king, so I can call you whatever the fuck I want.” He jabbed a finger at the shiny black car across the street. Thanks to car commercial ads, I recognized it as some kind of Rolls-Royce.

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