Page 124 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

That dark part buried inside me—maybe not so deep down after all—didn’t spare so much as a care to what any of them thought about me. If I was going to be the queen of the dead, it didn’t matter if people liked me.

They needed to respect me.

And it started with Vincent Feral.

Winning any iota of respect from the coven’s resident tool was like going into a wrestling match with a bear and expecting to come out without scratches. But I was going to do it anyway because, damn it, I deserved a hell of a lot more than he was giving me.

Over the last week, I’d had my sad little life turned on its head. I’d been kidnapped, ripped away from the only person who I thought loved me. I’d been manhandled and lied to and almost raped and killed. I deserved a little shred of happiness in this scary and dangerous world I’d been thrust into. Then there was Vincent, my dark knight, touching me like I was his whole universe on one breath and calling me a slut on the next.

“What the hell is your problem, Feral?” I screamed at him, watching his broad-shouldered frame halt at the end of the corridor as soon as his name left my mouth. It wasn’t until I snarled his name again, doused in venom, that he glanced over his shoulder to look at me.

With his head turned away from the open window, the moonlight lit up his back while swaddling his face in shadows. All I could see were his red eyes burning through the darkness.

The little hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up, and a little voice in the back of my head told me to turn around and put as much distance as I could between this predator and me. No matter what I was about to say to him, this confrontation wouldn’t be pretty. Too bad it was my pride in the driver’s seat right now, looking to throw down a few words of vengeance.

From the moment I’d met him, I’d formed a fast addiction to poke the bear. Or whatever the hell he was.

Plus, the prick needed to be taken down a few notches. He had struck out to wound me, right in my heart. And that was a part of me he had no business touching, yet he’d infiltrated and infected it all the same.

I felt the weight of his glare heavy on my chest, making my heart pound wildly against my ribs in a mad rebellion.

“Problem?” he growled, his voice as deep as the darkest bowels of Hell. “I think I was pretty damn clear what my problem is.”

Coming within several feet of him, we stood facing each other like an old west showdown, not daring to get an inch closer. I didn’t trust him, and I especially didn’t trust myself whenever I was within arm’s reach of this cruel prince.

“You’re a fucking hypocrite, you know that?” My voice shook, and my cheeks burned red hot when I heard my own hurt lacing each word. I didn’t like Vincent knowing how much he got to me.

His eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. “How am I a hypocrite?”

“Are youserious?You just threw a tantrum, slut-shaming me in front of your brothers. That’s rich, considering you’re slipping your dick to the coven’s blood whore every chance you get. The difference between us is that I’msupposedto be spending time with you guys so I can select a king. This was kind of forced on me, remember?”

“The Elders told you to pick a king. Since when do our skills in the bedroom have anything to do with ruling our people?”

Anger spread through my veins, making my blood run molten. I balled my fists, my voice shaking with violence. “I’m not just picking the next king. This is my future mate and husband we’re talking about, asshole! The father of my future children. I need to be compatible with whoever I pick, and it’s a lot of freaking pressure, okay? I didn’t ask for you to break into my bedroom and throw me into this life. But here I am, doing my best. So fuck off and stop making my life a living hell.”

“You know nothing of hell, princess. Not yet.”

I threw back my head and let out a dry scoff that felt like sandpaper in my throat. “Living in this place with you, I’m starting to develop a pretty good idea. Even if this wasn’t some important political decision, and I was just sleeping with your brothers for the heck of it, that’s my prerogative. You’re not my daddy, and you’re not my fucking keeper.”

The vampire’s lips peeled into a sardonic sneer that was all fangs. “This isn’t a game, princess. Your future isn’t the only one at stake here. We have enemies. And if it’s true that Dagon Knight is somehow alive and that he’s coming for the throne, we need to act fast. The Elders said you have four months to pick, butwedon’t have four months. The throne is empty, and the Boston Coven and their supporters are getting restless. They are planning to seize the throne, and if Dagon Knight really is involved with their plans, we need to crown a kingnow.”

I dropped my eyes to my bare feet and pulled the sheet tighter around my body. “I need more time.”

I could practically hear Vincent’s teeth grind as he spoke next. “The answer is obvious. Corry is too young. Iwillwin the fight with Eros tomorrow, meaning I’ll win the bet, and he’ll have to leave the coven. And Sterling doesn’t want it. That leaves me.”

When he started toward me, I jerked my glare up to lock with his, warning him not to come any closer. Naturally, Vincent ignored the silent warning burning in my eyes and stalked forward, that arrogant smirk tugging at his perfectly audacious lips.

“There’s just three teensy weensy problems, Feral. First, you’re hiding shit from me.” Taking several steps back to keep that precious distance between us, I stepped on a corner of the sheet I wore and stumbled. Falling flat on my ass, he was looming over me on the next heartbeat, looking down at me with a predatorial glint in his eye.

Instead of allowing him to intimidate me, I continued my rant. “Iknowyou were involved with my father’s death, and it’s shitty that you won’t give me the courtesy of the truth. Second, I don’t care if Lexi is a blood whore for the whole coven. You’re fucking her, and I don’t like it!”

Crouching so that he was at my eye level, his gaze raked over my body that was still wrapped up tight in nothing but the thin piece of fabric. By the way his Adam’s apple bobbed with a thick swallow, his raven tattoos twitching with the movement, I was sure he could see right through the paper-thin sheet.

“What’s the third thing, Princess?” he asked, his voice raspy and guttural.

I mirrored his swallow, trying to look anywhere but in those infernal eyes. I’d drown in them if I wasn’t careful. “The third is easy. I hate you. Simple as that.”

His brawny chest rumbled with a dark chuckle. “But it’s not that simple, is it? Not by the way you look at me. The way your body heats when I touch you.” He extended his fingers toward me, acting as if he was going to touch my calf, which poked out from the sheet. Instead of touching me, he hovered just over my skin. He let out a gloating laugh when my skin broke out into goosebumps and flushed bright red, right beneath the shadow of his hand. “Then there is your scent. That floral, honey-sweet smell your cunt makes, begging for me to bury myself inside it.”

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