Page 121 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

A fist-sized lump lodged itself into my throat. I stared at the expanse of bed between my guys and me. For a while, all that filled the silence was the gallop of my heart. I’d heard him tell me he loved me before, but this time felt different. Then again, each time felt like the first time.

“You have a weird-ass way of showing your love, Vin.”

“I don’t want to put the blame on what I am, but my kind doesn’t show love like humans. We demonstrate to our mates that we care by protecting them. Feelings and emotions aren’t a factor.” His voice tightened. “I’m trying. For you.”

Another stretch of silence, only now it was easier to breathe. Eros was looking at his brother beside him, a dubious frown contorting his mouth. “I’ll be damned. You really do love her.”

Feral’s attention remained fixed on me. “I really do. You love her too.”

“No shit. Took you this long to figure it out?”

“Yeah, stupid me for questioning a male’s intentions when he ties up his mate and tortures her.”

Eros shook his head. “For such a dominating fuck, you are clueless sometimes. The difference between you and me is that my savagery is applied with the utmost precision. I make it all about her. It’s about giving. Someone like her is always in control, but if I take that away in a safe and controlled environment, she’s able to relax and enjoy herself in ways she couldn’t otherwise. So sure, taking her virginity that night would be seen as brutal by most of the vanilla fucks in this coven, but I only did it because I knew it’s exactly what she needed. Not only to blow off steam, but because she needed to trust someone to take away her control. To feel powerless, even if it’s just a game. And it’s very important that she knows it’s pretend. That with one word, it can end. She needs to feel safe, protected.”

Eros smiled at me, his reddening eyes making my stomach melt into a boiling pool of need. “Really, it should be right up your alley, Feral. Maybe I’ll show you how to do it sometime.”

Vin’s line of sight swerved to me, matching the same intensity of Eros’ gaze. “Maybe you should. I think she’d like that. Wouldn’t you, Princess?”

I swallowed down the thick lump in my throat and gave the faintest of nods, even though they could probably scent my enthusiasm.

The poisonous tension between them had definitely subsided to the point where it was barely there at all. It’d been replaced with the most intense sexual tension. It was definitely better than the alternative, but it didn’t make it easier for me to breathe properly.

“Now my question for you, Eros,” I said, trying to distract myself from the ever-growing hunger churning my insides. “Can you tell me how you joined the Helsing Guild and if you ever met my mom?”

“I never met Sapphire Lockheart, no. I joined the guild as a teen after I ran away from my asshole of a foster dad. The guild took me in because I’d killed a vampire I’d accidentally stumbled into late one night in the city. It was slaking its bloodthirst, as well as its carnal hunger, out on some poor chick who’d passed out in an alley behind a bar. At the time of my induction, Sapphire was pregnant with you, and everyone knew whose baby she carried. It was the biggest hunt the guild had ever seen, considering we were hunting down a Helsing.”

I frowned at the tugging feeling in my chest. “Why would they turn on her so quickly? Wasn’t she the head honcho?”

Eros’ expression softened. “It wasn’t so much a hunt for her, doll. It was more like a hunt for you.”

The sensation in my chest turned ice-cold. “Oh.”

“Even though I never met her, everyone loved her. They talked about her all the time. She was a good leader, and everyone was convinced the vampire king forced himself on her while he held her prisoner. Everyone was in a frenzy to catch you because—”

“Because I’m a monstrosity. A Helsing and a Knight,” I said bitterly. “I’m the thing that’s supposed to end the Knight bloodline once and for all. And I am a Knight. How’s that for a fucking paradox?”

“The combination of abilities born from the vampire king and a Helsing creates something unique inside you. You possess a devastating power, Princess. It’s stronger than your Helsing desire to slay us.”

I sniffed and nodded. “That’s what Sterling said.”

Eros stroked his beard in thought. “And he’s pretty much never wrong. Besides, it’s just an old myth. Even if it’s true, Feral’s right. Your desire to slay vampires would be no more powerful than your desire for blood. Both urges are easily dominated by the queen inside you.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll like, I don’t know, move too much in my sleep and accidentally stake you or something?”

Both men gave varying octaves of snorts.

“First, that would be pretty impressive, doll.” Eros chuckled. “Second, so what if you do? I mean, don’t fucking do that if you can swing it. Life in this hellhole is just starting to get better now that you’re here. But you’re gonna be our queen. If you want us dead, that’s your call to make. Besides, if I ever piss you off enough for you to kill me, I’ll have it coming. At least I’ll get to watch you look beautiful one last time before those sexy-ass claws rip my head off.”

“Right?” Vincent almost laughed. It wasn’t visible on his mouth, but in the shine that was in the green depths of his eyes. “She’s so damn sexy when she rips off heads. Hair all wild, bloody hands clutching the head of some poor fucker. You should have seen her at the BC HQ. She splayed Sharpe’s rib cage right open.”

Eros threw his head back on a groan. “I wish I’d been there to see it. Maybe she’ll do it again to Erik.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “He might just come around to our side. Especially with Lavinia there to drive home the point I made last I saw him. Hopefully with a little more subtlety.”

Eros scoffed. “There’s no way you’re thinking about trusting that asshole. He’s not going to join the Elders, never has.”

I plucked idly at the bedsheets and gave a loose one-shouldered shrug. “He might join my council. I like to think I was convincing.”

---