Page 129 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

I settled against his chest with my cheek resting on his shoulder, peeking up at him through my wild mane of red. For several moments, he just gawked at me. It was like he was just as stunned as I was that we were together likethis.

It took him a second before he found his words.

“Once I discovered that Deathwish had killed my father, I vowed to make him suffer. I was just one male, though, so I couldn’t take down his entire guild. He didn’t have any family, so the first thing I decided to do was destroy was his precious fighting career. It was a long game, but I slowly worked my way up, winning match after match. Finally, I knocked him out of the championship title and won that stupid belt he idolized so much.”

“But why would you go through all that trouble?”

“Because he murdered my father in cold blood, Ruby. I wanted to make him hurt, to make him suffer in every way I could possibly fathom.”

Vincent paused, letting out a huff of breath. “I never understood why he had such a love for the stupid sport. Maybe because he’s always loved every facet of violence. When I stole the championship title out from under him, he was emotionally crushed. Just like I’d planned.”

“What did you do after that?”

A sickening smile spread across the feral prince’s face. “I killed him.”

Chills swept down my spine. Vincent had killed Eros as punishment for murdering his father. Not that I believed Eros had actually killed in cold blood. Or if he had, he must have had a damn good reason. If I’d learned anything about Deathwish, it was that he protected the things he cared about. He would only kill something if there was good reason.Right?

Vincent’s father had to have been something dangerous, a creature with no business being in the human realm for Eros to intervene. I’d have to ask him about it later and get his side of the story.

“So, what happened next? That should have been the end of it, right?”

“It should have been. After over a year of planning, I’d executed my revenge exactly how I had imagined it. I mean, it would have been exactly how I’d imagined if he hadn’t been an orphan raised in the foster care system. Then I could have murderedhisfather. Or if he didn’t have one of those, a son. Or a wife.”

I lurched into a sitting position, gaping at Vincent in horror. “You wouldnothave killed his family.”

Black brows arched, and a cruel smirk lifted his mouth. “Do you think I wouldn’t?”

A lump lodged itself in the back of my throat. The honest answer was that I didn’t know. My first thought was yes, Vincent Feral would have killed Eros’ wife and children or his parents if he had any. Then again, maybe that’s just what Thomas Knight would have done…

“I don’t think you would kill innocents just to make yourself feel better, no,” I eventually answered.

Vincent’s eyes narrowed to crimson slits. “Well, that’s beside the point. He didn’t have a family, so with his fighting career destroyed and his monster hunting days over, I found my revenge, and that should have been the end of it. But as it turned out, we had a fan who had been watching our rivalry on television. It’s common for fans of the sport to get wrapped up in the rivalries between fighters. But Thomas Knight always had a knack for taking things to the extreme. When he came to one of the live matches, he scented what I was immediately. He became obsessed with our rivalry, following our every move. Even the moment where I snuck into Eros’ locker room after the match to kill him.”

I gasped. “My father followed you?”

“Yes. At least he waited in the shadows while I got some semblance of revenge for my father’s murder. But then, with Eros dead at my feet, the vampire king made his presence known. I tried to fight him. I lost. When I woke, Eros was alive, or at least he was a lot less dead than how I’d left him. We were taken back to the coven. I became the king’s personal blood bag for the next decade, and Eros was just here to piss me off because that was the sort of thing your dad got off on.”

My heart crystallized, and I suddenly felt very cold in Feral’s arms.

“Are you sure Eros killed your father?”

The vampire’s lips peeled back into a snarl. “He admitted it.”

“But why would Eros kill your dad if he was no threat to anyone?”

“Because killing supernaturals was his job, Ruby. He thinks he was ‘protecting’ humankind.”

“I’m sure he had good intentions.”

Vincent’s grip turned mean. I winced when his fingers dug into the flesh of my hips. I tried to pull away, but he held me on his lap, and as I struggled, he hardened beneath me once again. Sick fuck. Then again, who was I to talk? Here I was, with a pussy so wet I could feel the damp denim of his jeans hot against the bare flesh of my thigh.

“Look at me, Ruby! Look me in the damn eye and stop fighting me, damn it!” Surprising him and myself especially, I fell still in his grip.

“Good. Now listen to me. My father was a kind and gentle man. I’m nothing like him. And I loved him all the harder because of it. He wouldn’t have hurt a damn hair on anyone’s head. Eros killed him in cold blood.Thatis why I hate him.”

For several moments that seemed to span beyond time and space, we just stared at one another. Even though I knew there was probably more to the story than Vincent realized or was willing to see, I understood him better now.

“So my father turned you not only because he had a sick fascination for your rivalry with Eros, but because of your blood? What’s so special about it?”

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