Page 47 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

I was sure Corry was trailing me. I couldn’t see him behind me, there was no sign of anyone tracking me, but his rage was almost palpable as the freezing drops of rain stung my skin like needles.

I just need to keep going for a few more hours. He’ll have to turn back well before dawn.

But my hope bottomed out with the rest of my stomach when the gaslight blinked on the dash.

The wind tore away whatever curses and prayers fell from my lips. I wasn’t a religious woman, but I sent out a quick jumbled prayer to whoever would listen for Corry not to catch up with me. He lacked the chilling brutality of some of his brothers, but he was still an impulsive youngblood who’d probably retaliate for getting played.

I pulled into a gas station off the side of the road in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere. There were no lights from any nearby buildings, no trace of civilization, save for the blinding white lights illuminating the covered area where the gas pumps sat. The mini-mart was closed, the inside completely dark. My skin erupted with goosebumps, and my breaths fell into short, trepid sucks of air as I fumbled inside Corry’s pockets.

Fuck.

His wallet must have been in his jean pockets, not his jacket. I didn’t have any money to gas up the bike, and there was no one around to bum some cash from. I jumped when my pocket vibrated. Pulling out the cheap cell Corry had bought me at the pharmacy, I forced myself to read his text.

Corry: “It’s cute how u think u can run from me, backstabber.”

All my blood drained from my cheeks as I read the text a second, then a third time. The single sentence was accompanied by a knife and blood drop emoji. A threat? Or just an extra emphasis on the backstabber bit?

Panic began to set in, sinking into my bones and making me cold all over. What was I going to do? Run? No, that would be stupid. I couldn’t outrun a full-blooded vampire.

I started to run through the very short list of options I had when the deep voice of a man called out, causing me to jump.

Whirling around, I found myself staring at two men who’d appeared out of the blue, both of them leaning on either side of the gas pump. They were both moderately handsome, but there was something about the way they looked at me that set me on edge. Wherever they came from, it hadn’t been from a car by the way their hair was plastered to their foreheads. But there was no time to ask who they were and why they were sneaking up on me. There was a literal monster tracking me.

“You scared the hell out of me,” I gasped, trying to frantically stuff down my fraying nerves. “But I am kind of relieved to see someone here. I just ran out of gas, and if you guys could maybe spare a few bucks so I can get out of here—”

They exchanged a look over the gas pump that froze the words in my mouth. It was a look that chilled me to the core, one that didn’t need any words to know what they were thinking. They weren’t going to help me, but they were certainly going to try to help themselves to something I wasn’t selling.

I threw back my head to let out a scream, but they moved so fast, they were a blur. One was already behind me, pinning my arms behind my back with a single hand, and the other slapped down over my mouth.

The second guy arched his spine, so he was at my eye level, leering at me with a seedy grin. “Did you hear that, Mal? She’s trying to make a getaway. What’s the matter? Trouble in paradise already, Princess?”

Every muscle in my body went rigid as the last word slithered over my skin, mingling the man’s breath on my cheek.

These men weren’t random thugs. At least, not human ones. They were vampires. Now that they were closer, I realized they had no heartbeat. Pale skin.Red eyes.

“The king’s rabid princelings not good enough for Her Royal Highness?” the one named Mal hissed behind me. I thrashed against him when his hand came sliding up the back of my thigh, lingering just below the swell of my ass. “Maybe she’s scared,” he snickered, the sound of him licking his lips in my ear spurring me to fight harder against him. “Maybe the halfling bitch needs a little lesson in vampire cock before she picks a king to rule us.”

“You know what?” the one in front of me snarled. “I don’t think I like the fact that the Elders expect this halfling bitch to select our next monarch. Maybe we should do the picking for her.”

“Yeah,” Mal said with a slimy purr-like growl. “You think if I seal the mating bond with her, I’ll get to be king?”

My blood froze in my veins.They know about the Elders’ decision. How could they know? Who told them? They couldn’t be from the Cape Cod Coven.None of them would be stupid enough to incite the princes’ wrath by putting their hands on me like this. Right?

Or maybe this was planned. Maybe Vincent had let me go because he saw it as an opportunity to get rid of me for good and clear his way to the throne.

No.If Vincent wanted to destroy me, he wouldn’t send two grunts to do his dirty work. He would do it himself. If the last twenty-four hours had taught me anything about Vincent Feral, it was that if he was going to make me suffer, he would want it to be by his own hand.

The monster in front of me stepped closer, his fingers curling into the lowcut neckline of my dress. With one swift yank, he tore the dress all the way down to my navel. I screamed against the palm clamped over my mouth. The one holding me pressed his nose to my neck, my blood crystallizing when I felt the needle-sharp tips of his fangs pressing to my flesh. “Fucking hell,” he moaned, his teeth nicking the delicate skin of my throat with the movement. “You smell that, Al?Virgin’s blood. Maybe that’s why she’s been locked away, keeping her pure.”

A single drop of ruby red slid down my neck to pool in the hollow of my throat.

Al’s pupils dilated, creating a thin ring of red around a disk of black. His lips peeled back to reveal his dropped fangs. “Maybe that’s why the old fuck offed himself. Keeping a piece like this all locked away, untouched. What a waste.”

Offed himself.My father killed himself? No, that couldn’t be. They had that wrong. Ancient, narcissistic vampire kings did not commit suicide.

My spinning thoughts stalled out when Al’s hand slid around from my ass over my hip, down to the crevice between my thighs. All my insides shriveled, seeing the way his lips spread into a maleficent grin. “Knowing how old-fashioned your sire was, I’m surprised there’s no chastity belt.”

Mal cackled, then he made the mistake of letting his hand slip from my mouth to caress my breast.

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