Page 64 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

“What is it?”

She chewed her lip. “I’m not sure if you’re going to like the idea… but it involves going down to the basement.”

My brows pulled together in confusion. “What’s in the basement?”

Her cheeks drained of all color, leaving her paperwhite. And her tone dropped to barely more than a whisper, as if she was afraid the vampires beyond my room would hear. “Deathwish’s room.”

Chapter thirty-two

A Death Wish

Itdidn’tsurprisemeone bit that Eros lived in the basement.

After everything I heard about the coven’s most feared prince, whether the stories were overblown or not, it was just common sense to stay away from everything to do with him. But with a thrashing pulse, I ignored my human instincts blaring in the back of my brain, and agreed to Kenzie’s plan. After all the horror stories revolving around Eros, curiosity would eat me alive if I didn’t go.

And this was all to piss off Vincent, which was as good of a reason as any. I didn’t want to believe that the only reason he’d shown that other side of himself to me tonight was all to gain my trust. Just so he could toss me aside and place Lexi on the throne after he was crowned king.

It had felt all too real. From the way he snapped when Corry had taken too much of my blood, to how he healed me. Not to mention how he touched me like I was his. And he held me like he’d fight the whole damn world to keep it that way.

I didn’t trust his words, those were easy to warp. But could a touch lie?

Maybe Kenzie’s plan was petty. It was just going to rile up the brutal prince. Not to mention what Eros would do when he found out I stole from him.

Sweat beaded on my brow and my breath came out in shaky patterns as I followed Kenzie down the creaky, narrow staircase leading down to the mansion’s basement. The stairs were lit by a single naked light bulb that hung just over the door that stood before the last step, its brown paint peeling away and cobwebs dangling from the wooden ceiling beams. “This feels like a bad idea, Kenzie.”

“Don’t you want to see Feral flip out when he gets a load of you in Deathwish’s hoodie?”

“Not if it’s going to get us murdered! Isn’t he going to scent us in his room?”

“He’s not due back for another four or five days. The scent should fade by then.”

“Are you sure this isn’t some hazing thing you and the blood donors are in on? How do I know I’m not going to be beaten with socks filled with soap bars the second I walk in.”

Her freckled nose crinkled as she fought back a laugh. “Maybe if this were TV but as a general rule, the humans in the household don’t ‘beat’ the vampires. We generally like the whole living thing. I just want to help you get back at Feral. The face he’s gonna make when he sees you in Deathwish’s hoodie. It’s one that they sold at his merch table at matches right after he broke Feral’s winning streak. The image on the front is him smashing in his nose.”

I blinked at the old door, imagining the horrors that could possibly lie beyond it. For all I knew, the place was booby-trapped.

“I’m not sure if the sweatshirt is worth it.”

“Wearing that hoodie to the meeting will make Feral jealous. Hell, maybe if you can drive him and Deathwish to kill each other that would only leave Corry and Sterling to worry about.”

“I can’t decide if you’re an evil genius or if you’re insane and need to be fired.”

Kenzie gave me a grim smile. “In my line of work, we don’t get fired. We get put down. With you as queen, you have the power to change the way vampires view humans. I want to help you become queen, and we have to make sure we keep pricks like Deathwish and Feral off the throne. Because they won’t be changing shit for us.”

The redhead made a good point. Vincent needed to understand that I wasn’t afraid of him or his wrath. More than that, I couldn’t snuff my blazing curiosity pushing me to see what lie inside the room that knew Eros so intimately.

“Alright, ready?”

“Oh, I’m not going in with you.”

“What?! But this was your idea!”

“Yeah but you’re going to be queen. If we get caught you can’t be eaten as punishment!”

I gave an indignant snort and reached for the doorknob. “Tell that to the princes. Go back upstairs then, I don’t want you to get caught down here.”

“Are you sure?” Kenzie asked, but I could already see the relief passing over her face so I nodded.

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