Page 84 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

“But you didn’t. You stopped yourself.”

“I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been there to pull me back.”

One of Corry’s arms swept around my waist while he held my chin, his thumb brushing away rogue tears. “You’re still learning how the vampire blood and your mortal blood work together, and sometimes they don’t. No one expects you to have that shit figured out yet. It’s not like you’ve been dealt an easy hand. What matters is that youarefiguring it out, and for that, everyone respects you. Well, except for Lexi, but fuck her. If she doesn’t come around by the time you take the throne, you can hand her off to another coven.”

After a tense moment of quiet, a tortured sigh left me. I leaned into Corry’s hand, which now caressed my cheek.

“She’s nothing to me right now,” I said, although it tasted like a lie. “I’ve got bigger shit to worry about. At least she’s not the demon you fucked. I don’t think I’d be able to handle her knowing you two fucked.”

Corry made a sputtering sound that rolled into an awkward laugh. “R–right. Just because it’s Lexi. You’d be cool if we were gonna meet the demoness, so long as she’s chill, right?”

“I’m not insecure or anything. I know you’re mine and that you’re loyal to me. But I’d have to mentally prepare before I agree to meet the girl you fucked. This thing inside me is territorial. I don’t trust myself not to start anything.”

“Um. Well, shit.” The vampire’s arms dropped to his sides, and he backed away from me, looking more guilty and nervous than I’d ever seen him before.

My brows furrowed in suspicion, watching for every twitch, every move of his that would betray what was going through his mind. His eyes kept darting across the driveway to the giant hangar, where the coven kept their immense collection of antique and luxury cars. The structure had two doors, a giant roll-up gate, and a smaller door. The smaller one was cracked, just enough for a sliver of light to slice through the night, along with several voices that echoed from inside.

My gut flipped. “She’s in there, isn’t she? The demon you fucked?”

Corry looked like he was going to be sick. He swept a hand through his hair, that nervous tick of his. “You have to promise not to kill her.”

Chapter thirty-four

Demon of the Past

“Ifyourscentisfresh on the succubus, it’s you I’ll kill, Corry Cross.”

Even as the threat came out of my mouth, I knew it was an empty one. Even the thought of hurting Corry made me ache with pain far greater than the agony brought on by the knowledge that some other woman had taken a piece of my mate.

Corry tried to reach for me, but I slapped his hand away with a snarl. He stopped trying to touch me and shoved his hands into his jean pockets with a defeated sigh. “This isn’t a betrayal, Ruby. What happened between us was a one-night thing, over five months ago.”

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” I seethed, my words doused in venom.

“Because I didn’t think it mattered. It meant nothing. This was when I was a brand-spanking-new youngblood with no self-control.” His face hardened. “You of all people here should understand what it’s like losing yourself to instinct.”

I hated how sharp that truth cut. Holding myself, I tried to rub some warmth back into my arms, but the chill filling my veins had nothing to do with the night air.

We stood in the middle of the driveway, an uncomfortable silence swelling between us. The moonlight hit Corry’s pale skin like a spotlight, lighting up his vibrant blue eyes, which pleaded for my understanding. “Come on, Ruby. You have to trust that I would have told you about this sooner if it meant anything.”

My eyes shrunk to slivers, lining up Corry in my sights like prey at the end of a firearm. With the potent fury slamming through my veins, I kind of felt like a gun right now. “I need you to tell me what happened with her. Explain it to me, so I can go in there without having to worry about accidentally going ape-shit when I see the chick you fucked.”

“You want to know what happened?” He raised his arms out at his sides and let them flop back down. “Fine. We met in the city one night a couple of weeks after I’d been turned. The state of bloodlust was out of control, and I’d managed to wiggle out of Vin’s sight. I wandered the streets, searching for some kind of junkie or street whore no one would miss. At this point, I’d already killed a few. This was in a bad part of town, so it made for good hunting grounds. But this was in Boston. I was lucky I ran into her before any BC scouts caught me hunting in their territory.”

I’d never seen Corry look so uncomfortable as he did at this moment. He stuffed his hands back in his jean pockets, shoulders slouched as he looked up at the moon. “I passed a strip club. You’d think it was a Michelin star restaurant for how mouth-watering the place smelled. I went inside and saw her dancing.”

Great. So she was a sex demon and a stripper. This just kept getting better.

“Vira knew immediately that I was a youngblood, and since there’d already been a couple of girls in the area that disappeared, she put two and two together and figured I was the culprit. So she pulled me into the back where they do the private lap dances and told me that anytime I had a craving that the coven’s livestock and blood bags couldn’t sate, to find her.”

“And she asked you to fuck her in return?”

He shook his head. “She didn’t ask for anything. She got plenty of dick in a place like that. We only fucked the one time because I asked her for it. Succubi and incubi blood is an even stronger aphrodisiac than vamp blood.”

“So what was in it for her?”

Corry shrugged. “The BC not suspecting her of killing humans on their turf, I guess. I don’t know, really. Maybe she felt sorry for me.”

The tightening sensation in my chest suddenly dissipated. The darkness inside me was possessive of her mates. There were no ifs, ands, or fucking buts about that. But I think all facets of myself seemed to comprehend the fact that the succubus had given Corry a lifeline. Yeah, she’d probably been looking out for her own hide by minimizing any murders that could have been pinned on her, but in doing so, she’d saved lives. Corry would have killed more innocents in his ravenous search for blood if she hadn’t provided a place for him to safely feed.

---