Page 29 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

Even sitting, I could tell he was incredibly tall, taller than Vincent and Corry, and lither than both. He wore a thick knit, charcoal gray sweater and dark wash jeans. Clothes that looked a bit out of place against the rest of his features.

His chin-length hair fell in silvery waves around his sharp features, his locks as white as snow, washed in moonlight. His skin was the palest in the room, almost translucent. He had a long, thin nose, a sharp jawline, and high cheekbones. Dark shadows encircled his milky white eyes.

Cataracts.

This was the person Corry and Vincent had mentioned a handful of times in the car, the one my father had blinded.

He was incredibly handsome but definitely not in the same way as his brothers. Something about his beauty was off-putting, monstrous even but it wasn’t like Vincent’s inky veins and bulging muscles. This man had an aura about him that suggested he was absolutely ancient, wise, and possibly the deadliest being in the room even though he’d the form of a dancer.

It was haunting.

“You must be Sterling,” I said after several tense moments of silence.

There was a shift behind the haze of his eyes and a twitch of his lips, almost like he was holding back a smile. “Yes, that’s me. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Baxter. Truly.”

Chapter sixteen

Vampire Monarchies Suck

Byhistone,Iactually believed he was being genuine.

“You’re not anything like your brothers,” was all I could manage to say.

His smile broke free, softening his sharp edges. “No, we count our blessings, as few and far between as they may be.”

Was that a… joke?

By Vincent’s scowl in my periphery, it had been, and there I decided that Sterling was already my favorite out of the trio.

Oh, the stories I bet this guy could tell. Not that I was sure I was going to stick around long enough to hear any of them. I snuck a sideways glance at Corry, then the other way at Vincent.

It was hard to admit, but a part of me didn’t want to leave. Mostly because Corry was the closest thing I’d call a friend. And riling Vincent excited me in ways only steamy books and late-night HBO had managed to do before.

And now, here was Sterling, with his eerily penetrating gaze and weighty presence, which was as caustic as it was kind.

But all those were probably questions I’d never get answers to. I couldn’t stay here. Even if I was half-vampire, I was still half-human too. To these creatures, humans were prey. And I was in a den of predators. Beautiful predators. And as much as I wanted to stay and play with these lethally gorgeous sons to the vampire king, it would be an incredibly stupid move.

Sure, I wanted to sleep with Corry, I wanted to crawl deeper under Vincent’s skin, and I wanted to sit down with Sterling and unload all of my questions… And wasn’t there supposed to be a fourth brother? Where was he?

But none of those things were exactly safe for humans.

Corry had been ready to bite me and had visibly struggled to let me go when his brother had ordered him down. Vincent wanted to eat me, clearly, probably just so he could get the satisfaction of watching me squirm and beg for mercy.

And Sterling looked so ancient and wise he could probably kill me with a snap of his fingers.

So despite the fact that my heart ached at the idea of leaving, deep-seated survival instincts were screaming at me to run far away from this place as soon as possible. Because no matter how incredibly drop-dead gorgeous these men were, they were still monsters.

“I trust, Ms. Baxer, that my brothers were delicate with the situation in informing you of the situation and position.”

Vincent’s shoulders wound so tight I thought his head might pop. Dark, smothering energy rolled off him.

I didn’t bother reigning in a dry laugh. The Elders exchanged confused glances, all except for Sterling, that is, who glared in Vincent’s direction, almost like he could see his broken nose and the bloodstains on his shirt.

Sterling’s jaw ticked, and oh God, his demeanor darkened. “What did you do?”

“I did as you asked. I went, and I got her. I didn’t want to fucking do it, but she’s here in one piece.”

“I should have gone,” Sterling muttered to himself but loud enough for the rest of us to hear. And no doubt, this night would have gone incredibly different if Sterling had been the one to break me out.

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