Page 4 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

Weapon!My brain screamed at me to find something, anything to protect myself.

Fuck, fuck,fuck.

In my panic, a power I never felt before slammed through my veins. Was this adrenaline? My attention clamped down on one of my bedposts. Before I could take a moment to think, my hands were already wrapping around the wood, and with strength I didn’t know I had, I ripped the post free with my bare hands like it was made of balsa wood.

I gaped at the splintered piece of wood in my hand, my mouth wide open in a dazed shock. The post was so thick my fingers didn’t even meet around its girth.

What the actual hell?

I shouldn’t have been able to do that.

But there was no time to question these weird fight or flight instincts.

Every muscle in my body flinched as my bedroom door flung open on its hinges, kicked in by a big boot.

When my eyes settled on the male in the doorway, my erratic pulse immediately stilled, like it had frozen in my chest.

He was tall, his head almost scraping against the top door jam. Bloody hell, I didn’t even know they made humans that tall.

Because he’s not human. How could he be?

It’s not like I was an expert on guys, but humans didn’t have eyes the color of blood, didn’t have skin so pale you could see their dark, bulging arm veins… And hisarms!Damn. His thick forearms were covered in an elaborate network of veins so dark they looked like they were filled with ink.

The rest of his build was nothing but slabs of tapered muscle wrapped in moon-pale skin, covered in a tight-fitting white-shirt and dark denim jeans. He had a thick neck that would look right at home between the shoulders of a football player or a wrestler. Neck tattoos depicting ravens covered his throat, stretching up to his broad jawline. His nose looked like it had been broken one too many times, and his thick brows were pulled together into a scowl that made my mouth go dry.

He was brutally handsome and perfectly terrifying.

Swallowing hard, I held up the broken post, splintered side up like I’d seen in action movies.

For a long heartbeat, the man didn’t even look at me. His gaze roved over the room, taking in all its floral details, the unicorn pillows, the pink walls, all the things that would indicate this room belonged to a five-year-old. Then he looked at the bars on the windows, and his upper lip curled in disgust.

His gaze flicked back to me, causing my heart to leap into my mouth. His attention dropped to the makeshift weapon clutched in my hand, and a dark scoff rolled past his lips as he licked them.

“What are you going to do with that, Princess? Stake me?”

He took a step forward, and I jabbed it in the air at him. “Don’t come any closer!” I spat, my voice more warble than menace.

To my amazement, he halted, took another look at my room, then twisted to inspect the door with its almost hilarious collection of deadbolts and chain locks.

These days I could find the humor in how overboard Mom had gone with making sure I couldn’t sneak out. But this guy didn’t find it so cute, judging by the guttural growl rumbling from his chest. It slithered over my skin, covering me in goosebumps.

“This is how the human has forced the princess to live? Like an animal in a fucking pen?”

Princess? Was that supposed to be me? And was the human supposed to be my mother?

He would only call her that if he wasn’t…

I gaped at the male. “Youaren’thuman?”

His lips curved into a humorless smile as he slowly shook his head. “No, and neither are you. Half-blood or not, no princess should live in a cage.”

Chapter four

A Man so Dark and Deadly

Princess?Whydidhekeep calling me that?

“Who are you?” I demanded, the hand holding my splintered bedpost beginning to tremble. His gaze slid to my shaking hand, and a smug as fuck smile slid across those infuriatingly perfect lips.

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