Page 8 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

A sham.

A lie.

No. No, that couldn’t be it. I refused to believe it. It hurt too much to believe. My mom loved me. She was a good person, who took care of the elderly for a living, and in her free time, she went to bible study and sung in the church choir.

She kept me here for my own good.For my own good.

The more I told myself that, the less I believed it.

“You’re lying. I’m not anything like you. I’m not. I don’t need blood to survive.”

“For fucks sakes, Princess. As a half-vampire, you don’t need blood to survive. But you crave it all the same, don’t you? Even more, now that you skipped your pills…”

“No, I’m not—”

His patience had apparently run out because he didn’t let me finish. A rattle of a growl slid from his throat, making my skin prickle. With his free hand, he grabbed a handful of the blonde hair at my nape and gave a savage tug, yanking me off the bed toward the door.

He was going to make me go with him whether I was willing to or not.

Chapter six

The Devil's Spawn

“Letmego!”Iscreeched, thrashing as he dragged me across the carpet of my bedroom toward the door.

My heart lurched in my chest as my focus settled on the wooden bedpost. I managed to grab it just in time before he pulled me out of arm’s reach, and I drove it into his ankle with as much force as I could summon.

He howled in pain, the sound splitting my skull and causing my vision to blur for a second as it sounded more like a raven’s screech instead of a man in pain.

Seething, he kicked the weapon out of my hand and hauled me to my feet with a snarl.

Wrenching my head back, so I was forced to look at him, I met his glare with one of my own.

Apparently, this vampire did know who I was. He knew my father. Whatever else he knew about me, it was enough to decide that he hated me. Because that hatred burned in his eyes with as much heat as a raging fire, and he was content to let those flames devour me.

“You let yourself be caged like this your entire life, andnowyou find your fight? It’s too late for that, Princess. Why don’t you just lay down and let other people make decisions for you like you’re used to? And if you’re a good little monster, I’ll return you to your precious cage where I found you.”

His words scorched me like a brand because they were true. I had let things happen to me, accepting everything told to me at face value. My mom had been content to let me rot in here, and I had done fuck-all about it.

And that pissed me off.

Anger was something I was pretty familiar with. I’d always lusted for more, adventure, relationships, a normal life. But that anger had never lasted because I thought I was a victim to circumstance. Turns out…maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I was just a victim of lies and fear-fueled abuse that had been disguised as love.

Nope.

I was done being anyone’s victim.

So I punched the vampire who held me like I belonged to him. Because I didn’t belong to fucking anyone.

Not anymore.

Slamming my tiny fist into his nose with that same inhuman strength I used to rip off my bedpost, I was rewarded with a satisfying crunch beneath my knuckles.

The vampire released his grip on my hair and reeled backward. He stepped back into the square of moonlight that poured in through my single window, painting his masculine features in silver and stripes of shadow. Blood as black as night poured from his nose, dribbling over his lips and down his chin in inky strands that blotted his white shirt.

His lips stretched into a wicked grin, and his fangs glinted in the moonlight.

“You’re strong. Stronger than any human I’ve ever fought.”

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