Turning my head, I planted a kiss on his wrist. He released another deep, rolling purr that heated my insides. “You don’t know how much I want to claim you right here before I surrender you to my brothers.”

“And I want you to. But before I let you, you have to tell me why you lied to me about my mother.”

Vincent’s dark eyes expanded, his feathery brows hitching before burrowing back down into a grimace. He opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head, releasing his hand. “I don’t want to do this now. I’m not ready to go back to being angry with you.”

He gave a grim nod. “Alright. Go then.” He pointed a talon down the alley to where his Rolls-Royce was still parked on the curb in front of the BC lobby. The three dark silhouettes of my guys were just discernible. By their frantic movements, they were arguing. About us, probably, and what to do about the massively stupid stunt I’d pulled earlier in the night.

“You’re not coming with?” When I looked back at him, the dark fae was already airborne. I watched him fly away for a second, enjoying how his wingtips stroked the star-speckled sky. Taking a deep breath, I stabbed my sword through Erik’s shirt as a makeshift sheath and made my way down the fire escape.

I couldn’t even imagine how the guys were going to react when they saw me.

I looked like something out of a horror flick where the main female character went on a murder spree. Although that kind of happened. Then there was the fact that I had Erik’s sword, wore his clothes, had a ring of bruises around my neck, and reeked of Vincent’s cum.

Oh yeah, not to mention the literal blood bath Vin had dunked me into.

How in the heck was I going to explain this to the guys?

Chapter twenty-three

Home Bound

“Whatthefuck,Red?”Corry sputtered as I tore open the back door to Vin’s car and threw myself into the backseat beside him. Eros twisted around from his place in the driver’s seat, pinning me with an equally aghast expression. Sterling stared straight through me from his seat up front beside Eros, his ghostly gaze turbulent with a maelstrom of emotion. The blind prince’s nostrils flexed as he inhaled my scent, his nose telling him everything his eyes couldn’t. Slowly, a frown curved his lips. There were probably a hundred things he wanted to say, a hundred questions to ask.

“Are you hurt?” were the first words out of the eldest prince’s mouth.

My mouth opened to fire off my initial response. I wasn’t hurt. Or at least I didn’t think I was. In the chaos of everything, there hadn’t exactly been a great time to stop and assess my condition. “I’m fine...I think.”

Corry—who was free from the handcuffs Eros had placed on him earlier—grabbed my head and claimed my lips in a bruising kiss.

“Be careful with her,” Sterling instructed the youngblood. “We don’t know what she’s been through.”

Corry broke the kiss, and his brunette brows pinched in a scowl. “Jesus, Red. You scared the unliving shit out of us. That crap you pulled was stupid.”

“I know,” I sighed, my forehead bumping against his. “I’m sorry.” Squeezing my eyes shut, my voice dropped to a threadbare whisper. “But I didit. I saved Vin.”

In my periphery, I caught Eros’ glare in the rearview mirror. “Then where is he?”

“He shifted. He’s flying home.” I paused, relief winding through me when they didn’t inquire further about that. They probably just assumed he’d turned into a raven. I wasn’t sure how they’d react once they found out I’d awoken Vin’s full fae form.

Corry pulled back to examine me, his blue eyes running over my frame and lingering on my blood-crusted thighs. “She’s wearing nothing but a shirt,” he announced, probably for Sterling’s benefit. The youngblood peeled his lips back into a lopsided grin, his dimples dotting his cheeks. “Holy fuckin’ hell, Red. You smell like you’ve taken a bath in Vin. What is that? Blood? Jizz?” He gave a shake of his head, a puzzled expression on his face. “I can’t make heads or tails of it. Not his usual scent, though, that’s for sure...Wait. Is that asword?”

“It belongs to Erik Thorn. Or it did.” I shrugged as I pulled it from the shirt where I’d stabbed it and flung it to the car floor. “Can we go home now? I’m beat.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Corry snapped, his face screwing up into a furious expression I’d seen him wear once before—at the gas station when I’d stolen his bike. “You don’t get to just skip off into enemy territory without us, then come back in nothing but a shirt that stinks of some random male. Not to mention that you’re doused in blood. Why are you always naked and covered in blood? I get we’re vampires, but that shit ain’t normal. It’s like a human constantly walking around in the buff, coated in gravy.”

A stupid grin played across my lips, and I pressed closer to Corry, pulling him in for another kiss. I missed the youngblood’s humor. I’d just been through Hell, and here he was waiting on the other end of it, making me feel like a normal twenty-three-year-old. I mean, I was anything but. But he helped create the illusion that my life wasn’t that weird or dangerous. And even if it was a lie, I was coming to find out that it was absolutely necessary for my sanity.

“I’m sorry I ran off. Really. It was reckless, and I know I have to stop trying to do shit on my own. We’re a team now.”

Corry’s lips softened under my own as I kissed him again, his arms moving to band around me. Sterling spoke, his usual soothing voice containing an alarming sharpness that had Corry leaning away.

“Don’t touch her. She’s still coming down from her heat state, and even if you took those sating pills, there’s a chance your youngblood state will trigger.” The blind prince’s face took on a grave expression that had my heart launching into light speed. He jerked his head toward Eros. “Take us home.”

As the car’s engine purred to life and we pulled into traffic, Sterling climbed into the backseat with Corry and me, pushing me into the middle. My body went hot and cold, and a sultry purr rose from my throat when I found myself sandwiched between the attractive males. After being submerged in the stink of the Boston Coven, they smelled heavenly. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Then maybe wake up, ride one—or both—of them, and sleep some more.

As my eyes drifted shut, Sterling’s stern timbre roused me back to consciousness. “Ruby. Look at me. Did you awaken Vincent’s full fae form?”

My heart thundered against my ribs, my mouth going dry as I was sucked into Sterling’s hypnotic gaze. “Uh. Yes?”