Page 23 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

Alittledingsoundedin my pocket, causing me to jump when I realized it was the phone Corry had gifted me. Digging it out, I found a text from him. I almost smiled when I saw he’d entered himself as Corry (the hot one) in my contacts, but that slipped away when I read the text.

Corry: Hey… ur not gonna actually leave, right?

It took me longer than it probably should have to type out an answer. These days kids got their first cell phone when they were five, and here I was, twenty-three freaking years old, and I was just now tapping out my first text. Several minutes later, there was a beep from Corry’s pocket. He pulled out his phone, and the front cab lit up from the white screen. Vincent gave us both a side-eyed glare but said nothing.

Ruby: Yeah, I’m leaving as soon as I talk to your Elders

Corry: Where u gonna go?

Where was I going to go? I didn’t exactly have a plan, but sleeping on a park bench seemed a touch less dangerous than sleeping in a strange house filled with vampires. For a sliver of a second, my mind dwelled on the possibility of going back to my mom’s, but I immediately shoved it away with a shudder.

I couldn’t go back, not after knowing all the lies she’d fed me over the years. The bars on the windows, the locks, the fucking heart monitor wristband that was all for show. No hugs, no birthday parties, no contact with the outside world whatsoever. My own mother passed me my meals on a cafeteria tray through a metal flap on my door.

A fuckingflap. They reserved that for the worst kind of criminals in high-security prisons.

She was never trying to protect me. She was just trying to protect herself.

So yeah, going back was way out of the question.

Ruby: Don’t know.

Corry: Stay with us till u figure it out.

Ruby: Vincent won’t like that.

Corry: So wut? He’s not in charge even tho he acts like it.

When I didn’t reply, he sent a second text a few minutes later.

Corry: Does he scare you?

I bristled as I read the question, pounding at the keys of my phone a little too hard.

Ruby: Nope ;) I just hate his guts.

Corry: What happened between you two in the restroom when I went back to the car?

What was I supposed to say? That he’d threatened to forcibly take me as his mate if it meant being king? Okay, so he didn’t exactly imply that it would be by force, but there was no way his game was strong enough for me to go along with it. It’s not like I was into this broody badass vibe he was throwing down.

Okay, so I was into it. And it was that fact that scared the crap out of me. I was learning all sorts of things about myself today. I didn’t have a heart condition, I was perfectly healthy except for the whole vampirism thing. Also, turns out I have a thing for mannerless, undead pricks.

Ruby: Nothing happened.

Corry: So that blood on the corner of his mouth isn’t urs?

Shit. Part of me wondered if Vincent hadn’t licked it off intentionally just so he could rub it in Corry’s face.

Ruby: Must be some random hooker’s blood since apparently, it’s okay to kill those, right? Since they’re just humans?

My final text shut him up.

With a heated sigh, I folded my arms over my chest and foisted my attention out the window.

I hated how hungry, horny, and confused I was.

I’d only met Corry a couple hours ago, yet I already felt betrayed. But mostly, that was my fault. I’d let those blue eyes and the cool, dimpled smile trick me into thinking he was normal.

And Vincent? Well, he wore the fact that he was a monster on his sleeve. But I was pissed more at myself that my dark and dangerous knight was having this kind of effect on my body.

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