Page 113 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

“Shift back, Feral. Your queen commands it!” I demanded from the edge of the bed, claws digging into the mattress with Eros’ arms still banded around my waist.

Vincent’s attention snapped on me, sending another wave of frustrating pleasure-laced rage up my back.

“You’re not my queen yet. Until you wear the crown or my mating mark, you cannot command me.”

“You think I’ll wear your mark now? Ha! You sicken me! You’re acting like nothing but a brutal thug. Get a clue, asshole. When you’re vulnerable with me, that’s when I love you the most. Too bad you seem to have some stupid allergic reaction to being nice.”

The small feathers sprouting from his shoulders quivered as his muscles went rock tight. “Nice? You think I give a shit about being nice? Vulnerability is weakness. And there’s no place for a weak mate beside the queen. What you need is a strong mate.”

“Vulnerability isnotweakness!” Corry had taught me that. God. I wish he was here right now, holding me right alongside Eros.

“What I need is the man beneath the mountain of bullshit you wear as armor. You think it protects you. All it’s doing is pushing us away.”

Feral let out a low growl as he curled his sausage fingers around my silver prince’s—dainty in comparison—wrist. I wasn’t sure what he planned to do. Break his arm? Throw him off the bed? Whatever it was, he didn’t get a chance. Sterling smashed his hand into Vincent’s other elbow that supported him on the headboard and used his momentary fumble to his advantage. Before he could catch himself, the lithe vampire rammed his knee into Vincent’s stomach—if it were me, I would have done it right in the nads. With effortless strength, Sterling hurled the fae off the bed using one fluid swoop of a single arm. Vin’s immense body slammed into several piles of books in an explosion of dust and paper.

While the colossal vampire struggled to his feet, Sterling glided off the bed and had his sweatpants back on by the time Vin got up.

The fae’s chest heaved, and his fists balled. Any moment now, he’d charge; that was loud and clear by the expression he wore.

“You’ve made yourself look quite the fool in the eyes of your mate, brother. I was hoping to spare you from further embarrassment. But you’ve forced my hand.”

Sterling combed his fingers through his tousled silver trusses and squared his shoulders. “If you wish to fight, so be it.”

Chapter forty-six

Brutal Submission

Dreadbloomedinmybelly as I stared at the male I barely recognized as the man I loved.

Vin was a grade A prick to pretty much everyone. Unsurprisingly, Sterling was the exception. He respected Sterling. Hell, after I’d heard the story of how Vin had decided to murder my dad after witnessing him force the blind prince to suck him off in front of the coven, I’d even go as far to say Vin loved him. So who was this violent, insensitive creature preparing to rip apart all who stood between him and my monster? Not my dark knight. This was a far cry from the man I’d fallen for. Here we were in the same room, yet it felt like he was further away from me than when he’d been in Fairie.

Sterling was right. Vincent had been in his fae form too long. He was losing himself. It was as if his fae abilities were some kind of corrosive poison that ate away at anything the monster perceived as weak.

The dark fae stalked toward the older vampire, battle-honed muscles rippling beneath his black and white flesh.

I swallowed back my scream when Vincent lunged at his brother, relief immediately twisting its way through me when Sterling sidestepped the bull-rush, sending Vin bowling into a tower of books instead.

Meaty arms snatched for my silver prince, who dodged the long reach of the titan vampire with the effortless grace of a dancer.

“Oh Feral,” Sterling said on a pained sigh, a look of disappointment etching his seraphic countenance. “I feared this would happen if your fae powers ever reawakened.”

“What is it you fear?” the larger male roared, spinning around to crash through a pile of medical journals that briefly made me think of Lavinia. “That I will be the most suitable mate for the queen?”

“Fae don’t share their mates,” Eros muttered in my ear. His arms remained fastened around my waist, holding me so tight against him it almost hurt. “He’s held this form for two days, so it’s understandable why his possessive instincts are emerging in full force.”

“I have to pull him out of it. I can subdue his monster. I’ve done it before.” My attempts to rise from Eros’ lap were met with more resistance. “He’s stronger than that night at The Warehouse, Ruby. And if you fail to subdue him, I’m afraid of what he’ll do to you. He might try to claim you in front of us to show his dominance.” His glare turned grave. “Whether you want him to or not.”

My heart shriveled, and my breath went so short I wasn’t sure if I was breathing at all. “He wouldn’t...”

“Dark fae are savage, evil beasts. They’re not known for their respect for the word ‘no.’ As much as he pisses me off, Feral isn’t evil. Not anymore. But he seems to have reverted to some pretty old instincts.”

I blinked up at Eros. “What do you mean ‘not anymore?’”

“When I murdered his father a decade ago, I did humanity a favor. His son didn’t fall far from the tree. Once Vin was turned, Thomas Knight’s cruelty changed him. Life in this coven changed him. It changed all of us.”

My throat burned with bile. I don’t know why I hadn’t considered the man he’d been before the vampire king had turned him. It explained why he was always so hot and cold. Cruel and loving. How his touches were callous and meant to inflict pain, but turned gentle and warm in the next moment. Just like me, Vincent had some kind of monstrosity inside him, created from his two conflicting halves. It was really a concoction of instincts, vampire and dark fae, that had the hybrid constantly at war with himself. And he seemed to be pushing me away to protect me from friendly fire while trying to hold me close all at once.

And the results were tearing us both apart.

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