Page 157 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

My heart stopped for a second. I looked down at Eros, who looked just as lost as I felt.

“Didn’t you get the memo?” Eros said after he regained himself. “Thomas Knight is dead.”

“For now. Once Dagon Knight completes the ritual on devil’s night, the night when the land between the deceased and the living is the thinnest, the old king will return to the living world for twenty-four hours.”

Bring back Thomas Knight from the dead? No. That couldn’t be possible… Could it? The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I swallowed thickly, trying to gulp down the swelling lump in my throat. “Even if it was possible to bring him back, a maniacal bastard like yourself has to understand how dangerous that’s going to be? Why would you even want to bring him back?” I asked Sharpe, almost too afraid of the answer.

“Haven’t you worked it out yet, Princess? Your father never wanted you to be queen. He never named you his heir.I lied. He would have let you rot in Quincy. Your father didn’t care what happened to you, so long as none of his sons put their hands on you. He didn’t even like me going to visit you while you were growing up, and he wouldn’t have allowed my house visits if they hadn’t been completely necessary.”

My jaw dropped to the floor. “That explains why you came up with the idea for me to choose a mate among the princes. You were hoping I would mate them all! That way, when Dagon resurrects my father, he’d be driven into a jealous rage and kill them all.”

“Very good.” The doctor gave me a greasy smile, almost like he was proud of me for working it out. “Performing a powerful spell to resurrect your possessive father simply so he’ll kill all the other prospective heirs is far easier than going to war with the Elders and the covens they govern. This way, the Elders can still appoint a Knight heir to the throne. Bloodshed will be minimal and mostly done on behalf of the dead king.”

“That’s crazy! Let’s say you somehow can bring back the vampire king for twenty-four hours. How can you be so sure he’s going to kill his progeny?”

To my surprise, it wasn’t Sharpe that answered. “He’s right, doll,” Eros muttered. “Over the centuries, your father has turned thousands of poor bastards. And only four remain, maybe five by the sound of it. He’s never had any qualms about killing his progeny.”

“Yes,” Sharpe said with a gleeful smile. “He’s killed over the pettiest things. Getting bloodstains on his favorite furniture, failing to dust his coffin, making too much noise while he’s feeding. He would have murdered all four of your precious princes for daring to carry your name in their mouths. But Corry has kissed you, Eros has stripped you of your virtue, and Vincent speaks of impregnating you.”

My body broke out into a cold sweat as the doctor took a step forward, along with his goons, all of their guns still held at the ready. Eros snarled, trying to crawl in front of me to protect me. But judging by the sharp pressure building beneath my mating mark, he was in so much pain, he couldn’t even stand.

“Then there is Sterling,” Sharpe continued with a snicker. “Your father’s mate.”

I clenched my fists, my blood turning hot with my ire. “He was never his mate. He was his victim.”

“Call it what you will. Your father placed his mating mark on Sterling, and you covered it with your own. Once Thomas Knight has risen, he’ll kill you both.”

“Which will leave the throne empty, making room for Dagon Knight.”

“That’s right.”

I let out a balk of a brittle laugh. “And you just expect the rest of the Elders to be cool with this psycho plan?”

“Well, it’s that, or they go to war with us. The only thing the council wants is minimal bloodshed and the most capable Knight heir on the throne. They do so love their traditions. And once they see what he can do—”

“Fuck you, Sharpe.” I’d heard enough. I flipped him off, seething with fury. “You won’t get away with this.”

The vampire heaved an exasperated sigh as he swept his hand over his greasy hair. “I tire of this. Seize them.”

Two of the men closest to us slung their guns over their backs and started forward. They hesitated momentarily when Eros released a guttural roar, a ferocious warning that even had me shaking.

“Touch my mate and lose more than a hand,” Eros spat on a violent growl.

This was the Deathwish I had come to know and love. Here he was, bleeding out on the ground, bound in silver with a face that looked like it’d been to battle with a cheese grater, and these guys with guns were still practically shitting themselves.

“He’s half-dead, you idiots! He isn’t a threat,” Sharpe snapped at them. “Grab them!”

The first man approached and got a face full of my fist for his trouble. He stumbled back, his shocked expression freezing into a permanent state as I ripped his head clean off with both my hands. I lobbed the head at the second man, who looked fit to shit his spine as the head made a sickeningthunkagainst his chest before falling to his feet.

“It’s just one female!” Sharpe bellowed, gesturing for every vampire to move forward. “Surely a dozen men can overpower a little half-blood!”

I slammed my fist into the chest cavity of the second man who dared approach me and tore out his heart. I let it fall to the ground with asplatand cackled a laugh. This,thiswas my monster coming out to play. And for once, I wasn’t lost to her. We were in this as one, both of my halves coming together to create a lethal weapon.

A third man charged, and I mowed him down with ease, painting the concrete floor in his dark blood. But when the rest got smart and surrounded me in a tight circle, closing in, I was trapped.

There were too many of them.

One of them flanked my side, the butt of his rifle aimed at my head like he was ready to knock me out.

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