Page 84 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

“You know—” my lips curled into a sickly sweet smile as I slowly slid my attention back to him “—for something that’s never going to be yours, you sure talk about my pussy a lot.”

A slow, arrogant grin spread across his face. “For something that’s never going to be mine, it sure drips a lot whenever I’m around.”

“I fucking hate you.”

“I know, and that just makes you all the hotter for me, little monster. Don’t worry, I can get into it.” He turned his back to me and strode down the hall.

A foreign feeling twisted in my gut as I watched him walk away. “Feral?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to peer over his shoulders, his olive eyes gleaming from under his fringe of raven hair.

“Um…” My whole body seared red with a blush, which burned hotter yet when his mouth pulled into a brazen smirk. I smoothed my hand over my shoulder where Eros’ mark still smarted. “Do mating marks um… Do they stay forever?”

His smile disintegrated, replaced with an unreadable expression. “A mating mark won’t go away on its own. But it can be removed.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go as far as removing Eros’ mark. I had a mix of feelings about it. On one hand, it made me feel close to him. In a way, I could still feel his presence. Even though Vincent had planted some seeds of doubt in my head regarding Eros’ integrity, the mark made me feel safe. Hell, now that the majority of the pain was gone, it almost felt…good.

“How would I get rid of it? I mean, if I wanted to?” I quickly added.

“You can either rip off the flesh,” he said, pausing, and the way he stared at me made my lips throb with the fresh memory of the filthy kiss we’d just shared. He turned all the way around to face me, his devious smirk sliding back into place. “Or you can have another male mate you and have him place his bite directly over the old one.”

He paused again as if waiting for me to ask another question. Maybe he expected me to beg him to place his mark over Eros’.

Yeah.Fat freaking chance.

“Won’t you please consider calling off the bet with Eros? This whole thing with you two is getting out of hand.”

Vincent’s eyes glinted with malice, and the atmosphere in the hall grew tight and cold as if it was somehow in tune with the fury radiating off the vampire. “Why?”

“Because it’s stupid and petty. I don’t like that the prize is to stay in the race for the crown while the other has to step back.”

“The ‘prize’ is your safety, Princess. Because mark my words, Iwillwin. And Deathwish will be leaving the coven.”

“Aren’t Sterling and the Elders going to be pissed when they hear about the bet? Sure, Eros is a little on the crazy side, but he’s a good resource for the coven, isn’t he?”

“He’s handy. I’ll give him that. But our coven’s resident grim reaper became a liability rather than an asset the second he put his hands on you.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned away and headed down the hallway without sparing Feral a second glance.

“Good night, little monster,” he called after me with a grating chuckle. “Sweet nightmares.”

An hour later, I’d showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes. I opted for a pair of black leggings with a liquid-type fabric that made it look like leather but was way comfier, and for a top, I pulled on a long sleeve, black crop top with trumpet sleeves. I braided my red hair and mounted it high on the top of my head, then finished off the look with a velvet scrunchie.

Before I headed out, a note on my side table caught my eye.

Tell me how it went!

Kenzie’s name was signed at the bottom with a smiley face with fangs and her phone number. Grinning to myself, I entered her number into my phone and typed out a response to her note.

Totally backfired, girl. Eros came home and caught me stealing. Got a spanking.

At this time of night, she probably wasn’t up, so I pocketed my phone, and headed out to find the library.

In the hallway, I occasionally passed another vampire. They all gawked at me like I was some freak. I mean, I guess I was, but they didn’t bother to mask the distrust in their chilly glares. And admittedly, the fact that I was now marked by the coven’s most unpopular prince probably wasn’t scoring me any points in the popularity category.

All the vampires of the coven mostly looked the same. Pale skin, dark clothes, somber expressions. So when a child rounded the corner, wearing a plum-colored Victorian dress with dark frills and thick, curly blonde hair, I couldn’t help but stare.

“Hello,” she greeted me with a stiff smile and a formal curtsy.

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