Page 68 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

“The same way you knew how to track DW down after Sharpe kidnapped him. The mating bond. With your mark on Vin’s flesh, you can sense him. Know where he is. If you think he’s in Boston, he probably is.”

“You don’t think maybe—” God, I felt like a complete idiot. When I’d been laying beneath Vincent on that stage, filled to the brim with the dark male who’d invaded my senses like a fucking disease from the moment I’d met him, I’d gotten swept away in the raw intensity of our mating. My vagina might have come out unscathed from that whole thing, but my good judgment sure didn’t. Every fragment of sense had been completely obliterated by Vin’s monster cock, because I’d told him somethingreallystupid when I’d been riding that thing.

I’d told Vin that the implant would come out when he brought me my brother’s heart.

Apparently, dark fae placed a huge emphasis on pregnancy. Not only would his culture consider us bonded mates the moment his child took root inside me, but continuing his bloodline was the ultimate way to honor his father.

“He’s trying to take on Dagon by himself,” I said, my question turning to a statement.

“No.” Corry’s brows pinched together. “He wouldn’t be that dumb.”

“Like hell he wouldn’t.” I moved to scramble off the bed, but the vampire tackled me into the pillows, pinning me beneath his weight.

“Get off me, Corry Cross!”

I thrashed against the youngest Knight progeny, knowing I could overpower him if I just summoned enough strength. But my body had been pushed to its limit. In my current condition, I doubted I could win a fight with a paperclip, let alone a virile youngblood. “Corry, get off. I have to find him and make sure he’s safe. Come with me if you want, but I have to—”

“You don’t have to do anything but sleep. Vincent can take care of himself. Sure, he’s in Boston, but you don’t know for sure that he’s trying to kill Dagon by himself. After everything you went through to rescue him, I really don’t think he’d be so idiotic to just turn back.”

I still had my doubts, but the youngblood spoke with such certainty and confidence that the tangle of unease in my belly unwound some. I fell still and blinked up at Corry, scratchy tears in my eyes. “You really think so?”

The vampire looked down at me through his mess of brown hair, expression softer now. “Yeah, I do. I may have only known him for six months, but Iknowhim. He wouldn’t be so selfish. If I had a mate like you, I would do everything I could to make sure I came back safe to you. Vin’s the same way.”

“Corry...” My voice trailed off, his name in my mouth strangled with emotion. I didn’t know what else to say. I couldn’t seem to conjure the words I wanted to tell him. So I told him all I couldn’t say with a reverent kiss. I poured all of me into the connection, my mouth moving against his in a drawn-out, wet, decadent slide of skin and heated breath. His tongue slid into the hollow of my mouth, but it didn’t demand more from me, nor did it hurry the kiss along. He took his time, exploring me, stroking me from the inside as the appendage ran along the top of my mouth, over my teeth, and wrapped around my own tongue.

When he finally pulled back, my chest bashed against his as my lungs worked to fill what he’d stolen.

“Fuck.” I sighed beneath him, feeling my muscles slowly unwind and relax.

Corry dragged in an inhale. “Feel better?”

“Yes.”

He must have detected the momentary hesitation in my answer because his lips pressed into a frown. There was a span of silence as he reflected quietly to himself. Then he sagged into the pillows beside me with a sigh. “If I tell you the story of Tau and Isa, would it get your mind off Vin long enough to get some sleep?”

I gave an eager nod, and he rolled onto his side with his head propped in his hand.

“I’ll tell you as best I can, but don’t expect the most accurate details. Eros told me the story once, and I’m pretty sure he’d been drinking with Tau the night he learned the story from him, so who knows how accurate this is. Anyway, as the story goes, slavers captured Tau in the later seventeenth century. They enslaved him and five hundred others to bring to the colonies. Tau isn’t sure how a vampire got on board, whether they captured it with other African natives or it snuck on board in one of the Caribbean ports. But it killed the entire crew and turned every slave into a vampire. Spurred on by hunger and bloodlust, the ship of youngbloods did not turn back for home. Instead, they continued on course for the colonies.”

My jaw fell open in disbelief. “What? But how could they guide the ship where they needed to go?”

“They could only crew the ship at night. The voyage was long and harrowing. I think they survived off ship rats and the bodies of the slavers they’d killed. But eventually, those ran out, and the vampires were driven mad with thirst. Knowing that a lot of innocents would die once they arrived at the colonies, Tau decided to burn the ship down. He set fire to the upper deck just as the sun was rising. He expected to go down with it. Days later, he washed up on the shore near Salem, and a local witch found him, burned and on the cusp of true death. Knowing what he was, she hid him and nursed him back to health. This happened right around the witch trials, so she begged him to turn her and her twin sister, who were both witches, into vampires to protect them. Those three founded the Salem Coven with a few other witches he’d turned.”

“Why did they leave the Salem Coven?”

“Years later, Isadora’s sister, Isabella, mated a werewolf. The Salem Coven leader didn’t like that. These days it’s not such a big deal associating with werewolves, but mating one?” Corry whistled. “It’s a big no-no. Their mating bond rubbed the SC the wrong way, so they kicked out Bella. Isa stood by her twin sister, and of course, since Tau was mated to Isa by this point, he stood with his mate. So they kicked all three out.”

“So is Bella a part of this coven too?”

“No. Bella ran off with her werewolf, and Tau and Isa came here. Sterling and Master welcomed them with open arms, considering Isa kept much of her magic after her death. Which is unusual. Normally the change stomps out most other supernatural abilities. It’s rare that a sup keeps any kind of magic once they’re turned into a vampire.”

“That’s why the BC is so obsessed with Dagon.”

“Yup. It’s a pretty incredible thing, being able to control the dead. In their eyes, that makes for a good leader.”

The fresh memory of my brother running away from me after his botched attempt at forcing Vin on me made my blood boil. “He’s nothing but a pathetic coward.”

“Yeah, we know that. Maybe the BC will come to their senses after the show you put on, Red. At the very least, they know you’re a threat now. And Lavinia will do what she can to sway them.”

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